Mr. C.V. Compton of San Antonio, Texas was the foremost author/researcher of Compton family ancestry in America. His monthly publication Comptonology provided the framework for most other Compton researchers. His goal was to provide information on all Compton lines in the United States. By far his publication has been the most influential, important and quoted work pertaining to Compton ancestry. Unfortunately, many Compton researchers took the information provided in Comptonology as the final word without doing their own research and investigation.
Statements in Comptonology about the groups of Compton’s in early Southwest Virginia Volume 3 Number 11 – “In the Clinch River Region of Southwest Virginia we find three distinct groups of Compton’s… The Maryland Compton’s represented by the descendants of John Compton Sr. of Tazewell County. The New Jersey family of Compton’s by Abraham Compton I thru his son Abraham Compton II of Scott County, Va. The third group is represented by the descendants of the Revolutionary War veteran James Compton who came from Annapolis, Md via North Carolina to Russell County, Va.” C.V. Compton would be very proud that now with Y-DNA research we have proven he was correct about the three groups of Compton’s in early Southwest Virginia as each group as he presented has a different Y-DNA make-up. Note: C.V. Compton was a descendant of the Abraham Compton II family of Scott County, Virginia
Statements in Comptonology pertaining to Jeremiah Compton Sr. Volume 2 Number 5 – “His [Abraham Compton II] brother may have been called Jeremiah Compton who lived and died on Thompson Creek, Russell County Virginia.” This is the first mention of Jeremiah Compton Sr. in Comptonology. Here we find C.V. Compton is merely guessing that Jeremiah Compton Sr. could have been a brother to Abraham Compton II. Compton researchers from this point forward always assumed Abraham Compton II and Jeremiah Compton Sr. were brothers. Interestingly, C.V. Compton never considers the two other Compton men who are also living on Thompson Creek at the same time, David and Thomas Compton, as possible brothers to Jeremiah.
Volume 2 Number 7 – “There was another son [of Abraham Compton Sr] but his name cannot be ascertained, but the the best information available was that his name was Jeremiah Compton who lived most of his life near Mary and John Brickey on Thompson Creek.”
Throughout Comptonology, C.V. Compton never provided any solid evidence that linked Abraham Compton II to Jeremiah Compton Sr. Although almost every Compton researcher from that time forward stated the two men were brothers. Now we know the rest of the story, Jeremiah Compton Sr. was not the brother of Abraham Compton II based on proven Y-DNA research and a strong paper trail.
Statements in Comptonology pertaining to David and Thomas Compton Volume 9 Number 9 – “ It is likely from the 1813 Russell County Tax list that David and Thomas Compton were likely brothers both sons of Revolutionary War Hero [James Compton].” This statement has been overlooked by Compton researchers throughout the years. C.V. Compton surmises this relationship early on although he did not follow through with any research. Now with the current evidence available it appears C.V. Compton was correct in the above statement.
Volume 4 Number 3 – statement by H.S. Compton great grandson of David Compton “Stephen Compton [confirmed son of David Compton] was my grandfather and he was the 4th son of my great grandfather [confirmed Stephen was the 4th son of David Compton]. One of the daughters of my great grandfather named Celia was killed at a mill near Maiden Spring [this fact was confirmed via the David Compton family letter collection although the daughter who was killed at the mill was named Nancy, not Celia]. My father, John Drake Compton, lived in Russell County where I was born but moved to Pike County KY when I was very small and other Comptons lived near him and seemed to have been closely related to father. One of them was William Compton [William F Compton of Thomas Compton] called Uncle Billie who died about 1895…”
This statement by H.S. Compton has been overlooked for years nonetheless H.S. Compton is clearly stating the David Compton line is closely related to the Thomas Compton line. H.S. Compton’s father, John Drake Compton, moved to the Island Creek section of Pike County per census data. This is where Lee and William F Compton (Uncle Billie as H.S. Compton recollected) resided, both children of Thomas Compton. As H.S. Compton stated, he knew there was some relationship to the Compton family that already was living on Island Creek before they came.
Statements in Comptonology pertaining to Benjamin Wallace Compton Volume 3 Number 11 – statement by Hannibal Compton “My Grandfather Benjamin Wallace Compton and his brother [John] Allen Compton were two of the sons of John and Rebecca Wallis Compton…. Grandfather Benjamin Wallace Compton had three brothers maybe more, viz [John] Allen married Sallie Johnson and lived in Buchanan County. William, called Uncle Billie, settled in Pike County, Ky and married Polly Sword, and Uncle Lee [Compton] married Alcy Damron and lived in Pike County.”
These infamous words my Hannibal Compton, an amateur genealogist himself, has led researchers astray since this appeared in 1946. No further researcher was done and for nearly 60 years, Compton genealogists and even the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) accepted Hannibal Compton’s statement as fact. It seems as if Hannibal Compton was correct in naming the brothers of Benjamin Wallace Compton but was incorrect in naming his father.
At that time Hannibal was unable to investigate the Russell County, Virginia personal property tax lists where John Allen, Lee, Benjamin Wallace, and William F are found first matriculating out of the Thomas Compton household. And now Y-DNA research has eliminated these men as belonging to the Tazewell County Compton group as Hannibal Compton infamously stated!
As a side note, Benjamin Wallace Compton had a great granddaughter name Olive Compton whose memories were captured in 2001. Olive stated her grandpa “Ben and his brother Allen were bound boys and didn’t know who their parents were.” Olive also relayed some Civil War history about Benjamin Wallace Compton. On the death certificate of Benjamin Wallace, no parents are listed only Russell County, Virginia as his birthplace.
Finally, the most prolific researcher of the Benjamin Wallace Compton is Mrs. Margarette Ratliff. She has spent over thirty years researching this line and has always held that the father of Benjamin Wallace Compton was John Compton III of Tazewell as Hannibal Compton stated in Comptonology. Now the foremost researcher of Benjamin Wallace Compton feels certain with the revelation of Y-DNA and the tax list evidence, the true father is in fact Thomas Compton.