John Renshaw Thomson

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John Renshaw Thomson
United States Senator from New Jersey
In office March 4, 1853 – September 12, 1862
Preceded by	Robert F. Stockton
Succeeded by	Richard S. Field
Personal details
Born	(1800-09-25)September 25, 1800 Richard Stockton (father-in-law) Robert F. Stockton (brother-in-law) Aaron Ward (father-in-law)
Education	Princeton University (attended)
Occupation	Businessman

John Renshaw Thomson (September 25, 1800 – September 12, 1862) was an American merchant who had worked in the China Trade and supported emerging industries in New Jersey through his positions on a regional canal company and the

Life

Thomson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Edward Thomson (1771-1853) and Ann Renshaw (1773-1842). Among his siblings was a brother Richard Renshaw Thomson.

Their father and his brother, George Thomson, were shipowners extensively involved in the China Trade.^[1] Both the named sons eventually worked with their father in China.

Thomson attended the common schools in Princeton, New Jersey, and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). In 1817, Thomson went to China and assisted his father in the mercantile trade. The son Thomson was appointed as the United States Consul to Canton from 1823 to 1825. He succeeded his late brother Richard Renshaw Thomson, whose sudden death left the position vacant.

In 1825–26, the father Edward Thomson's business failed. His son returned to the United States and, in the winter of 1825, married Annis Stockton. She was a daughter of Senator

Thomson's wife Annis died in 1842. In 1845, he married Josephine A. Ward, daughter of Congressman Aaron Ward of New York. Thomson had no children with either wife.

Thomson was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation in early 1853 of his brother-in-law Robert F. Stockton. Thomson was re-elected in 1857, and altogether occupied the seat from March 4, 1853, until his death in Princeton, New Jersey in 1862.

He was chairman of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office (

He was interred in Princeton Cemetery. In 1878, his widow Josephine married Maryland governor Thomas Swann. Two years later they separated.

See also

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)

References