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The University of Michigan Thomson, Edward H., 1810-1886 Papers |
Edward H. Thompson, born in 1810 at Kendall in Westmoreland, England, immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts with his parents in 1813. In the 1830's he studied law with Millard Fillmore, then practiced law in Buffalo, New York and Cleveland, Ohio before moving to Michigan in 1837 to serve as first prosecuting attorney of Lapeer County. In 1838 he moved to Flint, Michigan and began the law firm of Barstow and Thomson with John Barstow, who was then Registrar of the United States Land Office located there. After an 1845-1846 stint as prosecuting attorney of Genessee County, Thomson was elected state senator for Michigan's northern district, including the upper peninsula. During this period he associated with Dr. Douglas Houghton in beginning copper mining companies in the Lake Superior country.
While state senator, Thomson became Michigan Commissioner of Immigration; he travelled to Germany and was influential in the emigration of thousands of Germans to Michigan. In 1851 he served as United States Deputy Commissioner to the World's Exposition in London. Returning home, Thomson won election to the Michigan House of Representatives and during the Civil War was a member of the State Military Board. He made an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket in 1880. In his private life Thomson was a noted Shakespearean scholar, collector, and lecturer.
The Thomson papers represent only a few of the activities and interests of this active, influential man. They consist largely of documents related to the various mining companies and the two oil companies with which he was associated in the 1840s-1860s period (especially the British and Canadian Mining Company of Lake Superior), and legal papers concerning land investments in other areas of Michigan. Mortgages, deeds, quit-claims, company reports, geologists' and surveyors' reports, and stock certificates are numerous. Correspondence generally relates to company or land investments; there is no information on actual mining operations. Thomson's political career and personal life are very sparsely represented in the collection. A series of letters of introduction to and from various individuals in England and Germany, including U.S. Consul to Britain Abbott Lawrence, date from the 1850s. Another group of 1880s letters recommends Thomson for the position of U.S. Consul to Canada. There are a few official documents of interest, including a certificate for his appointment as Consul to Basle, Switzerland signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1837, an appointment as ensign in the New York light infantry by William Marcy, and passports from the 1850s. Personal documents include a 'memoranda of events in the life of Dr. Douglas Houghton', texts of a few legal and political speeches, notes on the eighteenth century history of the Thomson family (all undated), and an 1885 letter to T.R. Buckham reminiscing on Thomson's Democratic political career and seeking a patronage job to sustain him in his old age.
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