Southampton-Culpeper County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Thompson, John W.B., 1946 

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FRANKLIN MAN, 50, SUCCUMBS 

John Thompson Ex-Town Manager 

  FRANKLIN, Va., Feb. 20. (AP) - John Wesley Bell Thompson, 50, former town 
manager of Franklin, died at his home today. 

  Thompson was the husband of Mattie Allen Thompson of Franklin and son of the 
late Samuel W. and Mary Bell Thompson, of Culpeper.  He was a graduate of 
Fishburne Military Academy at Waynesboro and of Washington and Lee University. 

  He moved to Franklin in 1927 to accept the position as town manager.  In 
1938, he became personnel director and purchasing agent for Chesapeake Camp 
Corporation. 

  Thompson was recently elected to the Franklin school board, succeeding the 
late Dr. R.H. Cobb. 

  Besides his widow he is survived by one daughter, Miss Martha Wilder 
Thompson, one son, J.W.B. Thompson, Jr., of Franklin; three sisters, Mrs. W.M. 
McCrah of Staunton, Mrs. R.A. Smith of Lexington, and Mrs. W.R. Talbott of 
Richmond. 

****************************************************************************** 

J. W. B. Thompson, Prominent Citizen, Dies Here Suddenly 

  John Wesley Bell Thompson, 50, one of Franklin's outstanding citizens, died 
suddenly at his residence early Wednesday morning, February 20. 

  Mr. Thompson, a native of Culpeper, was the son of the late Samuel W. and 
Mary Bell Thompson.  Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Mattie Allen Thompson; a 
daughter, Martha Wilder Thompson, a student at Converse College, Spartanburg, 
S.C.; a son, J.W.B. Thompson, Jr., of Franklin; three sisters, Mrs. W.M. 
McCray of Staunton, Mrs. R.A. Smith, of Lexington, and Mrs. W.R. Talbott, of 
Richmond; a niece, Mrs. James Alan Sherman, of Staunton; and a nephew, R.W. 
Smith, of Lexington. 

  As a boy he graduated from Fishbourne Military Academy.  Shortly thereafter 
he entered the army to serve his country during World War I, holding the 
commission of First Lieutenant.  After the war he completed his studies at 
Washington and Lee University from which he graduated in 1921. 

  His next years were spent mainly in North Carolina, where he was engaged in 
various engineering and construction projects.  While in North Carolina he met 
and married his wife, the former Miss Mattie Allen of Louisburg. 

  On November 1, 1927, he came to Franklin as Town Manager, and ten' years of 
outstanding service he resigned this position to become Purchasing Agent of 
Camp Manufacturing Company, Inc., which position he held at the time of his 
death. 

  During his nineteen years in Franklin he gave as much of his time to matters 
of civic interest.  He was a Past President of Rotary and the Community Fund. 
Mr. Thompson had recently been appointed to the school board to fill the 
vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Cobb.  It would be difficult to name any 
civic project with which he was not associated during his years in Franklin. 

  Mr. Thompson was a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church and was exceedingly 
active in the activities of the church.  He was Superintendent of the Sunday 
School, teacher of the senior Bible class and for many years a vestryman, 
serving as treasurer, warden and then registrar.  Bishop Brown appointed him 
a Lay Reader and he has regularly conducted services at St. Luke's Episcopal 
Church, Courtland. 

  During the recent war, he served as one of the principal officers in the 
Civilian Defense organization and served the War Department as Air Defense 
Coordinator for Southampton and the surrounding counties. 

  He was highly esteemed by the youth of the town, for they could always 
depend upon his full and enthusiastic support of any project in which they 
were interested.  On the night preceding his death he spent the evening, 
with a committee, going over plans for a swimming pool.  During his college 
days he attained a considerable reputation as an athlete and his interest in 
athletics remained with him.  He was a regular attendant at all games of 
sport held in the community. 

  His generous hospitality to strangers, his courage in the cause for right, 
his fidelity in friendship, his honesty and sincerity, his humility, his 
unquestioned loyalty and service to his country, his temperance, his ready 
wit, his cheerful companionship, his publicspiritedness, his constant devotion 
to his family, and his steadfast service to his church, make him justly 
deserve to be esteemed one of the most useful citizens of this community. 

  His body was carried to the Episcopal Church Wednesday evening and there a 
group of forty-five men representing his church, the civic clubs and the men 
with whom he worked, will, in groups, watch over him during the night with the 
members of the Womans Auxiliary in attendance during the day. 

  Funeral services were held at the church Thursday afternoon at 4:30 with the 
Rt. Rev. William A. Brown, Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, 
officiating.  On Friday morning the body will be carried to Culpeper, where at 
one o'clock, interment will take place, with the Rev. James Beckwith 
conducting the services at the grave. 

  Pallbearers will be C.C. Vaughan, III, John C. Parker, Jr., Edward Moyler, 
J.J. Finley, Sr., S.A. Lipscomb, Jr., Sol W. Rawls, Sr., Hugh D. Camp, Robert 
A. Pretlow, Jr., and W.M. Camp. 

[photo, captioned:] 
J. W. B. THOMPSON 


John Wesley Bell THOMPSON, Camp purchasing agent, WW-I veteran, 
   former Franklin town manager, 
b. 7 Feb 1896, Culpeper Co., d. 20 Feb 1946, at home, Franklin, 
interred in Masonic Cemetery*, Culpeper, 22 Feb 1946, 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 30, No. 295, Wed., Feb. 20, 1946, p. 3; 
"Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), Vol. 41, No. 17, Fri., Feb. 22, 1946, p. 1 

*Additional information: 

A photo of his gravestone - added by Be[heart]Polite - is posted with 
   Find a Grave Memorial #36434563. 

His parents & maternal grandparents are also buried there. 

D.Cert. 4918 (Franklin #14) 


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