The Quaker of Olden Time

This original contribution to American cultural geography concerns backwoods developmental dynamics in the Blue Ridge Uplands during the second half of the 18th century. It is a book about American folk life and the life and times of a certain woodland pioneer named Israel Thompson of a distinctive culture who transformed a temperate wooded area into farmland or a material culture. It traces his family from Anglo Irish Quaker roots through the Province of Pennsylvania to the Colony of Virginia and to his heirs, some of whom lived and prospered in Virginia, including his son and daughter-in-law, Jonah and Margaret Peyton Thompson of Alexandria. In his time, Jonah Thompson was one of the most respected citizens and one of the most active merchants in Northern Virginia. Original research, family papers, illustrations, insurance records, account sales of Israel’s personal estate, Israel’s last will and testament, real estate plats, endnotes, and an every name index add up to an excellent narrative history, rich with genealogical data, which will appeal to historians and genealogist alike.