ZACH THOMPSON was born July 7, 1844, at Lebanon, Wilson Co., Tenn. His father, Col. Robert E. Thompson, is a native of Bedford County, Tenn., born in 1822 and of Irish descent. He moved to Williamson County with his parents when a small boy and subsequently was educated at Lebanon, Wilson County, and began the practice of law at that place. He bas been a member of the Legislature several times and is a prominent lawyer of Lebanon.
He married Miss Mary Tolliver, a native of Lebanon, and to this union nine children were born, of whom the subject is the eldest. Zach Thompson was educated at Cumberland University, Lebanon, and upon passing sixteen years of age he enlisted in the Seventh Tennessee Confederate Infantry. He served in that regiment about eighteen months and was then transferred to the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry and with that command served until the close of the war. He then returned home and read law and practiced at Lebanon until 1873.
November 21, 1872, Miss Lettie Cannon, a native of Bedford County, became his wife. To this Union were born two children: Robert E., and Mary L., both living. In 1873 they moved upon the place where they now reside, which is about six miles northeast of Shelbyville. The farm consists of 820 acres, all under a good state of cultivation. In connection with farming Mr. Thompson has run a distillery for the last three years. In politics he is a stanch Democrat.
Transcribed by Kathryn Hopkins
Goodspeed Publishing Co. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Reminescences [Sic], Observations, Etc., Etc. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1988.