William George Thompson

William George Thompson, 1911

William George Thompson (born January 17, 1830 in Butler , Pennsylvania , †  April 2, 1911 in Kenwood Park , Iowa ) was an American politician . Between 1879 and 1883 he represented the state of Iowa in the US House of Representatives .

Career

William Thompson was the younger brother of John McCandless Thompson (1829-1903), who represented the state of Pennsylvania in Congress between 1873 and 1879 . William attended public schools in his home country including the Witherspoon Institute . After a subsequent law degree and his admission to the bar in 1853, he began to practice in his new profession in Marion, Iowa, where he had since moved. Between 1854 and 1856 he was a district attorney in Linn County . Politically, Thompson became a member of the Republican Party, founded in 1854 . He was a member of the Iowa Senate from 1856 to 1860 .

He served on the Union side as a major in an Iowa infantry regiment during the Civil War . After the war, he served six years as a district attorney in the eighth judicial district of Iowa. Between January and April 1879 he was presiding judge ( Chief Justice ) of the Supreme Court in the Idaho Territory . After the death of Congressman Rush Clark in April 1879, Thompson was elected in the necessary by-election in the fifth constituency of Iowa as his successor in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC . He took up this mandate on October 14, 1879. After a confirmation in the regular congressional elections of 1880, he could remain in Congress until March 3, 1883. He turned down another candidacy in 1882.

After his time in the House of Representatives, William Thompson remained politically active. He became a member of Marion's council. He was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1885 to 1887 and was a judge in the 18th District of Iowa from 1894 to 1906. From 1896 he was based in Kenwood Park. He died there on April 2, 1911.

Web links

• William George Thompson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William George Thompson in the database of Find a Grave (English)