Bio of THOMPSON, Thor (b.1877), Wright Co., MN ======================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Diane Hanson Submitted: April 2004 ========================================================================= 325 HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY Thor Thompson, a leading jeweler and music dealer, with headquarters at Buffalo and branch stores at Maple Lake and Annandale, was born in Pope county, this state, February 17, 1877, son of Thomas and Guro (Hanson) Thompson, natives of Norway, who were married in Telemarken, Norway, came to the United States in June, 1872, and settled in Pope county, Minnesota. In 1877 they homesteaded 160 acres in the town of Reno, Pope county, where they lived till their death. The mother died December 7, 1892, and the father January 21, 1902. Thor Thompson was reared on the home farm. He became a true Christian at the early age of fourteen years and at the age of nineteen he felt he was called to devote his time to religious work. With this high ideal in view he became a member of the Scandinavian Mission Society of the United States of America, and as a member of this society he spent over thirteen years as a missionary. Doing missionary work, he traveled in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and California. For a period of that time he served as settled pastor. Mr. Thompson was married in 1903 at Windom, Minn., to Ida Mary Lundman, a native of Westbrook, Cottonwood county, Minnesota, daughter of Peter G. and Anna (Carlson) Lundman, who were born in Sweden and married in the United States. In 1911 Mr. and Mrs. Lundman moved to Buffalo, where they still reside. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson made 326 HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY their home in Clarissa, Minn., for a short time and from there they moved to Buffalo, this state, and later to Minneapolis. On account of spending most of his time as traveling missionary, Mr. Thompson's health commenced to fail and he was obliged to engage in some other line of endeavor. Consequently he returned to Buffalo, in the spring of 1910, and in the fall of the same year he opened a jewelry and music store, starting on a small scale. By his honest dealing and courteous and. pleasant manners customers are made to feel their welcome, and owing to the fact that his goods are of the highest quality and his workmanship the very best, his establishment has grown to such an extent that there is not a business concern in Wright county that can show such a record. In the fall of 1913 Mr. Thompson established a branch store at Maple Lake, and placed his brother- in-law, Albin Lund- man, in charge. In May, 1914, he established a branch store at Annandale. Theodore Lundman, also a brother-in-law of Mr. Thompson, has charge of the store at this place. In all three stores is carried a full line of jewelry, pianos and musical instruments, typewriters, sewing machines, novelties and the like. Mr. Thompson is an authorized dealer in Edison phonographs in Maple Lake, and from his store in that place will fill orders for Edison goods to any part of the country. In need of anything in his line, everyone from a grown person to a little child can with confidence go to his store and be sure to get the right goods at the right price. He makes watch repairing a specialty, and he takes pride in repairing watches where others have failed. In addition to this Mr. Thompson is agent for the Twin City Fire Insurance Company, of Minneapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have four children, Stanley Rosswell, Archie Bernard, Myrtle Viola and Chester Irvin.