Columbia-Marion-Clay County FlArchives Biographies.....Thompson, Laura De Mary ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 11, 2008, 10:00 pm Author: B. F. Johnson (1909) Laura De Mary Thompson Mrs. Thompson is one of the connecting links between the Florida of today and the Florida of fifty years ago. She is the widow of Col. Samuel Beard Thompson, who came to Florida at the age of eighteen as an orderly sergeant in the United States army during the Seminole War. He was a Virginian from Hampshire county, in the great valley. After leaving the army, he became a merchant at Middleburg, in Clay county. He was a prominent man in his day, of fine personal character, a good soldier, highly esteemed by all who knew him; and died on January 21, 1891. Mrs. Thompson is a native of Georgia. She was born near Eatonton, in middle Georgia, daughter of Dr. Josiah Ashurst and Eliza Rebecca (Lucas) Ashurst. Both her father and mother were natives of middle Georgia. On the maternal side she is descended from the Lucas, Baskerville and Wyche families of Virginia. Nine of her uncles and two grandfathers served in the Revolutionary armies, and she is proud of the fact that not one of her ancestors was a Tory. One of her brothers, Robert J. Ashurst, served in the Second Florida Regiment in the Civil War. Another, Peyton Watson Ashurst, served in the artillery under Colonel McDonald. Mrs. Thompson, while on a visit to Alabama in her youth, received educational training from Professor Hentz and his famous wife, Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz. She subsequently attended school at Limestone Springs, S. C., Columbia, S. C., and lastly at Barhamville College, S. C. About 1850 her parents settled at what is now Ocala, and removed thence to what was known as "Craig Place," on the south side of St. John's river, near Jacksonville. This place is now known as Alexander Mitchell's winter home. The Ashursts called it "Liveoak" When her education was completed, she returned to "Liveoak," and on October 8, 1857, married Colonel Thompson. Of her marriage four children were born of whom Samuel Boteler Thompson, now a resident of New Orleans, has two children. A daughter, Willie Florence, married J. C. Getzen, of Webster, Fla., and they have six children. Her youngest daughter, Birdie Lee, died on March 15, 1906, and her youngest son, Robert Lee, died when five years old. Mrs. Thompson is a very prominent member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and organized the first chapter known as "Stonewall Jackson," in Lake City, Columbia county, Fla., which she served a number of times as president. She is a communicant of the Episcopal Church, and an occasional contributor to the Jacksonville Times-Union, and Lake City local papers. Though she has not a vote, she calls herself a Democrat, and it cannot be doubted that she is a much more loyal one than some of the men who have a vote. She is an accomplished woman, whose circle of friends is as wide as her acquaintance. She now lives in a beautiful old home adjoining Lake City, to which Colonel Thompson moved in his lifetime, and in her quiet retirement spends her declining days in extending a cordial hospitality to those who have the opportunity of spending a few hours in her delightful home. The battle of Olustee in Florida was fought almost under her eye, and she has furnished a very interesting description of it to the Lake City Index. Josiah Flournoy, a very prominent member of Congress from Georgia in the early days, was a great-uncle of her father, Josiah Ashurst. The late Frederick Lucas, of Athens, Ga., was a first cousin of her mother, and she is connected by marriage with the Cobbs, Jacksons, Longstreets, Colquitts, and other old Georgia families. Those who have had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. Thompson at her home describe it as one of the most beautiful retreats to be found anywhere in the country, and Mrs. Thompson is simply a fountain of reminiscences. Her life covers such a stirring period in our country's history and her own contact with notable people has been such that her friends have requested her to write a book of the principal incidents which have come under her observation. This she hopes to do. One incident is worthy telling here. Her mother was a cousin of Cecilia Stoval Shellman, of Augusta, Ga. Mrs. Shellman as a girl was on a visit to West Point, and there became acquainted with Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, then a cadet. Mr. Sherman became greatly enamored of her, but the young lady did not reciprocate. On his devastating march to the sea thirty years later, Mrs. Shellman's home was in the track of his army. Her place was spared and he left with the old negro who was in charge of the place the following note: "You once said that I would crush an enemy, and that you pitied my foe. Do you recall my reply? Although many years have passed, it is the same now as then, 'I would ever shield and protect you.' This I have done. Forgive all else, I am but a soldier. (Signed) W. T. SHERMAN." The following account of the Battle of Olustee was published in the Lake City Index and was given by Mrs. Thompson, one of the honorary presidents of the State of Florida, who was almost an eye-witness of the battle. It occurred on February 20, 1864, and was one of the most brilliant victories won by the Confederates during the Civil War. The following is Mrs. Thompson's own account of her recollections of that memorable day: "How vividly it comes up to me this dark cloudy morning, after a lapse of nearly forty years-that battle of Olustee. How well I remember the time, February 20, 1864, I was young and enthusiastic, ever hopeful and confident of the success of my beloved Southland, knowing that she was right, still realizing that she had the world to defeat. So when a battle was to be fought in this my adopted State, the belief never for a moment crossed my mind that the enemy could ever get a foothold here, but the cry rang forth, 'The Yankees are coming!' They were marching through the country to take Tallahassee, our capital. Soldiers were dispatched by General Beauregard under command of that able officer, General Colquitt, of Georgia. We were refugeeing at Madison, Fla. At the time Capt. J. J. Thompson, of Virginia, was at home on furlough, having been wounded in one of those hard-fought battles of Virginia, but was sufficiently recovered that he was appointed by General Colquitt as one of his aides, and they proceeded at once to Olustee, where they met the enemy under the command of General Seymour. Among these soldiers was a young Lieutenant-Colonel belonging to a Georgia regiment. How well I remember the sad expression on the face of my friend, Mrs. Dr. Johnson, as the troops were marching before us, and she pointed out this officer to me, saying that he had a presentiment that he would never return alive to wed the beautiful Georgia girl to whom he was engaged. As the troops tramped along to the depot, while the band played the spirited tune, 'Oh! Listen to the Mocking Bird,' it seemed more like a dirge to me, so filled was I with sympathy for this young stranger. "The battle began about 12 o'clock the twentieth of February, opened by Captain Gamble's Artillery, and was a determined onward march by the Confederates, the enemy persistently resisting our assaults. One of the incidents of the battle, was the capture of a Federal battery by what was termed the 'New Issue,' consisting of boys under 18 years of age, and old men from Hamilton, Madison Marion and Hernando counties, a company from each. These boys had never been in a battle before, or met the enemy in any way, but they fought like Napoleon's Guards. They pressed forward, unheeding danger, and closed upon the enemy's infantry. Cannons belched forth grape and canister, forcing the enemy to retreat, leaving two of their guns in our possession, and only with superhuman strength and effort they succeeded in getting away with the other two. "As a matter of history, these two guns were transferred to the Federal army in Virginia, and at the battle of Cold Harbor, these same Florida soldiers, with the other soldiers in Virginia, in a decisive engagement, succeeded in capturing these two guns. And still as a matter of history, these guns were the same that figured in the battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, in the year 1846, at the time when General Taylor rode up to the officer commanding and said: "A little more grape, Captain Bragg." "There was no interval of intermission in the progress of the battle until late in the afternoon, the Confederates advancing against the stubborn resistance of the Federal soldiers. In the latter part of the day, messengers came from the line of the battle to General Colquitt, saying, 'Our ammunition is growing short.' He immediately sent Captain Ely, his quartermaster, for the ordnance wagon. Other messengers coming to General Colquitt on the same errand, he sent his aide, Newnan D. Cone, for ammunition. Still the cry from the front was, not a cartridge in their boxes. General Colquitt not being able to obtain ammunition, dispatched an officer of the staff to General Finnegan for fresh troops. General Finnegan told the officer where he might find Col. Chas. Hopkins and Scott's Eleventh Florida Regiment, Col. Zachary's Twenty-Seventh Georgia and Major Baunard's Battalion, who were immediately ordered to proceed to the front, which they did in double-quick time. The ordnance wagon now arrived, and the soldiers were supplied with ammunition, and the battle went on with renewed vigor. Each soldier vied with the other in making the battle doubly successful, and those who had waited so long without ammunition now felt that their time had come, and they would make the best of it. So with the Confederate yell, vehement and determined along the entire line of battle, they compelled the enemy to give way with precipitation, leaving the battlefield of Olustee in the hands of the victorious Confederates. "History does not record such a spectacle as was enacted on this battlefield when the Confederate soldiers, having expended every cartridge, stood there immovable pillars for nearly an hour, receiving the fire of the enemy undaunted and undismayed. Had they yielded under the circumstances, they could not have been blamed, but their patriotism and bravery knew no such contemplation. They were ordered to stay by their officers, and they obeyed orders. The officers knew the ammunition would come, as it did, and with its coming victory was theirs. While the infantry was without sufficient ammunition, Captain Wheaton, that grand and good soldier of the Savannah Chatham Artillery, including two of the Charleston Battery, making six guns in all, engaged in the fight. The other two guns of the Charleston Artillery were detached and serving with the cavalry on the right of the Confederate Army, and on the south of the railroad, which branch of the service was of no use in the engagement, not that the soldiers were less brave or willing to be carried into battle, but because of disobedience of orders. In this interval the Chatham Artillery kept up a vigorous and incessant fire that was terrible to witness, and held the enemy in check until the ammunition arrived. After the battle, many of the wounded were sent that night to Madison, where I was refugeeing. "On the morning of the 21st, my friend, Mrs. Dr. Johnson, in company with other ladies, called for me to accompany them to the courthouse to do what we could for the wounded. Alas! Alas! Among those who were there lay this brave Georgia Lieutenant-Colonel, a tranquil smile upon his handsome features. His premonitions were realized. He was dead. His fiancee would see him no more. "The fatalities of the 18th Georgia Regiment, Colonel Neil in command, were one out of every three, which is a fair estimate of the loss of the entire army engaged. The loss of the enemy must have been greater, as our men were better marksmen and cooler men." The following pathetic lines were written by Mrs. L. D. M. Thompson, when only twelve years old They were printed and commented upon by the editor of the Ocala paper at that time, and we herewith reproduce them from the Index: " The following verses, were recently addressed by a young girl, now in school in South Carolina, to her mother in Ocala. They breathe a touching sweetness, which is only excelled by their tenderness and affectionate devotion of an absent daughter:" TO MY DEAREST MOTHER. Are thou thinking of me, mother? Art thou thinking, mother dear, Of her whose seat is vacant- Whose chamber's lone and drear? Dost thou miss me in the morning? Dost thou miss me in the evening? Dost thou miss the ringing laughter That from thy ear is gone? When thy heart is weary, mother, And thy soul is full of care, Dost thou miss me even then And wish that I was there? Dost thou never, never listen To hear thy daughter's tread, And raise thy hand unthinking, To lay it on my head? LAURA. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/columbia/photos/bios/thompson76gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/columbia/bios/thompson76gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 14.0 Kb