Oliver Jesse Thompson was born on February 18, 1838, in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, to Thomas and Matilda Thompson. His father was a carpenter who owned $800 of real estate and $350 of personal property in 1860. He married Mary Catherine Rodgers on July 19, 1860, and they had at least eleven children: Anna, born around 1861; William, born around 1862; Robert, born around 1864; Sarah, born around 1866; Uriah, born around 1867; Mack, born around 1870; Mary, born around 1870; Jennie, born around 1874; Myrtle, born around 1877; Alice, born around 1879; and Parker, born around 1883. The family settled in Rose, Pennsylvania, and Thompson worked as a carpenter. By 1870, he owned $200 of real estate and $150 of personal property. He died on January 25, 1926.