Publisher's Synopsis
This book first recounts the Family History of the Thomsons of Wigtownshire Scotland. They were Presbyterian Succeeders who deviated from the orthodoxy of the Presbyterian church. Many suffered martyrdom and were tortured or killed. Others were driven out or fled, their fates remain unknown. Hugh Thomson II born 1775 married Anne Milwain born 1778. They had eight children. After Hugh Thomson II died of cancer in 1840, Anne Milwain along with all but one of her children and their families immigrated to America, the last group arriving in Illinois in 1856. She died in Biggsville Illinois in 1875 at age 96!! This book recounts the family histories of the more than five thousand direct descendants of Ann Milwain. Some of them changed the spelling of their names to the more commonly accepted spelling of Thompson. Since a majority of the descendants were girls, they married and took the names of their husbands. All of these family lines are traced in this book down to the present day, as much as possible. This book also recounts the family tradition that the maternal uncle of Ann Milwain was the Revolutionary War Hero John Paul Jones. With modern DNA testing, it now becomes possible to search for and locate the lost or missing branches of the large Thomson Family Tree.
