William Dean Thompson, Jr.
March 2, 1944 – June 4, 1998
Nelda McDonald Thompson
July 9, 1945
Children: Chris Thompson, Melissa Gilmore, Courtney Carter
5 Grandchildren, 1 Great Granddaughter
William Dean Thompson was born in the Bairds Mill community in 1944 to William Dean Sr. and Mildred Neal Thompson on the farm where Nelda still lives today. Nelda Ann Thompson was born on Grandpa McDonald’s Farm on Gilmore Hill Road in 1945 to J.A. and Louise Tripp McDonald. At age 5, Nelda moved to Beasley’s Bend where she helped her mother on the farm by milking the cows and helping in the garden.
William Dean’s father died in 1961 leaving he at age 17 and his brother, Terry age 9, to keep the farm going. He was a junior at Lebanon High School. Raising tobacco, Suffolk sheep, hogs, beef cows and milking before and after he went to school, he graduated in 1963 to begin farming full time. After graduation he worked with Mr. Berry and Mr. Goodall, soil conservationist for a short time, while building a dairy barn and milking.
In 1966 he married Nelda McDonald who was raised on a farm - she fit right in. She worked at Lebanon Bank for 4 years until the first child, Chris, was born in 1970. She then stayed home to raise the family. Melissa was born in 1972 and Courtney in 1974. Nelda placed a playpen in the barn to watch the children as she milked cows everyday. These children were literally raised in the barn.
Thompson Dairy has always been a family affair. A new dairy barn was built in the early 70’s along with a silo and free-stall barn. Crops of hay and silage were also grown on the farm. They also grew tobacco for many see that years. Nelda and the girls would rather milk cows any day!
Everyone in the family had jobs to do: William Dean and Chris mainly did crops – chopping silage, hay, feeding the herd on the 146 acres; Melissa and Courtney were feeding bottles, cleaning stalls and helped with the milking; Nelda was the homemaker, the accountant but she was the milkmaid most of the time.
William Dean and the children all took Artificial Insemination courses at Select Sires in Franklin, TN. Melissa and Courtney were the youngest girls to take the class at the age of 15. A top producing herd was built based off of this knowledge. Melissa’s love for registered Holsteins won her many awards for top producing cows. She carries her love on today by showing Holsteins at county fairs, state and national expos and passing this tradition along to her girls.
William Dean received the Agricultural Accomplishment Award in 1962. In 1969, he received the Outstanding Young Farmer from the Jaycees. In 1980, he received the Wilson County Outstanding Conservation Farmer. In 1985, he received the Wilson County Top Alfalfa Hay Producer. Multiple years they were recognized by DHIA with the Top Dairy Herd. Wm Dean was a deacon at Adams Grove Church of Christ. He was a board member of the following: Select Sires; Wilson Farmers Co-op; Wilson County Fair Board (William Dean and Nelda). He was a member of th e Holstein Association of America and Wilson County DHIA (William Dean served as President).
Nelda retired from Wilson County Schools in 2014 after 14 years as a special education assistant. She still attends Adams Grove Church.
The love of the farm and agriculture continues today with all three children continuing to be involved in agriculture. Chris all beef herd cow-calf operation and raises hay on both farms. Melissa and her family have beef cattle and produce hay. Courtney and her family continue to farm and have a beef cattle herd. All 3 children graduated from MTSU with agriculture degrees.
As you can see, the entire family is still involved in agriculture and hopes to continue. There is no better life!
