Jesse J. Thomson
1824 – 1917
By Joy Unger McMullen
When the idea for a memorial log cabin was first conceived in 1913, Jesse
Thomson was one of a very few of the early pioneers still living and active in the
community. We can imagine
that the memorial project
appealed to him as a way to
ensure that when he passed
away, some part of him
remained in the community he
had helped to build. His
donation was even more
personal, because the
cucumber tree from which his
memorial log was taken, had
grown from seedling size on
his own property. The
cucumber tree is a type of
magnolia; it can grow to a
height of one hundred feet
when fully mature. By his own
reckoning, he had planted the
seedling on his property fortyfour years earlier. There was
plenty of land for the
cultivation of many trees,
since in 1880 he owned a total
of 88 acres, much of it given
over to wood for harvesting.
Jesse Thomson was
born in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania June 7, 1824.
His parents, Alexander and
Mary (Berlin) moved with two
month old Jesse to
Southington, Ohio. For
whatever reason, twelve years
Cucumber Tree
later they decided to relocate
to Perry, about thirty-five miles north, arriving in 1836. An Alexander “Thompson”
bought about 20 acres of land in Perry that year. Perhaps this was the start of the
Thomson farm, which would sustain the family for many years to come.
Another family arrived in Perry at approximately the same time. Wilder and
Martha Butterfield came from New York, bringing their children, Joseph, Hellen, and
Caroline. Hellen (Helen) would become Jesse Thomson’s bride on September 29, 1850.
Jesse and Helen had three children, Edgar B. born in 1851, Ella C. born about
1856, and Harry A. born about 1857. From her obituary it was written of Helen that she
kept a home “where a steadfast adherence to the highest and noblest aims in life were
[sic] constantly kept in view.” Perhaps that environment helped to spur her children into
achievement. Ella played piano and organ and in her younger years taught piano lessons.
Harry became an optometrist who owned his own company, and Edgar seems to have
been a judge. (An obituary addresses him as the Hon. E. B. Thomson.)
Under Jesse’s direction the family farm thrived. Although the children had grown
and gone by then, by 1880 the farm was producing ample amounts of eggs and butter,
copious numbers of apples from their five acre orchard, lambs and calves for meat, Indian
corn and grains for animal feed; altogether enough to keep the occupants in comfort. (It is
interesting to note that the Agricultural Census, from which this information came, was
enumerated by W .J. Shattuck, Jesse’s son-in-law.)
In 1886, Helen experienced a slight stroke. Numerous small strokes over a fouryear period led up to the final one from which she never recovered. She died on February
25, 1890. In a sad coincidence, her oldest sister Adeline, wife of Captain L. B. Parker,
died the day before her. The Baptist church in Perry held their funerals together on
Wednesday, February 26 at 10:30 A.M.
Jesse remained on the family farm and in April, 1892, he married again. His new
wife was born Sophia Naylor in Painesville on January 1, 1844. She and Jesse remained
on the farm until her death on December 22, 1910 from a lung ailment. Her burial took
place on Christmas Day.
After the death of his wife Sophia, Jesse was cared for by his daughter Ella, Mrs.
William J. Shattuck. He lived to be ninety-three years old, dying on July 4, 1917. A
doctor had seen him for the three months preceding his death, noting a gradual decline.
The officially recorded cause of death was “Old age.”
Jesse’s burial was in the Painesville Evergreen Cemetery where his parents and
his two wives were laid to rest. A tall monument inscribed with their names marks the
section and row in which the family is interred. In close proximity are the graves of the
Butterfields, the Naylors, and the Parkers.
As he had no doubt hoped, Jesse’s memory lives on in the group of early pioneers
honored by the log cabin built in 1914 and designated as History Hall.
Sources:
U.S. Census: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910.
Agricultural Census Schedule 1880 Perry, Lake, Ohio
Lake County Marriage Index.
Ohio Death Certificates for Jesse Thompson, Sophia Naylor Thompson, and Ella Shattuck.
Obit for Helen E. Thomson: Telegraph, 27 February and 6 Mar 1890:3.
Obit for Adeline Parker: Telegraph, 6 Mar 1890:3.
Obit for Sophia Thomson: Telegraph, 23 Dec 1910:1.
Obit for Jesse J. Thomson: Telegraph, 5 and 10 July 1917:1.
Obit for Ella Shattuck: Telegraph, 24 Nov 1942:1 and 28 Nov 1942:2.
The cucumber log: www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/trees/cucumber/tabid/5360/Default.aspx
Lake County MetroParks employee, Bret.
Photo of Cucumber tree at Indian Point Park by G. Ray Malone.