Talk:Theophilus Thompson

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the 1920 census
The 1920 census does not show him. It shows two people with that name, but with different birth years.

The 1880 census shows one born in 1856, instead of 1855.

The 1870 census see here lists one that seems to be him, born 1856, so probably that is him in the 1880 census.

Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 03:55, 12 October 2012 (UTC)
 * To add to the above, there's an article in The Post, Frederick Maryland, June 22, 1982, Page A-12, titled "Theophilus A Thompson – The mystery of a Chessmaster", which details one Robert R. Radcliff's frustrated quest to find more information about Thompson which includes the observation that a search through census records was fruitless.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk)


 * Yes, it is very frustrating because I (and probably most readers) am left wanting to know what really happened to him. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 15:10, 12 October 2012 (UTC)


 * and : the Theophilus Thompson from Anne Arundel County, Maryland does appear in later censuses, but his name was misspelled as "Theopolis", "Theopilus", and "Theopolus". There was no census in 1890 and I could not find him in 1900, but here he is in the 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940(!) censuses. Interestingly, with every decade his age is further overestimated: in 1910 he was supposed to be 56, in 1920 69, in 1930 80, and in 1940 91, leading to a final birth year estimate of 1848/49. Perhaps helpful for locating him is that in 1930 he is recorded to live in Churchton, Maryland, while in the 1940 census Churchton, Deale, Shady Side, and Sudley are mentioned (they're all nearby each other). The 1920s census is freely accessible at familysearch.com, giving the information of his wife and children, for example. Here's a link to the 1920 census page, though it does require signing in, and there appears to be a bug so that it refreshes multiple times before it stabilizes.
 * Unfortunately, no grave in Anne Arundel County of someone with a similar name born before 1860 appears yet at FindAGrave. I could also not find his wife and children.
 * Completely expected for someone growing up as a slave in the 1860s, Theophilus Thompson is written down as an illiterate in the 1920 census ("no" filled in for both "whether be able to read" and "whether be able to write"; his wife and children have a "yes" there). That seems somewhat at odds with being the author of a book. However, his book mostly contains diagrams with minimal text and he may have dictated his problems and solutions.Afasmit (talk) 02:07, 23 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Good work. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 03:19, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

The Chess Drum
On 19 April 2020 there was an article published which solved the puzzle about the life of Theophilus Thompson. He did not move to Anne Arundel County and he never worked at an oyster farm. His life ended on 12 Oct 1881. He died in his home town Frederick of tuberculosis. The death notice was published in the local newspaper, the "Frederick Examiner". Interestingly, Thompson’s instructor/mentor John K Hanshew had already died of TB, in 1879. The oyster farm worker Theophilus Thompson was a different person.77.118.144.118 (talk) 10:42, 5 June 2022 (UTC)