- John and Jane's daughter Susanna Jane Whitson was born on December 9, 1854, in Smiths Falls/Brockville, Kitley Township, Leeds County, Ontario, Canada. She migrated to Minnesota with her parents in 1868. The story goes that Susie liked to sing and have fun and frequently attended the local dances. A man named Bill Thompson saw her there and insisted that his brother James, who was a widower, had to come meet her. He had been born in Knox County, Indiana, on November 13, 1848, the son of John Thompson and Elizabeth Emily Graves, and had come to Minnesota looking for work. There he had wed a young woman who had died giving birth to twins, who also died. It is likely that James' father John had served in Co. A, the 71st Ohio Valley Infantry, during the Civil War.
James did come and meet Susie, and they quickly began to court even though he felt he might be too old for her. She insisted that she loved him and they got married on November 22, 1877, in Minnesota. However, census records show that James Thompson was boarding with Susannah Whitson's family in Stanton, Goodhue County, Minnesota, in 1875, so perhaps their courtship actually happened a bit differently. James brought Susie back to Ohio in 1880, settling in Darke County and later in Mercer County where his parents and siblings were. Susie had six children from 1878 to 1893: Clure, Verna, Lloyd James, Erma Hazel, Edna Mabel, and Jane Emily. Both James and Susie were very active members of the First Church of God in Ft. Recovery, and he served as elder. Often in poor health, James died on July 25, 1927, in Ft. Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio. Despite her advanced age, Susie took on the task of raising her young granddaughter Louella after her daughter Mabel died young. Susanna Jane Thompson died on February 1, 1937, in Ft. Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio. Both she and James are buried in Springhill Cemetery, west of Ft. Recovery.
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1854 - 1937 (82 years)
