Lucy Matilda (Allen) Thompson b. 27 Apr. 1874, d. 15 Sept. 1968, 2nd wife of William Wayne Thompson, they were married on 3 Sept 1893.

When William Wayne Thompson's first wife Amelia died, he was left to raise seveal small children, all under the age of 10. You can just imagine what a hard task this was for a young man in those days.

William Wayne was a mail carrier and farmer in those days. In 1893 he started seeing a young woman from Roanoke, Alabama; Lucy Matilda Allen.

Lucy was from a very poor family, and verbal family history reveals that William Wayne use to carry food with him for the family when he went to see Lucy Matilda. (This information was told to Jewel Thompson by Eddie B. Thompson). Lucy was a school teacher at this time and only 19 years old at the time of their marriage, William Wayne was in his early 30's.

Lucy's father, James H. Allen b. abt 1845 Alabama was a farmer and cabinet maker by trade. Jewel Thompson stated that he invented the firt row binder. He built a minature exact replica of the row binder (about the size of a shoebox) which had all the moving parts that worked. He was very poor and didn't have the money for the patent so he entrusted his invention to a Methodist preacher. The preacher was not of reputable character and beat Papa Allen out of his invention.