THOMPSON, LOREN B.
- There is no doubt but that the business of farming is going to be one of the utmost importance during many years to come in the United States. The demand for foodstuffs perhaps will increase largely from the battle-scarred fields of foreign countries, while population, rapidly increasing at home, will require more and more of that which can only be produced by the skill, knowledge and industry of the American farmer. Upon the work and success of the agriculturists depend the substantial prosperity of any country.Loren B. Thompson is one of the Cass County farmers who has already demonstrated what one scientific agriculturist can accomplish. He was born at Virginia, Ill., May 27, 1876, a son of Walter M. and Fannie (Wyatt) Thompson, natives of Cass County, Ill., and Kentucky, respectively. The maternal grandparents, William M. and Nancy J. (Nance) Wyatt, were of Kentucky, while the paternal grandfather, James Thompson, was a native of Ireland. Both the Thompsons and Wyatts were very early settlers of Cass County, Ill. Members of both families entered land from the government and put it under cultivation. The parents after their marriage, located at Sugar Grove, near Virginia, where they lived a few years, later buying 320 acres of land in township 18, range 9. There the father resided, conducting the farm until August, 1890, when they moved to Virginia, he embarking in the implement business in 1893 but later retired, about 1906.
Loren B. Thompson was the only child of his parents, and was given an excellent education, being sent first to the district schools and the high school of Virginia, and then to the University of Illinois at Champaign. He also took a course at the Gem City Business College, at Quincy, Ill. Until 1900 he resided with his parents, but then went to Oregon Point to take charge of Woodland Farm, now consisting of 590 acres, owned by him and his father. Here he raises horses, cattle, mules, sheep, and hogs, and carries on general farming, his results being such as to justify his methods which are very advanced, many of them having been adopted as the outcome of personal experiments.
On September 12, 1905, Mr. Thompson was married to Jennie Fern Sharp, born in Mason City, Ill., June 24, 1884, a daughter of Royal William and Anna M. (Burnham) Sharp, natives of Lockport, N.Y., and Mason County, Ill., respectively. The paternal grandparents, William and Sarah Ann Sharp, were natives of New York State. Mrs. Thompson's father was a dentist by profession. She was educated in the public and high schools of Mason City, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson became the parents of two children: L. B., who was born December 23, 1909; and Frances Vaunel, who was born April 10, 1913. Since 1909, Mr. Thompson has been a steward in the Methodist church to which he belongs. He is a Democrat, and has been a school director since 1907.