58
N
EW
B
EGINNINGS
James McLean Thomson (Mac) was a hero to
his contemporaries and is a role model to his
descendants. Well-educated and well-positioned in a
family of distinction, Mac turned away from his family
connections and his pre-ordained profession of law
and politics to become an educator. His first attempt
in Charleston, South Carolina was aborted by war.
After the Civil War, Mac and his young wife
Molly moved to Mt. Carroll, Illinois where Mac was the
Principal of the Consolidated Graded Union Schools.
When Molly entered a difficult pregnancy, her younger
sister Jessie Slye joined the household in Mt. Carroll as
an all-around caretaker. In January 1869 Molly died in
childbirth and three days later their infant son, William
Henry Thomson, also passed.
In July of that same year, Mac arrived in St.
Louis, Missouri and was married to Jessie Slye, the
younger sister of his deceased wife Molly. Jessie and
Mac became parents to nine children. Their first
daughter, named Jane Edwardina after her two
grandmothers, was born in November of 1869.