Who was TERSIE THOMPSON?

1860 Census Campbell Township, Taney County, Missouri Family 450

William Lawrence...43...m...Kentucky Nancy Lawrence...30...f...Tennessee Elizabeth Lawrence...18...f...MO Margaret Lawrence ...16...f...MO Randolph Lawrence...13...m...MO Rachel Lawrence...11...f...MO Allis Lawrence...9...f...MO Nancey Lawrence...6...f...MO Francis Lawrence...4...f...MO Sarah Lawrence...74...f...VA Tierce Thompson...18...f...Tennessee

1870 Census Campbell Township, Douglas County, Missouri Lawrence, William...53...Farmer...Kentucky " Nancy...44...Keeping house...Tennessee Broomfield, Alice...20...Missouri " William R....3/12 b. Mar...Missouri Thompson, Tersie...23...f...Tennessee

Tersie is a nickname for Teresa. She is in three census records with Nancy Bozarth Lawrence--1850-1870. However, she is not with Nancy in 1880. Hoping that Tersie had married, I searched through the 1880 census for her name paired with the right birth information. I have searched for Tercie everywhere in 1880 and found a few married women named Tersie who were born in Tennessee about 1839. However, the data did not fit. Once it appeared I had found her in Tersie Roark. However, Tersie and John Roark were already married and parents in 1860 when my Tersie was still at home.

I now believe Tersie is Nancy's daughter. I don't know if Nancy was married or not when Tersie was born, so I don't know Nancy's maiden name right now. For 5 years I thought Nancy and Hester were Thompsons. Right now the only firm fact I have is that Tersie was a Thompson. In Tennessee in 1840, Hester and her husband, John McDowell, lived near an Asa Thompson family with a young man and woman (20-29 years old) and one little girl. I need to see if this is Asa, Nancy, and Tersie, but it will be very hard to find out because Asa evidently died as a young man before the 1850 census. He is so young that he would not have been listed in the 1830 census.

When was Tercie born? In 1850 she is listed as being 11; in 1860, she's 18 and in 1870 Tersie is 23. So her possible birth years are 1839, 1842, or 1847. I'm going to estimate she was born in 1839 because people are more aware of the age of a young child than a young woman.