James Thompson, born in 1752, was the son of John and Judith (Bodine) Thompson. He emmigrated to the United States via Canada. According to the History of Butler County, James first settled in Pittsburg, PA, and later moved to Butler County. He purchased a farm in what is now Franklin Township, subsequently moved to Beaver County, and finally returned to Butler County, where he bought a 600 acre tract of land in Cherry Township. He lived there all the rest of his life. (However, according to the records of my grandfather, John A. Hogg, Jr., James and Sarah at some point kept a boarding house east of the Alleghenies prior to their move to Beaver County.)
James married Sarah Gilliland. Sarah, born in 1784, was the daughter of John and Sara (Gordon) Gilliland. Sara, via her father James Gordon, is a direct descendant of King James IV, King of Scots. (See the chart from Ancestry.com below.) Lady Janet Stewart, was one of eight illegitimate children fathered by James , who had four mistresses. Janet's mother was Isabel, daughter of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan. Janet was later legitimized, so we can breathe a sigh of relief. (Janet was briefly a mistress of King Henry II of France, by whom she had a legitimated son: Henri d'Angoulême.) After the death of her husband, Lord Malcolm Fleming, at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Janet was made governess to her half-niece, Mary Queen of Scots and traveled with Mary (age 6) to the Court of France. Of course, Mary was eventually married to the young king and returned to Scotland as a widow at the age of 19. At least two of our lady's daughters went to France as well. One of them was named Mary and was one of the "Four Marys". Another, Margaret (our direct descendant), was said to have studied witchcraft while abroad and to have been able to cast spells. Antonia Fraser's biography, "Mary Queen of Scots" is a good source of information on this line.
King James IV was the son of King James III and Queen Margaret. Margaret was the daughter of King Christian I and Queen Dorothy, rulers of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The marriage of Margaret to James III was was arranged by recommendation of the king of France to end the feud between Denmark and Scotland about the taxation of the Hebrides islands, a conflict that raged between 1426 and 1460.
James and Sarah had the following children:
| Mary Ann Thompson | Born October 10, 1802. Married John Davison. |
| Jane Thompson | Born December 16, 1804. Married Richard Baker. |
| Catherine Thompson | Born July 15, 1807. Married Richard Baker. |
| Sarah Thompson | Born July 16, 1809. Married Samuel Sherlock. |
| Elizabeth Thompson | Born January 28, 1812. Married John Irwin. |
| Moses Thompson | Born April 18, 1814. Married Jennie McCandless. |
| Mathilda Thompson | Born February 22, 1816. Died June 1, 1845 |
| John Thompson | Born May 3, 1818. Married Mary Ann Turk. |
| Arabella Thompson | Born April 22, 1822. Married Edwin Tinker. |
| James Thompson | Born May 7, 1823. Married Ann Coovert. Killed in the Civil War at the Battle of Gaines Mill on June 27, 1862. |
| Minerva Thompson | Born June 23, 1825. Married William Hall. |
| Andrew Thompson | Born February 1, 1828. Died january 12, 1862. |
| Emiline Thompson | Born April 23, 1829. Married Will Mortland. Died September 5, 1899 |
James died in 1861. Sarah died the following year, in 1862.
