Ricca, Richard F.

Captain Alexander Thompson (1759-1809) was born in New York City to James Thompson and Margaret Ramsay. Alexander married Abigail Amelia DeHart in 1784, and they had six children. Thompson fought in the American Revolution, first in a militia company commanded by Silvanus Seely (1777), and later as a lieutenant in John Lamb's artillery (1779-1783). In 1786, Thompson became a captain in the New York Militia Regiment of Artillery, and in 1794, President George Washington commissioned him to the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers stationed at Governor's Island (1795). His next posts were at Fort Niagara (1798) in New York, and Fort Lernoult in Michigan Territory (1800). He returned to New York City in 1802, and in 1806 became the military storekeeper at West Point, where he aided in the construction of the military academy there. He died at West Point on September 28, 1809.

Colonel Alexander Ramsay Thompson (1793-1837) was born in New York and was the youngest son of Captain Alexander Thompson and Abigail DeHart. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1812, and was commissioned 1st lieutenant in the 6th Infantry. During the War of 1812, Thompson fought in Canada under General James Wilkinson, and participated in the Battle of Plattsburg. After the war, Thompson served as captain at Fort Niagara, and in 1816 he married Mary Waldron Nexsen (1790-1858). They had one son who died in infancy. Over the next 20 years, Thompson rose to the rank of colonel and served at forts in New York, Michigan, Kansas, Louisiana, and Florida. He was killed in the Battle of Okeechobee during the Seminole War in 1837.

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