John Jacob Thompson was born near Toronto, Canada, in 1862. He moved to North Dakota at the age of twenty-two and then to Great Falls, Montana, in 1890. There he worked as a clerk at the Park Hotel and in a laundry. Thompson established the Great Falls Produce Company in 1893, and operated the business until 1899, when he sold it and established another of similar nature. In 1899 he purchased the Rock Springs coal mine near Sand Coulee. Thompson married Sarah Travers of Owens Sound, Canada, in 1896. The couple had two children, Stewart and Anita. Sarah Travers had two sisters, Margaret Ginste of Dillon, Montana, and Anna of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Great Falls, Montana. John Jacob Thompson died in 1906, and Sarah Travers Thompson died in 1907.
Stewart McKinley Thompson was born in 1896. He attended Great Falls High School and graduated from Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Bozeman with a degree in electrical engineering in 1921. His wife's name was Maude. Stewart Thompson died in mysterious circumstances near the Canyon Ferry power plant, where he worked, in 1923.
Anita Travers Thompson graduated from Great Falls High School in 1919, attended Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts from 1919 to 1921, and graduated with a B.S. in pharmacy from the University of Michigan in 1924. She was certified as a registered pharmacist in Montana in 1927, at which time she resided in Jordan. She moved to Tacoma, Washington, in 1929, and worked for Pay Less Drugs from 1932 until at least 1968.
This collection consists of the papers of John Jacob Thompson, Sarah Travers Thompson, Stewart McKinley Thompson, Anita Travers Thompson, Anna Travers, Margaret Travers Ginste, and J.J. Ginste.
The papers of John Jacob Thompson (1884-1907) include correspondence, primarily incoming with some outgoing to his wife, which discusses: financial matters, especially the payment of rent in Great Falls; business; family; Great Falls; California; etc. Thompson's papers also include naturalization papers, a bank book, a diary/note book, a land sale contract, and a dues book of the Modern Woodman of America.
Sarah Travers Thompson's papers (1907-1908) include correspondence and invoices concerning John Jacob Thompson's estate and funeral.
Anna Travers' papers (1908-1914) include correspondence and invoices concerning the boarding of Sarah Travers Thompson in a sanatarium and her funeral, and John Jacob Thompson's estate.
Margaret Travers Ginste's papers (1914-1923) include financial papers; outgoing correspondence, primarily to Stewart McKinley Thompson concerning family matters and events in Great Falls; and one letter from Maude Thompson.
J.J. Ginste's papers (1921-1926) consist of a letter from the Montana Power Company regarding Stewart McKinley Thompson's death; a motor registration and certificate of insurance.
Stewart McKinley Thompson's papers (1912-1925) include correspondence with Anita Travers Thompson, Margaret Travers Ginste, his friends, and future wife concerning student life and his work; diaries with brief comments about the weather, recreational activities, school, work at the substation at Canyon Ferry, etc.; school grade reports; union and lodge cards; financial records; etc.
The papers of Anita Travers Thompson (1904-1925, 1978) include correpondence with Stewart McKinley Thompson and Margaret Travers Ginste about student life; high school grade reports, college dance cards, invitations to parties, place cards, programs for concerts and plays, diaries, school certificates, etc.
by subgroup and series
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
Photographs of the Thompson Family are in the Photo Archives. Artifacts have been transferred to the Museum.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.