Husband John Brooks Compton 1 2
Born: 17 Nov 1835 - Meadville, Crawford Co, PA 2
Christened:
Died: 13 Jun 1898 2
Buried:
Father: Col. David Compton (1810- ) 2 3
Mother: Eliza Brooks ( -Aft 1885) 3
Marriage: 12 Nov 1863 1
• Residence: : Meadville, Crawford Co, PA.
Wife Fannie Elizabeth Kingsley 1 2
Born: 15 Dec 1835 - Becket, Berkshire Co, MA 2
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Russell R. Kingsley (1811-1870) 2
Mother: Elizabeth Kelso (1812-1867) 2
Children
1 F Gertrude Elizabeth Compton 2
Born: 20 Dec 1867 - Meadville, Crawford Co, PA 2
Christened:
Died: Aft 1919
Buried:
Spouse: Joseph Chapman Gilmore (1866-Aft 1919) 4
Marr: 11 Oct 1893 - Meadville, Crawford Co, PA 2
2 F Kate Leora Compton 5
Born: Abt 1869
Christened:
Died: 24 Dec 1881 5
Cause of Death: Diphtheria
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
3 M Herbert K. Compton 5
Born:
Christened:
Died: in infancy
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
4 M Charles K. Compton 5
Born:
Christened:
Died: in infancy
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
General Notes: Husband - John Brooks Compton
He was born in Mead Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and grew up on the farm of his father, Col. David Compton, attending district school and Meadville Academy. He then became a teacher, and by that means secured funds to prosecute his studies at Allegheny College, which he entered in the spring of 1858, and continued a student till his senior year, when he enlisted as a private in the three months' service, joining the Meadville Grays, which were stationed at Pittsburgh. He was soon promoted to Sergeant. While in camp, Sergt. Compton wrote his commencement oration, and obtained a furlough for the purpose of graduating with his class. He committed to memory his oration on his way home in a stage coach, and appeared with his class, June, 1861, in uniform, at the request of his class and the faculty. Soon after graduation he joined the famous Eighty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, as a private, and became First Sergeant of Company F. At the battle of Gaines' Mill, June 27, 1862, he was wounded, but led his company five days after, at the battle of Malvern Hill, taking thirty-two men into the fight, of whom eight were killed, and fourteen wounded, himself among the latter. He was mentioned for gallantry in the dispatches of the Division Commander, and was sent to the hospital at Portsmouth, Virginia, where he remained until September, most of the time in a critical condition. He afterward went to Alexandria, and then to Washington, where he was discharged on account of disability from wounds and sickness. Returning home, after a partial recovery of health, he began the study of medicine under Dr. Edward Ellis, of Meadville, but he had to abandon it on account of continued ill health, and at the suggestion of friends he became a candidate for the Republican nomination for Prothonotary of the county. Being successful, he was elected in the fall of 1863 by 2,000 majority, and served the entire term. During that time he commanded a company of Emergency Men, serving until the capture of Morgan and the battle of Gettysburg. He was appointed by Gov. Curtin a Commissioner to take the vote of the State soldiers in the field for the election of 1864, being assigned to Washington City and vicinity. At the general canvass of the same year he was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and was elected Secretary of the Board. In this capacity all the tickets, poll books, etc., had to pass through his hands. These were sent in due time by express, but were tampered with at Baltimore, or somewhere on the way, so that in order to obtain them, the Harrisburg officials were telegraphed for a new supply and the Secretary was obliged, with barely time, to visit Washington with a guard, and watch the precious material till safely landed at City Point, and thus saved to the state and nation the vote of the Pennsylvania soldiers in the entire Army of the Potomac. During his Prothonotaryship he was entered as a law student by the late Darwin A. Finney, and was admitted to practice June 11, 1868. He was three times appointed attorney for the county, and was solicitor for the Meadville Loan Association and other corporations. He was appointed by Gov. Hartranft an Aid-de-Camp on his military staff, with the rank of Colonel, and served through his two terms, when he was re-appointed on his staff, as Major-General of the state. He was on duty during the Centennial Encampment of the Pennsylvania National Guard, and on August 10, the date of the great military parade at Philadelphia, was appointed Officer of the Day. As a politician Col. Compton was ever an active supporter of the Republican party, both in council and on the stump. He was Chairman of the Republican County Committee in 1872, and was Senatorial Delegate to the State Convention in 1873. In 1874 he received the nomination of his party as a candidate for the Legislature by a larger number of votes than any of his colleagues. This was the year of the great political revolution in the county, the entire ticket being defeated, but Col. Compton getting the highest vote of any Republican candidate. In 1873 he presided as Chairman of the meeting of the Return Judges of the primary elections. In 1881 he was elected District Attorney of the Thirteenth District, consisting of Crawford County, by the largest majority of any candidate on the Republican ticket. Col. Compton was a member of the Board of Directors of the Meadville City Hospital, also Past Master Workman of Jefferson Lodge, No. 1, A. O. U. W.; Past Noble Grand of Crawford Lodge, No. 734, I. O. O. F; for several terms President and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Odd Fellows' Home of western Pennsylvania; Commander of Sergeant Peiffer Post, No. 331, G. A. R. He and his family were members of the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was a Trustee and Secretary. [HCC 1885, 721]