Sources differ as to the parentage of the son, Richard Davis THOMPSON.  One says his parents are the above; another says his parents were Samuel H. & Matilda (BRADLEY) THOMPSON.  If Richard Davis THOMPSON was truly born in 1811 in Christian Co., then there are two reasons to doubt that Richard and Frances (WATTS) THOMPSON are his parents. 

1.  The vast majority of children are born where their parents are living at the time (a few are born on journeys); yet, I can find no evidence of a Richard THOMPSON living in Christian Co. in 1811, the year Richard Davis was supposedly born.  The only Richard THOMPSON in the records of Christian Co. before 1830 shows up as what appears to be an absentee landlord from 1815-20.

2.  Back then, children usually lived with their parents until married.  Yet, their other son, John W. THOMPSON, was married in 1844 in Mecklenburg Co., VA, not Christian Co., KY, strongly suggesting that Richard and Frances had not left Virginia.

Neither of these facts make it impossible for Richard and Frances to be the parents of Richard Davis — one can weave a complicated scenario of events to make it possible — but these facts, alone, give one serious doubts that they are.  And with a competing scenario that is highly plausible, the alternative becomes all the more attractive.  Samuel THOMPSON has a clear and consistent presence in Christian Co., KY, from at least 1806 to 1823, and he was in Morgan Co., IL, by 1830, where Richard Davis was married in 1839.

1.  Jordan R. Dodd, ed.  1993.  Virginia Marriages: Early to 1850.  Liahona Research, Orem, UT (Broderbund CD-229) :

Thompson, Richard

Watts, Frances Anne

Jun 14, 1802

Mecklenburg Co., VA

2.  The Last Will and Testament of John Thompson, Sr.  John W. Thompson, grandson of the testator, was "of age" (at least 18) when the will was written in 1829, so he had to have been born before 1811. 

3.  Thompson Nexus, vol. 3, no. 3, Winter, 1992, p. 11.  Archives of the THOMPSON-L mailing list (online at RootsWeb.com).  Says parents of Richard Davis Thompson are Samuel H. and Matilda S. (BRADLEY) THOMPSON. 

4.  Emails from Hilda Hood.