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Oliver G. Thompson was born in
Laurens county, S. C., November 23, 1843, the son of Ellia and Frances (
Garrett)
Thompson.
He was reared and received his education in his native county, and entered the
Confederate service on April 14, 1861, in Company G, Third South Carolina infantry, with which he served until disabled by wounds for further service.
He participated in the battles of Savage Station,
Malvern Hill,
Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville,
Chickamauga,
Knoxville,
Bean's Station,
Wilderness, and Spottsylvania Court House.
He was wounded at the last-named battle on May 8, 1864, and disabled for the rest of the war, by a shot in the head, the ball entering the left cheek and passing out near the left ear. He was also shot in the right hand at the same battle, and was slightly wounded at Savage Station.
His service was with
Kershaw's brigade,
McLaws' division,
Longstreet's corps, army of Northern Virginia.
After the war he returned to his home and began farming.
In 1888 he was elected county auditor, was re-elected in 1890, and again in 1892.
In 1894 he was elected probate judge, and re-elected to that office in 1898.
In 1897 he introduced in Camp Garlington, of which he is a member, a resolution looking to the improvement of our Southern histories.
This resolution was adopted, and carried up to the grand camp at
Nashville and referred to the historical committee.
He was married, March 11, 1864, to
Miss Harriet Howard, of
Greenville county, and they have eleven children living.
Captain William Taliaferro Thompson, pastor of the First Presbyterian church,
Charleston, was a gallant soldier of the
Confederacy and held the rank of captain in the Trans-
Mississippi forces.
He was born in
Frederick county, Va., and reared in
Missouri, whence he returned to
Virginia for his education in the State university.
But in March, 1861, in view of the ominous condition of the country, he returned to his
Missouri home, and in April enlisted as a private in the
St. Joseph Zouaves, commanded by
Capt. John Landis.
He was soon promoted to orderly-sergeant, and in December was appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of
Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, his uncle.
He served in this capacity until the summer of 1863, when he resigned to again become a private, this time in Company D, of the Eighth Missouri
