Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Thomson, Duncan MacLaren 1843 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 5, 2007, 6:29 pm

Author: Portraits & Bio Sketches, 1890

DUNCAN MacLAREN THOMSON. This gentlemen is one of the few men who came to Will 
County independent in financial resources, and whose life here has not been 
the struggle which many have experienced. He owns and operates over four 
hundred acres on sections 16, 17, 20 and 21, Frankfort Township. His land is 
all enclosed, and is marked with excellent improvements, which not only 
include buildings, orchards and others of the usual order, but much which is 
not usually found on farms. The dwelling is situated on section 21, and is not 
only of beautiful design, but is pleasantly located, well furnished and gives 
evidence of the presence of a woman of refinement at the head of the 
establishment. Among the farm buildings are three barns and other structures 
which suffice to shelter all the stock and grain. The agricultural and 
domestic labors are simplified and made easy by the use of a windmill and 
tank, a horse-power grinder (it being under cover), corn-cutter and other 
improved machinery, and Mr. Thomson also has a silo, the first and only one in 
Frankfort Township. The land includes valuable timber, pasture land watered by 
Hickory Creek, and fields of great fertility. Full-blooded and graded Short-
horn cattle are raised, as well as fine hogs, roadsters and draft horses. 
About fifteen head of horses are to be seen on the estate, and the herd of 
cattle numbers from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty head. Mr. 
Thomson ships his own stock, and in addition to that raised upon his place 
feeds about two car-loads of cattle per annum. Besides his fine estate here, 
he owns two hundred acres of land near Emmetsburg, Palo Alto County, Iowa. Mr. 
Thomson is a Scotchman of a lineage honorable and influential. His paternal 
grandfather, John Thomson, born in Stirling, Stirlingshire, was a carriage 
manufacturer in his native city, which was his place of abode until his death. 
He left three sons and two daughters. The sons were: John Thomson, D.D., of 
Paisley; George, the father of our subject; and William, also engaged in 
carriage manufacturing. His son George succeeded him in the business, 
enlarging it and engaging extensively in the manufacture of carriages, 
stagecoaches and railroad carriages. He made the carriages for the first 
railway in Scotland. He was known far and wide as an influential and wealthy 
citizen, and a pleasant and agreeable man. The following incident is a good 
instance of his prominence: As two travelers were passing through Stirling one 
asked the other the name of the city, and being told, inquired what it was 
noted for. The second traveler responded, "For its castle and George Thomson's 
carriage works." Mr. Thomson was a member of the Town Council and a Hammerman. 
He was a Liberal in politics, and a Presbyterian in religion, serving as Elder 
in his church. He died in 1867, at the age of fifty-six years. The maternal 
grandfather of our subject was Maj. Duncan MacLaren, a native of Perthshire. 
He belonged to the Twenty-fifth Regiment, "The King's Own Borderers," until he 
retired to Stirling, where he died in 1849. His daughter, Mary A. C., was born 
on the farm Dundurn, at St. Fillan's, Perthshire, but reared in Stirling, and 
there married to George Thomson. She breathed her last July 15, 1879, at the 
age of sixty-three years. She was the mother of six children, namely: Isabelle 
B., Mrs. H. M. Douglas, who died in Scotland; John, who died at Frankfort 
Station, this county; our subject; Mary, now Mrs. M. N. Parkhurst, of Green 
Castle, Ind.; George, who died in Pernambuco, Brazil; and James, who is 
proprietor of car works in Scotland. The gentleman with whose name we 
introduce this sketch was born in Stirling, Scotland, March 25, 1843, and had 
excellent school advantages. After being graduated at the High School in 
Stirling, he spent a year at Mt. Green van Academy. When fourteen years old he 
was apprenticed at carriage-making under his father, and at the age of twenty 
years took charge of the shops. When his father died he took entire charge of 
the carriage works, managing them until the youngest son became of age, when 
the property was divided. In May, 1875, our subject came to America on a 
visit, sailing from Glasgow on the steamer "Victoria," and twelve days later 
landed in New York. Thence he came at once to Chicago, and after remaining 
there some three months, spent about the same length of time in traveling in 
the State of Illinois. He finally determined to locate in Will County, and 
purchased one hundred and sixty-eight acres of land where he is now located, 
making a cash payment of $62.50 per acre. He engaged in farming and stock-
raising, increasing his landed estate until it reached its present acreage, 
and making nearly all the improvements upon it. He has displayed the sterling 
qualities which belong to the Scotch character, and is looked upon as a farmer 
and citizen who is a credit to the county in which he has made his home. On 
January 3, 1871, the rites of wedlock were celebrated between Mr. Thomson and 
Miss Isabelle Hunter Paton. This accomplished lady was born in Leith 
Edinburgh, July 24, 1842, and is a descendant of families whose members have 
acquired fame during the historic times of Scotland. She was educated under 
private instruction, modern classics and music being included in her course of 
study, and the graces of manner being by no means neglected. When she had 
arrived at womanhood she possessed a cultured mind, the charming manners of a 
well-bred gentlewoman, and the virtues of character which make and keep 
friends. Her happy union has been blessed by the birth of nine children, of 
whom the following survive: Lizzie A. Hunter, Charlotte, George, Duncan M., 
Jr., and Gladys May. The deceased are: Walter Paton, who died at the age of 
seven and one-half years; Isabel Beatrice, who died when one year old, and two 
who died unnamed in infancy. The surviving children still remain under the 
home roof, and display a marked degree of intelligence and quickness of 
perception. The father of Mrs. Thomson was Capt. Walter Paton, a native of 
Edinburgh, whose father had died when he was a babe. His mother's father, 
Andrew Bell, was a Jacobite, a follower and active supporter of Prince Charles 
Edward Stuart, the Pretender. He was a topographical engineer and surveyed the 
battlefield of Preston pans on the night before the battle. He was 
subsequently taken into favor again by the reigning house, and became quite 
intimate with the Prince of Wales. He did engraving for his royal friend, 
being considered the foremost engraver of Scotland. He was the originator of 
the Enclclopaedia Britannica. The Bells trace their ancestry back through some 
of the noble families of Scotland to the Scougalls of Scougall, who were 
personal friends of King James VI of Scotland or James I of England. Scougall 
was a fine artist, and did the painting for the royal families. The father of 
Mrs. Thomson was a sea captain, first having charge of a merchant vessel and 
afterward becoming an officer in the Royal Navy. He was surveyor for Lloyd's 
and also for the Board of Trade, and Master of the Trinity House, Leith, 
holding the latter office until about four years before his death. He then 
retired to Stirling, where he remained until a few months before his decease, 
which occurred while on a visit to his daughter at Greenock, in 1873. He was 
then eighty-four years old, having been born in 1789. He had conducted and 
commanded the vessel which conveyed to Germany King Charles X, of France, who 
had taken refuge in Scotland. The mother of Mrs. Thomson bore the maiden name 
of Elizabeth Hunter. She was born in Cupar-Fifeshire, and was a daughter of 
Hugh Hunter, an excise officer in Greenock. She was the second wife of Capt. 
Paton, to whom she bore but one child, now Mrs. Thomson. She entered into rest 
in 1866. She and her husband belonged to the United Presbyterian Church. The 
first marriage of Capt. Paton was blest by the birth of three children, viz.: 
Mrs. Ann Gilkison, Mrs. Euphemia Stephenson and Walter. The latter worked his 
way from cabin boy to captain, reaching the latter position when twenty-one, 
and becoming Commodore when twenty-five. He commanded the first mail steam 
packet that went to Canada, and was two years in the Crimean War as Commander 
of the steamship "Cleopatra," which carried troops to and from the seat of 
war. He had retired from the sea when he was importuned to take command of 
the "Great Eastern," and reluctantly consented, sailing as her Captain for 
about three years. He then retired the second time, making his home in 
Liverpool, where he died. His sisters are also deceased. Duncan M. Thomson is 
Master Mason in the Bruce and Thistle Lodge, Bannockburn, No. 312; Stirling 
Rock, Royal Arch Chapter, No. 2, in Stirling, Scotland. In politics he is a 
Democrat. He belongs to the Free Church of Scotland, which is one of the 
branches of Presbyterianism. Personally, he is jolly and openhearted, and his 
friends are many. On another page of this volume appears a view of the 
pleasant homestead of Mr. Thomson.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 
 


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/thomson531gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/

File size: 9.9 Kb