One visitor really stood out last week among the many attendees at the 90th anniversary of the Boyce Thompson Institute: William Boyce Thompson, who came back from the dead to participate in the ceremony. He was, needless to say, hugely impressed with what the Institute had accomplished in the 84 years since last visiting the […]
TFH Exclusive: Owners Provide Inside Tour of Rancho Joaquina
Marc and Karen Goldblatt, the current owners of Rancho Joaquina, the estate built by my great grandfather in 1924-5, recently treated thompsongenealogy.com to an exclusive insider tour of the historic home, highlighting their extensive preservation efforts. OK, it was really like they were just nice enough to show me around. Maintaining the 6,709-square-foot home, much […]
New Discovery Confirms Rancho Joaquina’s Status as Historic Treasure
Why is Rancho Joaquina, my great grandfather’s 6,709-square-foot Adobe Revival home built in 1924-5, worthy of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Because it was built by my great grandfather J.E. Thompson, of course. No seriously, what’s the criteria? Why was the gorgeous Phoenix home listed in 1984? An ideal source recently […]
Legendary Phoenix Funnyman Remembered for His Madcap Antics
Dr. Bill Webber remembers one particularly snowy day when his close childhood friend, the late Bill Thompson, burst into The Web’s second-story bedroom. There were a couple feet of snow on the ground. “I’m going to give it a try,” announced Thompson, who went on to become the legendary Wallace Sneed, host of The Wallace […]
Boyce Thompson Cactus Really Does Bloom
Several trips to the Boyce Thompson Southwestern arboretum provided no evidence that the cactus named after my great uncle, Echinocereus boyce thompsonii, actually blooms. I even bought one in the visitors center and brought it home to Maryland, where it failed to bloom over several years but did succeed in ruining a couple nice shirts. […]
The Man from Asarco Once Visited St. Louis
Julius Kruttschnitt, Jr. (1885-1974), was so famous in Australia that a letter addressed “Julius Kruttschnitt, Australia” was likely to reach him. But in the late 1960s when the mining magnate visited the St. Louis suburb where my family lived, he was just another great grandfather visiting his great grand children. According to his biography, The Man from Asarco, […]
Judah P. Benjamin Was Forced to Leave His Desk Behind
When Judah P. Benjamin fled the country following the Civil War — he needed to skedaddle since he’d served as Secretary of State for the Confederacy — there was only so much he could take with him. First, the portly attorney could only fit so much on his horse, which he rode through the South, […]
Long-Lost Hugh Simmers Bracelet Recovered
Anne Oxley of Vermont earlier this year bought a bunch of sterling silver at an auction, thinking she’d sell it for scrap. Thankfully, she noticed that one bracelet had the name “Hugh Simmers” inscribed on the front. On the back another inscription read, “Good Luck From Kings Cinema Staff, Edinburgh. 10-10-17.” “I have always wanted […]