	Garvin County County Seat - Pauls Valley
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Thompson/Hughs/Blankenship/Prater

Return to Pioneer Index
(ancestors of Kathryn Thompson Presley and Carolyn Thompson Arnold)
Submitted by Kathryn Thompson Presley

Thomas Almon Thompson and Catherine Elizabeth Hughs Thompson moved to
Garvin County in 1881 from Logan County, Arkansas. He was descended
from David and Eleanor Thompson of Ulster Plantation in Ireland. His
great grandfather, William Thompson fought in the Revolutionary War at
King's Mountain and Eutaw Springs. Thomas Almon's father, John Dial
Thompson, of Walker County Georgia had died in the Civil War along with four
of his brothers. After the war, John Dial's widow, Nancy Jane Vaughn
Thompson, moved with her young children to Yell County, Arkansas. She
was part Cherokee and may have had relatives living in the Cherokee
Nation West.

Thomas Almon and Catherine Thompson lived in the Klondike community for
a time, but later moved to McCarty where they reared 12 children: Henry
(m. Florence Bowen), Nancy Adaline (m. John Roady of Ft. Arbuckle),
Lula (m. Walter Teel), John Dial (m. Lorena Hickman), Sarah Elizabeth (m.
Jim Hatman), William Clayton (m. Orba ?), Walter Lee (m. Betty Ruth
Blankenship), Mary Jane (Married Everett Spradlin), Thomas Bryan (M. Vera
Brown), Roxie Mae (m. Tom Townsend of Wynnewood), infant son who died
with measles, Edna Alois (m. Palmer Williams).

Thomas Almon and Catherine, Walter and Ruth, Clayton, Nancy Adaline and
Johnny, Henry and Florence, Sarah, Edna and Palmer are buried at Mt.
Olivet.

Catherine Elizabeth's parents, Lawrence and Adaline Groves Hughs lived
in Garvin County for a time. One of their sons was a sheriff's deputy
(Joe or Robert?) and their daughter, Roxie Hughs, was County
Superintendent of Schools in Garvin County.

------------------------

Samuel Newton Blankenship and Eugenie Hortense Crenshaw Blankenship
moved to Garvin County in 1881 from Cooke County, Texas. They were both
members of early American families from Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri,
and Arkansas. Samuel Newton's cousins were the Lees who were involved in
the Lee-Peacock feud in North Texas after the Civil War. Our family
tradition says the young couple fled to the Chickasaw Nation to get out of
that conflict. In any event, they reared seven children in Klondike
community: Price (m. Hal Russell), Frank (Doc) (m. Edna Thomas) , Charles
(Bud) (m. Emma?), Guy (m. Lena Blankenship), Bailey (m. LaVada Lewis,
second wife, Verdie Shipley) Bernice (m. Ed Driskill), Burney (m. Essie
Colsen), Roy who died in infancy.

Samuel Newton and Hortense Blankenship, with various family members are
buried in Klondike Cemetery.

_______

Lena Jane Blankenship who married Guy Blankenship (son of Samuel Newton
and Hortense) was the daughter of King and Rebecca Prater. The Praters
lived in Klondike Community before moving on to Blanchard. They were
also descended from pioneer
families. Lena's great great grandfather, Solomon Yeager, fought in the
Revolutionary War and was later a judge in Tennessee. His great
grandfather, Nicholas Jager, emigrated from his home in Oberzell, Germany.
Lena's maternal grandfather, Lemuel Yeager, was county judge and coroner
in Evening Shade, Arkansas. On her father's side, she was descended
from Welsh royalty including Coel Hen (Old King Cole), and the infamous
Princess Nesta. One branch of her family traces its roots to Norman
invaders in 1066 and beyond that to Charlemagne. The first American member
of this family was Thomas Prather (Prater), Esquire, from Wiltshire,
England. He emigrated to Norfolk, Virginia in 1621.

Lena Jane married Guy Blankenship in 1903. They reared six children in
the Klondike Community: Ruby Viola (m. Frank Jones), Ruth (m. Walter
Lee Thompson), Howard (M. Mary Ellen Tomlinson), Milas (M. Irene Wicker
of Ardmore), Barney (m. Vivan Wayland), and Paula Jean (Polly) (m. Wiley
Gross).

Buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery are Guy and Lena, Ruby and Frank, Ruth
and Walter, Milas and Irene, Barney and Vivian.

This document was last modified on:

God Bless America

Garvin County Coordinator: Rebecca Maloney

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