William Thompson (Iowa politician)

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For other people named William Thompson, see William Thompson (disambiguation).
William Thompson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1847 – June 29, 1850
Preceded byAt-large Representatives Serranus Clinton Hastings and Shepherd Leffler
Succeeded byDaniel F. Miller
Personal details
BornNovember 10, 1813
Fayette County, Pennsylvania, US
DiedOctober 6, 1897(1897-10-06) (aged 84)
Tacoma, Washington, US
Political partyDemocratic
Professionlawyer, clerk, newspaperman, longtime Army officer

William Thompson (November 10, 1813 – October 6, 1897), a lawyer, clerk, newspaperman, longtime Army officer, and, was the first person elected to Congress from Iowa's 1st congressional district. His race for re-election in 1848 was the only Iowa U.S. House election to be revoted. After Thompson's opponent, Whig candidate Daniel F. Miller, challenged Thompson's apparent victory, Congress ordered his seat vacated and a special election conducted, which Thompson lost. He was a cavalry officer in the Union Army during the Civil War, and in the regular army for ten years thereafter.

Thompson was born in

constitutional convention
.

Iowa was admitted to the union effective December 1846, and given two seats in the U.S. House. The First

Thirtieth Congress (from December 1847 to March 1849).[2] Thompson, running as a Democrat, defeated Whig Party candidate J.B. Browne by 544 votes.[2] The legality of Iowa's 1847 congressional elections was questioned because Iowa Governor Ansel Briggs never signed the law authorizing the elections, but the U.S. House nevertheless seated the winners.[2]

In 1848, Thompson was renominated, and ran in the August general election against Whig Party member Daniel F. Miller. Thompson was certified as the winner by the Iowa Secretary of State, and upon presenting his credentials to the U.S. House was initially allowed to continue representing his district. In the

Mormons in Kanesville, the House declared Thompson's seat vacant on June 29, 1850.[3]
The special election was a rematch of the 1848 election, but the second time, Miller defeated Thompson. In all, Thompson served in Congress from December 1847 to June 29, 1850.

For several years he was editor of the

1st Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry
. On May 18, 1863, he was promoted to major, and on June 20, 1864, to colonel. On March 13, 1865, as the end of the war approached, he became a brevetted brigadier general of the Volunteers.

When the Civil War ended, Thompson's military service did not. On July 28, 1866, at the request of General

Battle of Little Big Horn
.

Thompson died in Tacoma, Washington and was buried there.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Benjamin F. Gue, "History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (William Thompson), p. 262 (1902).
  2. ^ a b c Louis B. Schmidt, "History of Congressional Elections of Iowa," Iowa Journal of History and Politics 10, pp. 463, 485-500 (Oct. 1912).
  3. ^ Schmidt, Louis B., "The Miller-Thompson Election Contest," Iowa Journal of History and Politics 12, pp. 34-127 (Jan. 1914).
  • United States Congress. "William Thompson (id: T000223)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
District created
 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Iowa's 1st congressional district
March 3, 1847 – June 29, 1850 		Succeeded by
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