The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 700
A portrait of Emory Thompson appears in this publication.

EMORY THOMPSON.

Prominent among the energetic, farsighted and successful business men of Yakima
county is Emory Thompson, who has important ranching interests near Sunnyside
but whose business activities have also extended into various other lines which
have constituted important elements in the growth and progress of the district
in which he has operated. He was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, August 1, 1865,
a son of Emory and Sarah A. (Cross) Thompson. The father's birth occurred in
Summit county, Ohio, which was also the birthplace of the mother, and the former
was a son of William Thompson, one of the pioneer residents of the Buckeye
state. The maternal grandfather was John D. Cross, who was born in Connecticut
and established his home in Ohio during the period when it was a frontier
state. Emory Thompson, Sr., devoted his life to the occupation of farming and to
the operation of a sawmill. He continued a resident of Ohio until his death and
his widow still lives in that state at the age of eighty-one years. She has
survived her husband for a number of years, for his death occurred on the 1st of
April, 1907, when he was seventy-four years of age. In their family were
thirteen children, of whom the eldest, Adelbert, is deceased. The others are:
Elbridge, a farmer residing at Hartford, Ohio; Nora, the wife of Sanford E.
Ferrell, living at Ravenna, Ohio; Cora, twin sister of Nora, and the wife of
Ichabod Payne, of Indiana; Sadie E., who died at the age of twenty-eight years;
Alice E., the wife of Charles Logan, living at Farmdale, Ohio; Emory, of this
review; J. D., a farmer at Kinsman, Ohio; Sanford F., also living at Kinsman,
Ohio; Blanche, the wife of Clare True, of Pennsylvania; Pearl M., the wife of
Wilbur McCormick, of Kinsman, Ohio; Norman W., residing upon the old home farm
at Kinsman; and Ralph W., who was a farther of Ohio but has now passed away.

Emory Thompson, whose name introduces this review, supplemented his public
school education by two years' study in the Grove City College of Pennsylvania.
After his education was completed he began farming in his native state, where he
continued to engage in the cultivation of rented land until 1894. During that
period he carefully saved his earnings and in the year mentioned he removed to
the northwest with Yakima county as his destination. Here he made investment of
his earnings in twenty acres of land southeast of Sunnyside, which at that time
was a wild tract covered with sagebrush. He has since concentrated his efforts
and attention upon the development of ranch property in this section of the
state. He planted a part of his first tract to orchards and a part to alfalfa
but later retired from fruit raising. At length he sold his original land and in
1900 bought eighty acres two and a half miles southeast of Sunnyside. This, too,
was at the time producing a crop of sagebrush but nothing else. With
characteristic energy he began its development and has added to it many modern
improvements, converting it into one of the excellent farm properties of the
district. He raises hay and potatoes and annually gathers good crops. He built a
fine residence upon his place in 1903 and he has also put up good barns and
other substantial outbuildings which furnish ample shelter to grain and stock.
The progressiveness of his methods renders him one of the leading ranchmen of
this part of the valley. In addition to his other business interests Mr.
Thompson is a director of the First National Bank of Sunnyside, also a director
of the Yakima Valley Potato Growers' Association and a director and the
vice-president of the Sunnyside Telephone Company. He was one of the organizers
of both the telephone company and the bank. He is a man of sound business
judgment and keen discrimination and readily recognizes the value of each
business opportunity. He also sees with equal clearness the obstacles between
him and the successful accomplishment of a purpose and by reason of this is
enabled to form his plans and direct his actions so that such obstacles and
difficulties shall be readily overcome.

On the 29th of November, 1888, while a resident of Ohio, Mr. Thompson was
married to Miss Carrie D. Morse, who was born in Williamsfield, Ohio, a daughter
of A. L. and Mary P. (Treat) Morse, the former a native of Ohio, while the
latter was born in New York. Her father was a son of Ansel Morse, who was born
in Connecticut and was a veteran of the War of 1812, in which he served as a
musician. He belonged to one of the early colonial families long established on
American soil. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Thompson was an own cousin of
Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph. The parents of Mrs. Thompson
were farming people. the father devoting his entire life to agricultural
pursuits, but both he and his wife have now passed away. Mrs. Thompson has one
brother, Grant A. Morse, still living in Ohio, and three sisters: Flora, who is
the wife of Edgar A. Rose of Williamsfield, Ohio, now residing at Sunnyside,
Washington; Elsie, who married Clyde L. Smith of Ohio and also lives at
Sunnyside; and Ida. the wife of Burke Rice, whose home is at Andover, Ohio. To
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have been born three children: Celia M., who was
graduated from the Washington State College at Pullman with the class of 1916
and is now successfully engaged in teaching; Howard, who was drowned at the age
of sixteen years; and Elmer Eugene, who married Florence George and resides at
Sunnyside.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Congregational church and in
politics lie maintains an independent course, supporting men and measures rather
than party. He is recognized as one of the leading citizens of his part of the
valley. He has done much to improve roads and he takes an active and helpful
interest in everything pertaining to the public welfare. He passed the first
petition around for the Yellowstone Trail, which will be paved in 1919 and
passes his house. He secured the signatures of one hundred and eight farmers and
at the meeting the resolution passed without a dissenting vote. His father was a
man who enjoyed a reputation for unsullied integrity, his word being as good as
his bond, and the life record of both his father and mother has ever been an
inspiration to Emory Thompson, who has ever endeavored to follow in their
footsteps, living up to the highest standards in all things. His course has
indeed been a commendable one, commanding for him the respect, confidence and
good will of all with whom he has been associated.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.