Townsman, 1991-04, Page 21Doris Murray is the fifth generation to live in the beautiful Thompson homestead in picturesque Avonton. The house is
filled with a sense of family and now with the new addition built last year it finally has room for everyone.
Home
Avonton house has
true feeling of family
by Bonnie Gropp
It's not easy to see Doris Murray's
home from the roadway, secluded as it
is by the undulating landscape of pic-
turesque Avonton, but when you
wend your way towards it, down the
long, twisting lane, you feel the
impact of its simplistic beauty more
intensely with each turn.
Doris is the fifth generation to occu-
py the stone house and she is well -
versed in its history. Through pictures
and genealogical records, she can
recount many details of her ancestry.
So vivid are her recollections one can
almost feel part of the era she revives
in her stories; an era of pinafores and
coveralls, an era of hard work and
simpler times.
Doris's great -great-grandfather, John
Thompson arrived in the Avonton
area, with his wife, an American of
Pennsylvania -Dutch descent in 1847.
The present house, which stands on
the north side of the Avon River was
built in 1858. The Murrays produced
eight offspring and it was to eldest
son Thomas that the farm was passed
down. Thomas and his bride, English
woman Ann Giles, had 13 children.
Their son David, Doris's grandfather,
married Martha Redford on Septem-
ber 23, 1864. They also had a large
family, with seven children. One of
these Thompson's, Roy, wed Isabell
Gibb in 1920 and sired three children,
The new kitchen in Doris's home is a
welcome addition. The entranceway,
behind leads onto a patio.
the oldest being Doris. Needless to
say, through the generations, the
Thompson house has been filled with
the energy of children and the love of
TOWNSMAN/APRIL-MAY 1991 19