My Genealogy Hound

THADDEUS HAMPTON. The State of New York has contributed to Michigan many prominent citizens, who have done much toward the development of the State. Among these we class the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. Our subject was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., March 17, 1817, and his father, Andrew Hampton, was born in Connecticut in 1780. The paternal grandparents, John and Martha Hampton, were born in 1752 and 1751, respectively, were Quakers in religion, and of Scotch descent. Andrew Hampton was married October 1, 1807, to Mary Finch, who was born in Connecticut, November 30, 1787, daughter of Thaddeus Finch. The Finch ancestors originated in England, and a belief has been current that a fortune was left to the descendants in America, but the scarcity of records rendered futile the effort to trace the lineage back to the fortune.

Andrew and Mary (Finch) Hampton were parents of twelve children, two of whom died in infancy; ten grew to maturity, and six are still living. The father, when a young man, was bound to a seven-years apprenticeship to the tailor’s trade, and his indenture of servitude is preserved in the family as a memento. This trade not agreeing with him, he soon after his marriage settled in Cayuga County, N. Y., where he engaged in farming until 1819, when, influenced by agents of the Poultney estate, which embraced a large tract in western New York, he sold out and moved to what is now Livingston County, where he purchased a piece of wild land, built a log cabin and began to improve his possessions.

The first event in the memory of young Thaddeus was seeing his father fitted out with knapsack and three days’ provisions for a journey on foot of thirty miles to Geneva, to make the annual payment on homes for himself and neighbors. But the little clearing was not productive of a surplus, and in time the payments grew less, and finally ceased. Then the home was given up, with but little return for the “betterments.” In the struggle for a living which followed, it became necessary for the older children to go out to service, and our subject’s first contribution to the family support was a York shilling, a day’s wages for riding a sharp-backed horse, with the accustomed sheep-skin mounting, cultivating corn on stumpy ground. It was a painful beginning.

The father remained poor and died in 1845. The faithful mother lived to see her ten children grow up to exemplify the spirit of her teachings, and, hale and active at eighty-five, she died from the effects of a broken hip bone, September 9, 1872. At the age of fifteen, Thaddeus learned the trade of wool-carding and cloth-dressing in a shop that he had often frequented, being surprised by an offer of $5 a month instead of the usual tedious apprenticeship. This trade he followed until twenty years old, and then gladly accepted an offer of $240 for a year in a new woolen factory.

During this engagement he lost not a day’s time nor collected a cent of pay until after his time had expired. At twenty-one he rented, for a year, the shop where his trade was learned, which was successful, and his father having given him his time when eighteen, he now found his savings amounted to over $500. The district school facilities enjoyed did not meet his desires, and he decided to devote his savings to a better education. He accordingly became a student in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, and Temple Hill Academy at Geneseo for nearly five years, teaching school at intervals to help defray expenses.

In 1844, Mr. Hampton came to Michigan, visiting relatives in Lenawee County. He taught through the summer at Clinton, and the next winter conducted the higher department in the public school in Jonesville. From there he went to Ottawa, Ill., in 1845, and taught a private school about six years. In 1852, with the avails of this school, he bought the Constitutionalist newspaper office, changed the name to Ottawa Republican, which he conducted with good financial success until 1864, when he sold out and engaged in the real-estate business in Chicago and afterwards in Michigan. This business was successful until the financial crisis of 1873, when, through placing too much confidence in others, his accumulations vanished, and he was confronted with depreciated real estate returned on his hands, with unpaid back taxes and many debts to settle. In this strait he did not repudiate nor despair, but procured extensions, and by years of close management he had the fortune to see every debt paid, with interest sometimes amounting to as much as the principal. By perseverance he has partially recovered from his losses.

In 1868 our subject came to Michigan, and in 1870 settled in Dowagiac, where he lived about seven years. Next he went to Glenwood to care for property there, and is now (1893) developing a large stock farm, a part of it wet lands, which he hopes by tile draining to make highly productive, more for the satisfaction of seeing the change than the prospect of profits. Mr. Hampton was married November 19, 1856, to Mary L. Phippen, a native of Lynn, Mass., and a daughter of Rev. George Phippen, then of Canton, Conn. She was a lady of culture and refinement and an exemplary Christian of the Baptist persuasion. She died February 7, 1862, leaving to the father’s care two little boys: Herbert M., now a merchant at Glenwood; and William H., who died July 19, 1890. He lived single until October 20, 1873, when he married Miss Gertrude R. Reshore, who was born in New Haven, Ohio, March 8, 1846, a daughter of Louis and Martha (Lisle) Reshore, the father a native of Paris, France, the mother of Sandusky, Ohio. They had two children, of whom only Mrs. Hampton is living. She was educated mainly in the Dowagiac public school, and subsequently was engaged in teaching at Albion, Ind., and Dowagiac, Mich., until her marriage. Of this union were born four children, Robert Louis, Charles Francis, Thaddeus Lisle and Lucy Grace, who are all living. In religious belief Mrs. Hampton is a Baptist and is widely known as an intelligent promoter of practical Christianity. Mr. Hampton’s belief is, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” They are both advocates of temperance. Mr. Hampton never drank a glass of liquor at a bar, and he and his sons abstain from strong drink and tobacco in any form. Both husband and wife believe in the enforcement of industry and sobriety as a preventive of crime and dependence, instead of punishment afterward, which does not prevent.

In politics Mr. Hampton was a Whig and gave his first Presidential vote to W. H. Harrison. He is strongly in favor of protection to American industry. He was in at the beginning of the Republican party and was secretary of the large mass-meeting held at Ottawa that inaugurated the party in Illinois. Though not desirous of holding office, he takes an active interest in all the measures he deems best for the public good.

On September 10, 1888, while walking on the railroad track in Glenwood, he was struck by a freight engine and was so terribly injured that for weeks recovery seemed impossible, but a strong constitution, skilled physicians, and especially the constant watchfulness of his devoted wife, finally prevailed, and now, at the age of seventy-six, he apparently has a lease of several years more of usefulness.