Hadassah Thompson (1806-1832)

Marian and Agnes Wilder were the daughters of

Hadassah Thompson Wilder, the daughter of

Hadassah Thompson Wilder (1806 –1832) (great grandmother)

Hadassah Thompson was born in 1806, in the village of Norridgewock Maine. Though living in a remote part of the frontier, her family members were well respected and influential in the area during their lives.

Hadassah’s father was Dr. Asaph Thompson, originally from Halifax, MA. He had apparently come to Norridgewock by about 1803, when he is on tax records, and by 1804 he had declared his intention to marry Mary “Polly” Wood, age 18, who was a native of the area. For a young woman who lived her life in rural Maine nearly two hundred years ago, a surprising , if small, amount of information about Hadassah has been uncovered. Two samplers that she created as a girl that have been passed down through generations are today cherished heirlooms in our family. From the stories to be found in New England about Hadassah’s ancestors, it is quite possible that her life was full of remarkable tales and people for a girl in a frontier town. From reading the history of the town of Norridgewock, it is clear that life was unforgiving but probably full of natural beauty that we may be stretched to comprehend in our own time. Survival in Maine winters, perhaps the memory of her grandfather’s brother who had died in the snowy wilderness several miles up river from Norridgewock at age 16, along with the dangers of navigating the Kennebec river with its aptly named “Death Rock”, and the fear of Indian raids clear in the memories of many of the living adults must have colored the world of Hadassah. As a girl of fourteen, her personal accomplishment was the completion of her samplers. The same year must have brought great pride to her and her family as Maine became a state, separating from the ancient bond to Massachusetts. By virtue of the fact that her father was well educated, and by the tenor of her sampler writings, it can be assumed that literacy was a virtue in her childhood home. An example of the tone of her education can be found on a family sampler belonging to Tom Hinkle and Burke McMurdo:

“In vain we mourn those transitory days

“Consumed in riot and licentious ways

“Tis temperance alone preserves our strength

“And mind and body to life’s almost length”

But in her samplers there seems to be a little of a mischievous nature. For example, her sister Persis (or Persie) is given a birth date ten years younger than her real date, (1801 rather than 1810), and one sampler has no letter Z. As mom once said to Cassie, Hadassah probably looked at the mistake, saw how much work she’d already put into it, and likely said “the Hell with it.”

In 2013, Brian McMurdo discovered a collection of Thompson family papers in the Beinecke Childrens' Archive of American Literature, at Yale University. This folder contained fascinating and informative scraps of information about the children of Asaph and Polly Thompson. There were awards for penmanship for Hadassah's brother Silas, her sister Mary and her sister Persis. For her, a beautifully written essay on presence of mind, which provides a perspective on the literacy and inteligence Hadassah possessed. A link to the Thompson family folder is provided here:

The Thompson Family Papers of the Beinecke Children's Collection of American Literature at Yale University

Dr. Lynne Anderson is a professor at the University of Oregon. She is an expert in early American samplers, and is collaborating in 2012 on the development of a national online database of existing American samplers and their stories. The link below is a compilation of some of her comments on the two Hadassah Thompson Samplers.

Dr.Lynne Anderson's Notes on the Hadassah Thompson Samplers

A view of a family record sampler created by Hadassah Thompson of Norridgewock, Maine.

Hadassah Thompson's Family Record Sampler, c. 1818

A view of the sampler created by Hadassah Thompson at Norridgewock, Maine in 1820.

Hadassah Thompson Sampler, Norridgewock Maine, 1820

This is a blog posting by Leslie Rounds, curator of the Saco Museum in Maine, discussing the exhibition "I My Needle Ply with Skill", a collection of early American samplers. Read down to her posting on September 19, 2012 for comments about Hadassah Thompson's samplers.

Leslie Rounds comments on the Thompson samplers

In April of 1825, when she was nineteen, Hadassah and her family may have gazed at the sky, where for several days, the moon and stars were visible at noon-day. Hadassah fell ill in April of 1832. Hadassah Thompson died at age 24 or 25 in 1832, around Norridgewock or North Anson. The year 1832 is recorded in the town history as the time of a terrible outbreak of Asiatic Cholera. Whether she died of this is unknown, but her age would seem to point to this as a potential cause. Hadassah and James may well have been amazed by the 70 straight hours of rainfall in Norridgewock in May of 1832, as it destroyed bridges, mills and roads. It was the most intense rain the village had ever seen.

This link is to a newspaper announcement of the marriage of James Marvel Wilder to Hadassah Thompson, in Norridgewock, Maine, in 1828. According to a note in the Beinecke material mentioned above, James and Hadassah moved from Norridgewock to North Anson, Maine, two days after their marriage. Hadassah lived there with her young family until her death.

Hadassah Thompson and James Wllder wedding announcement.

A link to an image of the headstone of Hadassah Thompson Wilder, the first wife of James Marvel Wilder, the mother of Francis L. Wilder and the grandmother of James Lewellyn Wilder. Hadassah was the daughter of Dr. Asaph Thompson and Mary "Polly" Wood Thompson, and the granddaughter of Silas Wood and Sybil Smith Wood of Norridgewock, Maine. Hadassah Thompson Wilder died in 1832, at about age 26.

According to Emily Quint, historian for the Anson ME Historical Society, in correspondence from February, 2008, Hadassah is buried at the North Anson, ME Sunset Cemetary, by her husband, James M. Wilder. The date of his death is recorded on the stone as “Hadassah wife of James M W died 1 Oct 1832 ae 26y 6m”

Headstone of Hadassah Thompson Wilder

Please take note: This photograph is the property of the photographer and may not be posted on Ancestry.com without prior permission.