The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-06-12
THE WIDOW or
WADDY THOMPSON.
A Victim of the Great and Disas-
trous Fire in Jacksonville, Fla.

trouS Fire IN Jacksonville, Fla. (
The Jacks nyille Times Union has
the following sketch of Gen. Waddy
Thompson, a brilliant and distinguished
lawyer in Greonvile for many years,
wrose widow fell a victim to the flames
In the recent destructive lire in that city:
The Magnitude Of the Jacksonville
fire finds apt illustration in the fact
that many incidcnts connected with il
which ordinarily would have excited
widespread attention and comment,
were forgotten or ignored in the pre-
sence of the vital and urgent cmergcn.
cios Which the people of the city were
compelled TO face. and face promptly.
The tragic death Of MIS- Thompson,
widow OF Gen Waddy Thompson, in
the Home for tho Aged was duly noted
in the press, togGthcr with the pathetic
| cii cumstanccs Of tho finding OF her re-
mains by one Of the old servants of the |
family. What man or woman then in !
Jacksonville paused to inquire who this
lady was or what WAS her history? OF
course those who knew her or in one
way or another were connected with
her, manifested their interest, but, to
the public mind so much was it engross
| cd with the larger and nearer results
OF tho contlagration, even the statement
that she WAS the widow Of General
show Of curiosity. And yet the time
was when the husband Of this lady was
one tf the distinguished actors in the
rublic affairs OF the nation, u leader in
Congress, all eminent diplomatist and
tho author of II book that had much To
do in shaping the policy OF the United
States at II critical time, and, consequent
ly in moulding its later history.
Mrs Thompson was Hiss CoTnclia
.tl,,.r lt 80
zen of Wilmington, N &. Her husband,
Gen. Waddy Thompson, was son OF u
lawyer of note OF the same name Mt
l'itk kens courthouse, the county site Of
, PickCns County, one of the extreme
northwt stern, Blue Ridge mOuntain
counties Of South Carolina General
, Thompson was born in Pickcns in l79S,
graduated at the South Carolina College
in 1914, practiccd law at Grcenvillc, s
g., was bri liant lawyer and orator,
and was u member OF the Legislature Of
South Carolina from 1926 to 1880, during
the troublOus days of nulliiication He
was also about that time appointed ~
/. brigadicr general Of militia, and in that
. period OF intense political excitement
G such position meant moro than it does
q now.
General Thompson was, politically, a
. staunch Whig, and in 1885 was elected a
member OF tho national lIousc Of Repre-
sentatves, where he served until 1872,
for part OF the time as chairman Ot the
committee on military affairs. There
! his splendid forensic talents and legal
q attainments at once brought him into Il
position of commanding influence, and
in all the important debates Of the day
he was one OF the conspicuous figures.
n AT that period of American history
,, tho Mexican question was acute, the
II war with Mexico following a lit C later
II In 1912 General Thompson was sent tC
q that country as American Minister, ant
u in that position his ability again found
d opportunity for display. During hi.
/. term Of three or four years he negotiated
q two important treaties, through one o
which two hundred Texan prisoners il
Mexico were liberated. Returning in
& 1916, he published Rccollcctlons .
J. Mexico work which found instan
y and wide circulation, especially among
II public men Newspapers were scare,
in those days, the Mexican war was i'm
| minent, and the hook gave the Amcri
y hcnsiyc view Of Mexican conditions thar
could possibly have been obtaine,
X through any other source 1t still rc
IL tains u recognized historical value
L Five miles from the city of Grcenvil c
y 3. g., is the base of Paris Mountain,
e picturesquely isolated spur of the Blu
u Ridge, some $500 feet high Two mile
0 up the mountain side the road leads b,
g an abandoned field OF two or three acre
: surrounded by rude wall made Of un
10 hewn rocks loosely thrown together
30 There are the traces OF the Chimncys q
house long since gone, and here an
there stand few ancient and unkcp
4 fruit and ornamental trees From tn
>f site Of the house a glorious view of ficl
70 and valley, hill and farm, extending fo
D sixty miles, with the city Of Grecnvill
10 rcsplendent in the sunlight just beneath
n grcets and charms the eye, while. break
n ing the skyline at different parts OF th
q panorama, are curling columns Of smok
N from many great cotton mills. To tn
D. north and west some twenty miles dis
c. tant rise, tier upon tier, the azure, forest
lr C ad peaks of the Blue Ridge, and to tn
'r visitor, at their foot, is pointed out tn
Ie OZARK Corner" Of Grccnville Count,
70 where tho moOnshincr, even in thcs
&c latter days, still finds fastncss in tn
dales, where the mountain vendetta ha
| not lost it's vogue, and where the riil
le ball sometimes finds resting place il
u the heart OF the unwary revenue officer
le This former mansion on the mountain
N brow was the home OF Gen. Wadd
ID Thompson, home where for years an
sSho VI JOoip thC iCauCl anu InC lldhCT
r of political thought in the alway
al militant Palmetto State were wont L
re enjoy princely hospitality, and whicl
u had for its welcome guests scores Of Tia
II brightest minds that illumcd Amer cal
d pub ic life Of that period. Could tn
n gray stones Of the old wall but speak
n what stories they could tell Of q states
u manship whose skeleton only survive
,t in the cold vaults OF r. corded history
y what sparkle OF wit and repartco woul,
b flash down to us from the gatherings 0
d brilliant intollects met and welded il
good fellowship OF this mountain
d homo, Mrs. Cornelia Thompson, tn
aged lady Nho met her sad fate in thu
flames that consumed the Homo for th
Agod during the great Jacksonville con
migration, in a last effort to save few
memcntoes OF her distinguished hus
,. band, was tho noble matron and mis-
trcss.
J, General Thompson owned winte
u home in Florida, and spent tho late
years Of his life in the State. He dice
II in Tallahassee in 1868.