Retired Navy commander Dave Thompson believes the Thompsons were the first white settlers in Vergennes Township
By Justin Tiemeyer - Contributing Writer
22 Jan. 2025
A few years back, retired Navy Commander, Dave Thompson, attended a lecture with a professor from Western Michigan University about the growth of West Michigan.
Thompson, who had been taught that his ancestors were the first pioneer family in Vergennes Township, asked the professor why he could not find any records of the Thompson name in the annals of Vergennes Township history.
According to Thompson’s telling, the professor laughed and asked, “Were they Catholic?” When Thompson responded that they were not, the professor continued, “Therein lies your problem. The area you are talking about was ultimately settled by white Catholics.”
The official records hold that Sylvester Hodges was the first to settle in Vergennes Township, his family having come from Jefferson County, New York in 1836. Hodges is also credited as being the first to plant apple trees in the area.
A document titled “The Vergennes Township Living History” published by The Vergennes Club in 1984 includes an essay by Melville Peter McPherson that lends credence to the Catholic hegemony view.
“In any case,” McPherson writes, “I was told that the Catholic Democrats tended to control the township for the decades after the Civil War. There were some close and tough political battles. For example, in 1894, Democrat Fred Hodges defeated Republican Peter McPherson (my great grandfather) by 105 to 101 votes… Great-grandfather was convinced that ‘the vote count was not right,’ but nevertheless, two years later, Fred Hodges and his slate defeated the Republicans even more decisively.”
According to Thompson, two of his ancestors, James and John Thompson, settled in Vergennes Township in 1833, about three years before the Hodges settled - and exactly 100 years before Thompson himself was born.
The Thompson brothers had taken a boat up the Grand River and squatted just north of Lowell, between Lincoln Lake and the Flat River. At the time, the only other European in the area was Daniel Marsac, who had arrived just south of town in 1829 and established a trading post. When the brothers told Marsac they were interested in settling, Marsac said, “You couldn’t find better land. You’ve got timber. You’ve got everything you need here.”
The Thompsons picked up some tools from the trading post and started to cut trees and clear plots. Between the two of them, they held 150 acres of land, upon which they built two pioneer cabins. These cabins, not those of Sylvester Hodges, were the first permanent residences in Vergennes Township, at least, according to Thompson’s account.
Around 1840, one of the brothers returned to England following the death of his wife. One night, there was a heavy downpour, and the remaining Thompsons heard what they thought was the sound of a baby from outside. They opened the door and found a tiny infant, on their doorstep, crying. During that time, there was an Odawa village nearby, with nearly 200 residents. The chief’s daughter was sick, and he had brought her to the Thompsons. The remaining brother was married to an English nurse, and she restored the chief’s daughter back to health. “The Thompsons became golden at that point,” Thompson recounted.
Thompson’s current home was nothing more than a lot when he, and his second wife, Barb, came out to look it over, and Thompson was the first to buy into the subdivision. When he did, he asked around to see if he could change the name of the street from Beckwith to Thompson. He cleared it with the developer, they had to see if there was already a Thompson Drive somewhere else, and the folks in charge asked, “I suppose you’ll want a sign?”
Sadly, Barb did not survive to see the house that Thompson put up on Thompson Drive. He lives there to this day with his third wife, Jan, and every detail of the house is catered to their needs. Thompson had the old fireplace mantle, from the first Thompson residence in Vergennes Township, restored and added to his own home. Thompson’s son hired a farmer with a flatbed truck to help him transport the stones from the foundation of that first house, and they remain there, encircling the turnaround of Thompson’s driveway.
As for the sign marking Thompson Drive, Thompson asked to have a second one made to hang above the doorway to his den. This one would read THOMPSON DR FIVT. “I’ll bet you’ve never seen a sign with FIVT on it,” Thompson said. “Can you guess what it stands for?” It stands for “First in Vergennes Township.”
The records of the gradual settlement of Vergennes Township may never be updated to reflect the contributions of the Thompson family toward the history of the area, and it may or may not have to do with Catholic dominance in the area, as the professor said, but here, in Thompson’s den, it will always remain true that the Thompson family were the first in Vergennes Township.
