Biographical Sketch of John THOMSON, A.M.; Philadelphia Co., PA

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Philadelphia, A History of the City and its People: A Record of 225 Years
Philadelphia: S.H. Clark, 1912; Vol. 3, page 38.
Author, Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer
 
JOHN THOMSON, A.M.
     John Thomson, Scholar and essayist, who is widely known as librarian of the 
free
library of Philadelphia, was born in England and at an early age removed to 
London, where he acquired his education.  In 1881 he came to America, settling 
in Philadelphia, and through the intervening years has occupied positions which 
are indicative of broad knowledge and scholarly attainments.  For eight years he 
was private librarian to Clarence H. Clark of Philadelphia and for three years 
to Jay Gould of Irvington-on-Hudson.  He has been librarian of the free library 
at Philadelphia since its opening in 1894, at which time a single room in the 
city hall was sufficient to accommodate the library, which numbered fifteen 
hundred volumes, while Mr. Thomson and one other composed the library staff.  
Now the main library occupies a large building at Thirteenth and Locust and has 
twenty-two branches in different part of the city, with a total of over three 
hundred and sixty-six thousand books, while the names of one hundred and seventy 
employes are upon the pay roll.  They now circulate about two million books per 
year.  The establishment of fifteen more branches has been provided for and 
these are being located and completed as rapidly as possible.  In 1904 Mr. 
Thomson sought the cooperation of Andrew Carnegie and secured a gift of a 
million and a half dollars to be used in the erection of thirty branch libraries 
throughout the city.
     Outside of Philadelphia Mr. Thomson is widely known to the literary world 
as the author of various volumes which are extensively used as reference works, 
including a Descriptive Catalogue of the Library of C. H. Clark; Catalogue of 
the Library of Jay Gould; Descriptive Catalogues of the Works of Sir Walter 
Scott; and the Library of Old Authors, printed for the free library; and 
catalogues of the libraries of Thomas Dolan and the Rittenhouse Club of 
Philadelphia; a series of essays----one on Black Books, delivered before the 
Antiquarian Society; and a volume entitled Hither and Thither, it being a 
collection of essays on books, issued in book form by George G. Jacobs & Company 
in 1906.
     In 1909 the University of Pennsylvania conferred upon Mr. Thomson the 
honorary degree of Master of Arts.  His society and club relations are naturally 
with those organizations which promote intellectual culture and research.  He 
belongs to the American Library Association in which he has held several 
official positions, and for many years has been a member of the Pennsylvania 
library commission, to which he was appointed by the governor.  He was one of 
the founders of the Philobiblon Club in 1904 and has continuously served as its 
curator.  He is chairman of the library committee of the Art Club of 
Philadelphia, a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and an officer 
of the Society of the Sons of St. George and of the Albion Society.  He is 
likewise a member of the Franklin Inn Club of Philadelphia and the Rowfant Club 
of Cleveland.  He has for many years been a member of the council of the 
University Extension Society; a member of the council and vice president of the 
Home Teaching Society for the Blind; and a member of the council of the Society 
for the Promotion of Church Work among the Blind.  For the past eight years he 
has been accounting warden of the Church of the Annunciation (Protestant 
Episcopal) at Twelfth and Diamond streets.
     Mr. Thomas was married in London and has seven children still living.  His 
residence is at No. 2101 Camac street.