Thomson, John W. [1]
Thomson, John W.
1811–6 Mar. 1836
John W. Thomson, Texas pioneer, was born in North Carolina, probably in Orange [2] or Johnston County [3]. He migrated to Tennessee and in 1835 joined a group that was traveling to Texas. Arriving there in January 1836, Thomson went initially to the town of Washington. From there he moved to San Antonio de Bexar, enlisted as a private in the Texas army medical corps, and was assigned to David Crockett's company. He died with Crockett at the Alamo. In 1883 a special act of the Texas legislature enabled Thomson's heirs to receive a grant of 3,036 acres of public land.
References:
Houston Telegraph and Texas Register, 24 Mar. 1836.
Records of the Alamo Chapel, San Antonio, Tex..
State of Texas, Special Laws, Eighteenth Legislature, no. 10 [4] (1883).
Amelia W. Williams, "A Critical Study of the Siege of the Alamo and the Personnel of Its Defenders [5]," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 37 (1933–34). Records in the Alamo Chapel indicate that a portrait of Thomson was owned by Mr. and Mrs. George Cook, Sunnymeade Drive, Bellemeade, Nashville, Tenn., but efforts to verify this have not been successful.
1 January 1996 | Detrick, Robert H.