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Biography/History:
Margaret Louisa Thompson was born on April 8, 1808 in North Carolina, the daughter of Lewis Thompson (1768-1814) and Elizabeth Hinton Thompson (1779-1860). She was one of five children of this marriage, her siblings included Elizabeth, Noah, Mary Eliza, and Lewis Whitmell. In 1824 in North Carolina, Margaret married John Taylor Johnstone (1801-1848), and this union brought them two daughters: Frances Ann (1825-1907) and Helen Scrymgeour (1839-1917). According to the family lore, it was John's dream to have a chapel built at his Annandale Plantation, however he died before the project started. The Chapel of the Cross was built near Livingston, Madison County, at the cost of $15,000 and, according to Margaret's obituary, its main purpose was the religious education of her own slaves. She died on March 16, 1880, in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, at the residence of her son-in-law, Reverend George Carroll Harris. Margaret was buried in the Chapel of the Cross Cemetery, Madison County, Mississippi, next to her husband.
Helen Scrymgeour Johnstone was born on May 21, 1839, the second daughter of John Taylor Johnstone and Margaret Louisa Thompson Johnstone. There are many stories about her engagement to Henry Grey Vick and his death prior to their wedding day in May 1859, which has earned her the nickname "Bride of Annandale." However, Helen married Reverend George Carroll Harris (1837-1911) on August 20, 1862 in Madison County. They had three children: George Parsons (1865), George Carroll, Jr. (1867-1927), and Helen (1870-1933). The family eventually lived in the grand home known as Mont Helena three miles north of Rolling Fork in Sharkey County. Reverend Harris died July 2, 1911, and Helen S. Johnstone Harris died on November 19, 1917 at 78 years. They are both are buried in Mound Cemetery, in Rolling Fork, Sharkey County, Mississippi.
Helen, her mother Margaret, and her sister Frances began the Livingston Ladies Military Aid Association in 1861, where women and girls contributed hand-sewn clothes and local men provided funds and goods such as wine and food that was shipped to Confederate soldiers, particularly the Helen Johnstone Guards, Jeff Thompson's Troops, and Smith Quitman Guards. During the time of keeping the ledger included in this collection, Helen married George, as her name changes from H.S. Johnstone to H.S. Johnstone Harris in the recording of contributions.
Hugh Miller Thompson was born in County Derry, Ireland, on June 5, 1830, the son of John Thompson and Anne Miller, both also of Ireland. John immigrated to America from Ireland in 1836, where he and his family lived in Newark, New Jersey, and Cleveland, Ohio, until he died in 1859. Hugh graduated from the Nashotah Theological Seminary. Eventually, he returned to Nashotah to teach church history and worked as an editor of the American Churchman, in Chicago, between 1860-1870. He was consecrated Bishop of Mississippi in 1887, and he was a member of the Masons and Knights Templar.
In March 1853, Hugh married first to Caroline, daughter of Simeon and Mary Berry of Sandy Hill, New York, and they bore two children: Frank Thompson and Annie. On October 25, 1859, Hugh married his second wife, Anna Weatherburne Hinsdale (1840-1923), daughter of Henry Butler Hinsdale and Mary Hatch Hinsdale of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and they had two children: Hugh Greame (1867-1928) and Mary Weatherburne. Bishop Hugh Miller Thompson died on November 18, 1902 and was buried initially under the altar of St. Columb's Chapel in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. When the soil shifted and the building began to deteriorate, his remains were removed in 1924 and buried in the Chapel of the Cross Cemetery, Madison County, alongside his wife, Anna, shortly after her death in 1923.
Frank Thompson was born on July 14, 1856 in Portage, Wisconsin, the son of Right Reverend Hugh Miller Thompson (1830-1902) and Caroline Berry (-1857). Frank first married Ida Carleton (1871-1898) in 1892; however, in 1893 he married Helen Johnstone Harris (1870-1933). Helen was the daughter of Reverend George Carroll Harris (1837-1911), of Rolling Fork, Sharkey County, Mississippi, and Helen S. Johnstone Harris (1839-1917) of Annandale, Madison County, Mississippi. Frank fathered three daughters: Miriam (1894-1988), Carol Berry (1896-1965), and Helen Harris (1905-1946).
Frank Thompson was ordained as a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church on May 1, 1878, and later ordained as a priest on April 30, 1881. Soon he was appointed from Louisiana as a chaplain in the United States Navy on May 16, 1881. He served as chaplain in many places, including the Naval Yard at Mare Island, California; the Naval Home at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Naval Yard at Portsmouth, Maine; the Naval Training Station at Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island; and lastly, the Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Michigan. He served as chaplain on these ships: the U.S.S. Portsmouth, the U.S.S. Charleston, the U.S.S. Independence, the U.S.S. Mohican, the U.S.S. Adams, the U.S.S. Pensacola, the U.S.S. Baltimore, the U.S.S. Brooklyn, the U.S.S. Solace, the U.S.S. Constellation, and the U.S.S. Connecticut. Most notably, he served with the China Relief Expedition. In 1902, Thompson was promoted to the rank of Captain, which he held until his retirement from active service on July 14, 1920. He was a member of the Military Order of the Dragon, Chevalier of the Cross, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Captain Frank Thompson died the age of 82 in the United States Naval Hospital, in Washington, District of Columbia, on Monday, June 27, 1938, five years after his wife Helen died on September 13, 1933. Both are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
Helen Harris Thompson was born on October 10, 1905 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Frank Thompson and Helen Johnstone Harris Thompson. She attended All Saints College, an Episcopal school for women in Vicksburg, Warren County. In 1920, a fourteen-year-old Helen lived in Great Lakes, Illinois, with her family, however the Thompsons may have moved back to Mississippi in 1922. When she was 24 years old, Helen was on the cruise ship S.S. Munargo, that began sailing from New York on April 25, 1930, to make its circuit of New York-Bahamas-Cuba-Miami with return arrival on May 7. However, Helen disembarked at Miami, Florida, on May 3, 1930. She visited Mississippi regularly, as she was reported to have presented a collection of her family’s dolls, some of which hundreds of years old, during the Holly Springs Pilgrimage in April 1941; This collection of dolls were later donated to the University of Mississippi Museums, Oxford, Lafayette County. Helen Harris Thompson was about 40 years old when she died on January 28, 1946, in Washington, District of Columbia. She was interred in the same lot as her father in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
Series Identification:
This series consists of one journal owned by members of the Livingston Ladies Military Aid Association, also sometimes referred to as Society. It starts with the organization of the association on July 27, 1861, listing its founding members and its purpose of providing supplies to Confederate soldiers. There are records of individual women's contributions of coats, pants, shirts, socks, and other clothing items. Additional records list subscribers, possibly donated funds and goods, from men and other members of the community. Shipments are noted with dates and designated recipients, such as hospital stores and troops. Once, two similar societies are named: Pearl River Ladies Military Aid Society and Battle Spring Ladies Military Aid Society. The last entry is dated December 29, 1862.
Box 1, folder 1
Helen S. Johnstone received two letters written by Captain E.C. Postell from Camp David, Marion Station, dated October 22, 1861, and November 5, circa 1861. She likely received these in conjunction with the work of the military aid association. Also included is one letter to Captain Postell from Samuel Chapman at Camp David, circa 1861. Captain Elijah Coachman Postell (November 18, 1824 - February 14, 1894) served in the Confederate Army, 24th Regiment Mississippi Infantry, Company E. As it pertains to this collection, he is identified as the Captain of the Helen Johnstone Guards, which was a company of volunteers from Madison, Leake, and Attala counties, located at Marion Station, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, where they joined a regiment. He is buried in Soule Chapel Cemetery, Madison County.
Box 1, folders 2-4
A list of purchases of Mrs. Helen S. Johnstone Harris from Mister Hayes, Jackson, Mississippi, dated 1862, may include some of the goods purchased to ship to soldiers with the handmade clothing. Also, in this subseries is a receipt dated 1861 from W.B. Fulkerson and Bro. Groceries, of Port Gibson, Claiborne County, for Reverend Charles Backus Dana (March 26, 1806 - February 25, 1873). Rev. Dana served as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Natchez from 1866-1873, and he is buried in the Natchez City Cemetery, Adams County. One might infer that the purchased items were for the military aid.
Box 1, folders 5-6
As part of the work of the society, the women may have collected documents and records pertaining to the soldiers whom they knew or assisted in their aid efforts. Included are Special Orders, dated July 3-10, 1863 and written in Macon and Gholson, Mississippi, by Captain C.M. Thomas, Captain Commanding Co. Cavalry, State Service, to record the disbursement of military necessities for soldiers W.A. Hines, J.M. Archer, A.J. Henley, J.W. Garner, R.W. Span. Captain Charles Murrah Thomas (November 25, 1828 - 1905) served in the 19th Mississippi Infantry Confederate Army, which was organized from volunteers in several central counties. He was also a sheriff of Noxubee County. He is buried in Macedonia Cemetery, Noxubee County, Mississippi.
There are two lists of Mississippians who died, one for Point Lookout, Maryland, 1863-1865, and the other for those who died in General Hospital, Howards Grove, Virginia, near Richmond, for quarter ending June 30, 1864. Also included is a Consolidated Morning Report of General Hospitals, Department of Henrico, dated January 14, 1864, and signed by medical doctor W.A. Carrington; This document mentions the hospital at Howard's Grove.
Point Lookout, Maryland, was a Civil War prison camp organized by Union Brig. General Daniel H. Rucker. It was the largest and worst Union prisoner-of-war camp, and it was established August 1, 1863. It was often forced to hold twice or more than its capacity. Howard's Grove Hospital, Virginia, was built in June 1862 from converted training buildings of the Confederate Army. It quickly was forced to hold three times its capacity of wounded soldiers. Although it was closed in January 1864, it was reopened in May 1864.
Box 1, folders 7-10
This poem is titled "Conquered at Last" and was written by Maria L. Eve, daughter of an esteemed physician in Augusta, Georgia. The Mobile Register offered a prize for the best poem expressive of Southern appreciation in view of Northern help and sympathy during the yellow fever epidemic of 1879, and her poem was selected for the award in 1880. This is a handwritten version of the poem with an accompanying introduction.
Box 1, folder 11
This series consists of news clipping obituaries for Captain Frank Thompson and Bishop Hugh Miller Thompson. Also included is Frank's memo as Senior Chaplain to the Regimental Commander, Summer School, Camp Paul Jones, dated July 14, 1920. Frank noted in pencil at the top of the page: "My last official letter."
Box 1, folders 12-14
These items are undated, however they were likely owned by Helen Harris Thompson or her mother Helen Johnstone Harris Thompson. One is an essay containing three chapters titled "Three Famous Flags of the Confederacy," "Mississippi Women," and "Mrs. S. Johnstone Harris: What She Did for the Confederacy and How She Lives at Annandale." The essay is signed 'Semrick.' The other item is a Valentine card with elaborate textile features, signed only with “Your tardy humble valentine.”
Box 1, folders 15-16
Box Inventory:
Box 1, Folder 1: Journal. Livingston Ladies Military Aid Association, 1861-1862.
Box 1, Folder 2: Letter. Captain E.C. Postell to Helen Johnstone, October 22, 1861.
Box 1, Folder 3: Letter. Captain E.C. Postell to Helen Johnstone, November 5, circa 1861.
Box 1, Folder 4: Letter. Samuel Chapman to Captain Postell from Camp David, circa 1861.
Box 1, Folder 5: List. Purchases of Mrs. Harris from Mister Hayes, Jackson, Mississippi, 1862.
Box 1, Folder 6: Receipt. W.B. Fulkerson and Bro. Groceries, Port Gibson, Mississippi, for Rev. C.B. Dana, 1861-1862.
Box 1, Folder 7: Special Orders. Captain C.M. Thomas, July 3-10, 1863.
Box 1, Folder 8: List of Mississippians died, Point Lookout, Maryland, 1863-1865.
Box 1, Folder 9: List of Mississippians died, General Hospital, Howards Grove, Virginia, June 1864.
Box 1, Folder 10: Consolidated Morning Report of General Hospitals, January 14, 1864.
Box 1, Folder 11: Poem. "Conquered at Last" by Miss Maria L. Eve, circa 1880.
Box 1, Folder 12: Obituary. Bishop Hugh Miller Thompson, 1902.
Box 1, Folder 13: Obituaries. Captain Frank Thompson, 1938.
Box 1, Folder 14: Memo. Senior Chaplain Frank Thompson to Regimental Commander, July 14, 1920.
Box 1, Folder 15: Essay, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 16: Valentine card, n.d.