Just a few words by way of introduction, My name is Donald A. Greene, a great grandson of Mary Alice Thompson nee Filson. In 1956 I read in the "Saturday Review of Literature" a review of the book, John Filson of Kentucke by John Walton. I knew that I had a familial Filson relationship to John Filson via my great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel Filson. I went to the local bookstore and ordered Mr. Walton's book. Once I received it; I read it with great zeal discovering that John Filson had written The Discovery and Settlement of Kentucke which included the first published map of Kentucky plus publishing an autobiographical account of Daniel Boone's life as recounted by Boone to John Filson. The Walton book was passed around and read by all of my immediate family.
In the fall of 2007, my son-in-law, Timothy Meehan, happened to visit the Filson website and found the 1909 Filson Reunion picture that is on this site. He wanted to know if I had ever seen this picture before - I had not. But looking at it I found it quite amazing as I personally knew a lot of the people pictured or I knew of them as some had died before I was born. I was mystified by the Stratton family on the right side of the picture -- who are they and are they Filson related? I checked the Filson/Thompson genealogy records that I inherited from my mother - No Strattons. I checked the notes on the Filson Family which John Walton compiled when he was writing his book - No Strattons.
Finally I put an inquiry up on this website trying to find out how the Strattons are Filson related if so. Just a day or two after making this inquiry Betty Thompson Wallace responded with the answer. I was ecstatic to have this mystery resolved. See the answer below in my documentation of the relationships of the people in the 1909 Filson Reunion picture.
About a week later Ralph Henselman, the webmaster of the Filson site, contacted me to let me know that he had scanned the site and had no Stratton information to provide to me. I told him that the research portion of the site was sparse but that family members probably had agreat deal of information. The problem being they do not know how to provide the information. In response Ralph set up a website for me to provide what information I have - so that is how I come to be here. I welcome any corrections or additions that anyone may provide.
I am attaching a picture of my great grandmother, Mary Alice Thompson nee Filson. The picture is slightly blurred but contains from left to right, my grandmother, Lillie Thompson, my aunt, Athelia B. Eby nee Thompson, my great grandmother Mary Alice Thompson nee Filson (whom I always knew as Nanaw), unknown boy, and behind the boy with hat my grandfather, Fred Irvin Thompson. There was always a big to do relative to Nanaw's birthday. She is holding a cake so I believe the event was celebrating her birthday. I am not sure of the specific date of this picture, but I believe it was in the vicinity of when she sold her property which would be in the early 1950s.
To read Samuel Filson's Handwritten Last Will & Testament click here.
To read Samuel Filson's Transcribed Last Will & Testament click here.
To read about the 1909 Filson Reunion Relationships click here.
To read about the Thompson History click here.
As far as I have been able to determine there is no comprehensive documentation of those individuals buried in the Filson Cemetery. Hence, this project was born to provide such documentation. On July 5, 2008 after the annual Filson Reunion my daughter, son-in-law, four grandchildren, my wife and I went to the Filson Cemetery. My son-in-law Timothy Meehan took pictures of almost all the gravestones (a couple were skipped because they were totally unreadable). The unreadable ones may be retrievable by taking rubbings, but we did not have the necessary material required for rubbings. This avenue will be pursued at a later date. Also we know that not all individuals buried there have gravestones but some grave plots are marked with field stones. An inquiry has been made seeking information on these individuls also. I hope to add that information when and if it is obtained. In those instances where the gravestone simply has birth and death years I have added the month and day if that information was obtainable from other sources. This list is just the first iteration; I hope to continue improving this list. As you peruse the list, if you click on the individuals name the photograph of the gravestone will be viewable.
To view the Filson Cemetery Internments click here.