Andrew Wesley Thompson

Former Laguna Beach President Belinda Blacketer wrote the attached History of Laguna Canyon.

It includes:
“Later in 1876 Andrew Wesley Thompson, a Mormon preacher and elder, arrived in Laguna Canyon by way of Aliso City with his family, tent, wagon and farming equipment. He settled west of the wetlands at the mouth of Niguel Creek/El Toro, near Sun Valley Drive.

He named his claim “The Spring Ranch” because of the many springs running on his land, and began to raise cattle. He and his wife had five children while living in the Canyon, and his wife died 10 years later in 1886”

See History of Orange County, California by Samuel Armor 1921

ANDREW WESLEY THOMPSON.— Strong and active at the age of seventy-
six, Andrew W. Thompson has the unusual record of never having had a day's illness in his life. One of Orange County's pioneer citizens, he has always been a leader in the neighborhood affairs of El Toro and his counsels are eagerly sought on political matters, and he has for the past fifteen years occupied the office of deputy county clerk at that place.

Through his maternal ancestors Mr. Thompson traces his ancestry back to Holland, the progenitor of the Commer family in America having come from that country in 1632, settling in the Mohawk Valley in New York. Grandfather Commer served under General Washington in the Revolutionary War, and nine cousins including the subject of this biography, fought in the Civil War. Andrew W. Thompson was born December 16, 1844, his parents being Andrew and Maria (Dayton) Thompson, the latter the daughter of Alexander Dayton. Mr. Dayton ran a ferry across the Pike River in Canada, and also ran a hotel there, and it was while Mrs. Thompson was staying there that Andrew W. was born; but, although he was born in Canada, the family were residents of New York. There were seven children in the Thompson family, and Andrew W., who was the second in order of birth, is now the only one living. He came to Henderson, Sibley County, Minn., in, 1854, with his parents, and here grew to manhood. The country was in its primitive state at that time and there were practically no opportunities for an education, so that Andrew had no schooling until after he was married, when, realizing the handicap he was under, he went to studying and became a well-informed man. He worked hard in those early days, helping break the virgin soil of Minnesota and raising some of the first hard wheat grown in that locality.

In December, 1862, Mr. Thompson ran away from home to enlist in Company M, Second Minnesota Cavalry, and for two years fought the Indians on the frontier, having many thrilling experiences, among others being called to the relief of the white settlers during the massacre at New Ulm, Minn. He then served for four years with the Union Army during the Civil War, after which he returned to Minnesota. In 1870 he began farming there, and also kept a trading post at Big Stone Lake, trading with the Sioux Indians. With a cousin he hunted buffalo for the Government to feed the troops stationed in this territory. In 1875, with his wife and two children, Mr- Thompson made the long journey to California, settling in Ventura County, where they remained for a year. In 1876 they came to Laguna and bought 172 acres about two miles north of what is now Laguna Beach, this place being known as the Spring Ranch, paying $1,500 for the place. He also took up 160 acres of Government land, so that he had a ranch of more than a half section, where he farmed and raised stock. He also worked on the San Joaquin ranch for a time, helping care for the stock.

In 1870 Mr. Thompson was married at Glencoe to Miss Esther Tickner, a native of Illinois. Her father, Ezra Tickner, hunted ducks in the early days where Chicago now stands, later becoming a pioneer farmer in Minnesota. Seven children were born of this union: Senath died at the age of sixteen; Ivy, Mrs. Charles Thompson, resides at Watts; Irving is a retired rancher of Madera; Joseph is employed by Orange County on road construction and resides in Santa Ana; Maria is the wife of Levi Gockley, who owns the old Rosenbaum ranch north of Capistrano; Rebecca was the wife of Orin Boyenton, who died on their ranch at Escalon, Cal., in 1920. She still resides there; Andrew Wesley, Jr., is a rancher, and lives with his father. Mrs. Thompson passed away at Laguna Beach July 23, 1886. Mr. Thompson's present wife, to whom he was married in Santa Ana in 1908, was Mrs. Sarah M. Bonnell, the widow of William Bonnell, who died in the East, leaving her with one son, Robert L. Bonnell, a photographer in New York City. Mrs. Thompson in maidenhood was Miss Sarah M. Clarke, the daughter of Timothy and Rachel Clarke of Passaic, N. J. She was born in Passaic, N. J., where she was educated. She was gifted with a beautiful soprano voice and sang in Henry Ward Beecher's choir of vocalists, in reserve for his famous church choir.

Mr. Thompson removed to El Toro in 1890 and he has since made his home there. He is a member of Sedgwick Post No. 17, G. A. R., at Santa Ana. In religious matters he is a member of the Reorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints of Santa Ana and a preacher and elder in that denomination, and has traveled and preached all over the state. Politically he is a Republican and has always taken a prominent part in the local affairs of his party.




From the Internet:
See http://www.rootsweb.com/~casoccgs/news1196.html
“Andrew Wesley Thompson, the cemetery's only known Civil War veteran, came to Laguna Canyon about 1876 and helped establish the Mormon Colony there.”

See http://www.jenforum.org/tickner/messages/183.html
“8. ESTHER8 TICKNER (EDWARD7, JAMES6, JOHN5, JOHN4, JOHN3, WILLIAM2, WILLIAM1) was born Bet. 1845 - 1850, and died July 23, 1886 in LaGuna, California. She married ANDREW WESLEY THOMPSON May 10, 1870 in Glencoe, McLeod, Minnesota. He was born December 16, 1844 in Canada, and died May 5, 1939 in El Toro, California.

Children of ESTHER TICKNER and ANDREW THOMPSON are:
i. SENATH9 THOMPSON, b. Ca. September 1872.
ii. MARY THOMPSON, b. Ca. 1873, Minnesota; d. Ca. 1873, Minnesota.
iii. IRVING THOMPSON, b. March 26, 1874.
iv. IVY THOMPSON, b. Ca. March 1876.
v. JOSEPH THOMPSON, b. Ca. January 1878.
13. vi. MARIA CORA THOMPSON, b. November 15, 1879, LaGuna, California; d. October 17, 1934, Glendale, California.
14. vii. REBECCA A. THOMPSON, b. January 20, 1881, California; d. January 28, 1936, California?.
viii. ANDREW WESLEY JR. THOMPSON, b. August 4, 1883.”

See http://www.jenforum.org/tickner/messages/89.html
“I have an Esther Tickner or Tichner whose father was Ezra Tickner/Tichner. (Old family records are very hard to read.) It is known that Esther married Andrew Wesley Thompson in 1970 in Glencoe, Minnesota. It is also known that Esther was born in Illinois, perhaps about 1850. Ezra was also born in Illinois. This family seems to fit in with your line of research, and they've been tough for me to track down.
Family lore states:
"Ezra Tickner was a duck hunter in the early days where Chicago is now located. He later became a pioneer farmer in Minnesota."” Scott Hendrick CornOnRun@aol.com

On the Laguna Beach Homestead Map that Viebeck prepared, Andrew Thompson filed (was given) a homestead of probably 3 x 40 acre areas in 1890, also Fletcher Thompson got a homestead of 4 x 40 acres in 1886.