Jacob Thompson

For other people with similar names, seeJacob Thompson (disambiguation).

Jacob Thompson
Thompson between 1855 and 1865, byMatthew Brady
5thUnited States Secretary of the Interior
In office March 10, 1857 – January 8, 1861
President	James Buchanan
Preceded by	Robert McClelland
Succeeded by	Caleb Smith
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi's1stdistrict
In office March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1851
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Benjamin D. Nabers
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi'sat-largedistrict
In office March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1847 Seat A
Preceded by	Thomas J. Word
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1810-05-15)May 15, 1810 Leasburg, North Carolina,U.S.
Died	March 24, 1885(1885-03-24)(aged 74) Memphis, Tennessee,U.S.
Resting place	Elmwood Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Catherine Jones
Education	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill(BA)
Signature

Jacob Thompson(May 15, 1810 – March 24, 1885) was theUnited States Secretary of the Interior,who resigned on the outbreak of theAmerican Civil Warand became the Inspector General of theConfederate States Army.

In 1864,Jefferson Davisasked Thompson to lead a delegation to Canada, where he appears to have been leader of theConfederate Secret Service.From here, he is known to have organised many anti-Union plots and was suspected of many more, including a possible meeting with Lincoln's assassin,John Wilkes Booth.

Union troops burned down his mansion inOxford, Mississippi,the hometown ofWilliam Faulkner,who based some of his fictional characters on Thompson.

Early life

Born inLeasburg, North Carolinain 1810 to Nicolas Thompson and Lucretia (van Hook) Thompson,Thompson attended Bingham Academy inOrange County, North Carolinaand later went on to graduate from theUniversity of North Carolinain 1831, where he was a member of thePhilanthropic Society.Afterwards, he served on the university faculty for a short time until he left to study law in 1832. He was admitted to the bar in 1834 and established a law practice inPontotoc, Mississippiin 1837, and made an unsuccessful bid to become the state attorney general.

President Buchanan and his Cabinet
From left to right: Jacob Thompson,Lewis Cass,John B. Floyd,James Buchanan,Howell Cobb,Isaac Toucey,Joseph HoltandJeremiah S. Black,(c. 1859)

Congressional years

Thompson's involvement in politics began in earnest as he was elected to the26th Congress,serving through to the31st Congress(1849–1851).

He was appointed to theUnited States Senatein 1845 but never received the commission, and the seat went toJoseph W. Chalmers.Thompson was the chairman of theCommittee on Indian Affairsin the29th Congress.He lost reelection to the32nd Congressand went back to practicing law in Mississippi. In 1853, whenPresident Franklin Pierceoffered him to become aU.S Consul to Havanahe refused it. Thompson lost the1855 senate electiontoJefferson Davis,but in 1857, newly electedPresidentJames Buchananappointed ThompsonUnited States Secretary of the Interiorfrom 1857 to 1861.

In the later years of theBuchanan administration,the cabinet members argued with one another on issues ofslaveryandsecession.In an 1859 speech, Thompson advanced a moderate unionist position. He denouncedRepublicansin the North who spoke of the slavery issue as an "irrepressible conflict" and Southern extremists who favored reopening theAtlantic slave trade.

Alignment with Confederacy

While still serving as Interior Secretary, Thompson was appointed by the state of Mississippi as a "secession commissioner" to North Carolina and tasked to convince that state to secede from the Union in the wake of the1860 presidential election.On December 17, he passed throughBaltimoreon the way to North Carolina. "Secretary Thompson has entered openly into the secession service, while professing still to serve the Federal authority," theNew York Timesreported on December 20.The next day, Thompson met with GovernorJohn W. EllisinRaleigh.He wrote an open letter to Ellis which was published in theRaileigh State Journalon December 20. Thompson wrote that the South faced "common humiliation and ruin" if it remained in the Union. He warned that a Northern "majority trained from infancy to hate our people and their institutions" would overthrow slavery. The result would be "the subjugation of our people."

Thompson resigned as Interior Secretary in January 1861. When he resigned,Horace Greeley'sNew-York Daily Tribunedenounced him as "a traitor", remarking, "Undertaking to overthrow the Government of which you are a sworn minister may be in accordance with the ideas of cotton-growing chivalry, but to common men cannot be made to appear creditable."

Thompson becameInspector Generalof theConfederate States Army.Though not a military man, Thompson later joined the army as an officer and served as an aide to GeneralP.G.T. Beauregardat theBattle of Shiloh.

He attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and was present at several other battles in theWestern Theaterof the war, including Corinth, Vicksburg, and Tupelo.

Commissioner in Canada

In March 1864,Jefferson Davisasked Thompson to lead a secret delegation in Canada. He accepted and arrived in Montreal in May of that year. Thompson appears to have been the leader ofConfederate Secret Serviceoperations in Canada.

From there, he directed a failed plot to free Confederate prisoners of war onJohnson's Island,offSandusky, Ohio,in September. He also arranged the purchase of a steamer, with the intention of arming it to harass shipping in theGreat Lakes.Regarded in the North as a schemer and conspirator, many devious plots were associated with his name, though much of this may have been public hysteria.

On June 13, 1864, Thompson met with former New York GovernorWashington HuntatNiagara Falls.According to the testimony of the Peace DemocratClement Vallandigham,Hunt met Thompson, talked to him about creating a Northwestern Confederacy, and obtained money for arms, which was routed to a subordinate. Thompson gaveBenjamin Wood,the owner of theNew York Daily News,money to purchase arms.

One plot was a planned burning ofNew York Cityon November 25, 1864 in retaliation for Union GeneralsPhilip SheridanandWilliam Tecumseh Sherman'sscorched-earthtactics in the South.

Some speculate thatJohn Wilkes Booth,who assassinatedAbraham Lincoln,met Thompson, but that has not been proved. (In the years after the war, Thompson worked hard to clear his name of involvement in the assassination.) His manor, called "Home Place," inOxford, Mississippiwas burned down byUniontroops in 1864.

Postwar

After theCivil War,Thompson fled to England and later returned to Canada as he waited for passions to cool in the United States. He eventually came home and settled inMemphis, Tennessee,to manage his extensive holdings. Thompson was later appointed to the board of theUniversity of the Southat Sewanee and was a great benefactor of it.

Death

Jacob Thompson died inMemphis, Tennesseeand was interred inElmwood Cemetery.Republicans and Union veterans condemned theGrover Clevelandadministration's lowering of flags tohalf-mastin Washington andSecretary of InteriorLucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II's closure of theDepartment of Interiorto honor Thompson after his death.

In popular culture

• A self-igniting liquid, referred to as "Greek fire" inSeason 1 Episodes 7–11of theBBC Americatelevision seriesCopper,is featured as part of a plot byConfederate Secret Serviceagents to burn downNew York City.

Bibliography

• Dew, Charles B.(2001).Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War.Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.ISBN978-08139-3945-2.

External links

• United States Congress."Jacob Thompson (id: T000203)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.Retrieved on 2009-5-12
• The Jacob Thompson Collection (MUM00266)can be found in the William and Marjorie Lewis Collection at the University of Mississippi in the Archives and Special Collections.
• "Jacob Thompson".Find a Grave.RetrievedMay 12,2009.