Gonzales Inquirer"Because of declining membership, church officials have decided to no longer have services. Of the 16 members in the church, half have had to move out of the area to live with relatives elsewhere because of their advancing years, according to Eva Boscamp, secretary of the church.
A final service is scheduled to be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the church, which is located on County Road 443 north from U.S. 90 between Waelder and Highway 304.
But just because services are no longer going to be held doesn't mean there won't be activity at the historic church.
Boscamp said to make sure the church remains part of the community, it is being deeded to the Thompsonville Cemetery Association. That includes the building and the land.
The cemetery association has agreed to maintain the building and see that it never gets sold or moved from its present location.
She said it is the intention of the cemetery association to use the church for weddings, funerals and celebrations of all kinds.
Thompsonville once had quite a bit of trade, including a blacksmith, cotton gin, school, three churches and a store. However, over the years, it has become more of a settlement whose "residents take pride in its history and seek to maintain what is left," said Boscamp.
Here's an article written in 1986 which gives a history of Thompsonville:
The Village of Thompsonville was founded sometime after 1847 when a Mr. Clement Allen was awarded a patent from the state of Texas for 4,605 acres of land on Jan. 18, 1847.
From 1848 to 1871, Allen sold parcels of land to the following men: James Hall, P.C. Dumont, W.R. Halford, J.B. Hill, George A. Kerr, Morris Ward, Cornelius Ennis, John T. Harcourt, George E. Lynch and Preston Thompson. The Village of Thompsonville came to acquire its name from Preston Thompson who owned the first general store.
By tracing the sale of Clement Allen land, other families who were in the area can be determined. Some of these were: M.D. McBryde, J.F. McCullery, J.W. Blair, W. Harral, J.S. Hancock, Frank P. Webb, Porter, Roberts, Rason, Atkinson and Reed families.
The early life of Thompsonville told by Mrs. Mamie Gunn Johnson was one of hardship. She remembers hearing her parents tell how the first settlers built their homes and barns.
Trees were cut to build log cabins and the cracks between the logs filled with moss and mud. These log cabins were temporary housing, used until more permanent housing could be arranged.
Mrs. Johnson stated in her account of the early settlers that after 1860, the railroad reached Columbus and many of their supplies, including those needed for construction, were shipped to Columbus by rail and hauled to Thompsonville by ox cart.
The growth of the area depended on "immigrants" as they were called. In 1881 an article in the Gonzales Inquirer states, "We have a few immigrants from across the briny deep, hailing, we believe, from England."
It appears that most of the earlier settlers of Thompsonville were Methodists. The first religious services were held in the homes of the settlers until a permanent church was built. From notes supplied by Mrs. Gunn Johnson, complied from old Methodist Quarterly Conference records, it appears that the Methodist Church at Thompsonville was originally a part of what was known as the Thompsonville Circuit. Two of the most remembered circuit preachers were Rev. Alexander (Sandy) Gunn and O.S. Farwell.
The Baptist Church was formed in 1863 and believed to have lasted until 1925. The membership of the Thompsonville Baptist Church varied, but the highest known membership was in 1916 when it boasted 59 members.
The Pentecostal or Nazarene Church of Thompsonville began in 1914. The church remained active for 15 years.
U.S. Postal records reveal that an application for a post office in Thompsonville was filed in April 1869.The mail was delivered once a week, however, three years later on Oct. 29, 1874, the Thompsonville Post Office was discontinued and the nearest post office was in Waelder.
Thompsonville was not denied a post office forever. In 1905, another application was filed and granted under the name Cranz. The new post office was located in the Porter Store.
Public school records places the first school in Thompsonville in 1876, although conflicting reports state a school was held in the Masonic building.
In addition to three churches and a high school, Thompsonville had a gin and a grist mill, two stores and a blacksmith shop. The earliest merchants were Preston Thompson, Dr. Clay Nickols, Mr. McClain, Buster Ham, Howell Porter and the Gunn Family.
The first ginner in the community was George Goenig in the 20s. This gin was later owned by Rodney Kelso. Bill jones owned and operated a blacksmith and barber shop.
The blacksmith shop was taken over by Clarence Griffin in 1923. Griffin settled in Thompsonville with his young family and purchased the blacksmith shop from Jones, while his oldest brother, Raymond Griffin, took over the barber shop.
During the busy season, Griffin's workload as the village smithy often increased to 16 hours a day. He would work all day and often by gasoline lantern at night. Griffin, in anticipation of the opening of Highway 90, moved the shop south of Waelder Road and installed a gasoline pump. Flexible as always, he left the blacksmith business and became a mechanic for the age of the "new' Model T."