Thomas W. Thompson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1310-1312 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	THOMAS W. THOMPSON.—The name of Thompson is well known in the 
Black Hills, being identified, not only with the material development 
and various business interests of this part of the west, but also with 
its public and political affairs, Col. Charles F. Thompson, the honored 
father of the subject of this review, having been one of the broad-
minded men of South Dakota and an influential factor in matters 
concerning the vital interests of the state. Col. Thompson was born in 
Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1827. When a youth of 
eleven years, he accompanied his parents on their removal overland from 
New York City to Green county, Wisconsin, where he grew to manhood and 
received his education. During the war of the Rebellion he carried on an 
extensive grain and wool business in the city of Milwaukee, and later 
engaged in lumbering in different parts of Wisconsin, meeting with 
success in his various enterprises. He was reared a Republican and early 
became a prominent worker and a leader of the party in his adopted 
state, but tin 1872 supported Horace Greeley for President and was later 
the Democratic candidate for congress in 1874, but failed of election by 
a small majority. It was shortly after making this race that he went 
west to engage in the live-stock business, purchasing sheep in Iowa, and 
with his son, Thomas W., driving them to Colorado, but owing to a 
destructive disease which broke out among his flocks and the 
depredations of the Indians the enterprise ended disastrously. In the 
year 1876 Colonel Thompson moved to the Black Hills and, as already 
indicated, soon became interested in various business enterprises in 
this section, notable among which was the building of a toll road from 
Deadwood to Lead City. He also operated a grocery and provision store in 
the latter place, which had a large and lucrative patronage and in 1878 
he was appointed treasurer of Lawrence county, to fill out the term made 
vacant by the regular official proving a defaulter. In addition to the 
interests already enumerated, Colonel Thompson engaged quite extensively 
in mining and stock raising and for a number of years was one of the 
most widely known and highly respected public men of the Black Hills. He 
gave personal attention to the toll road, which proved a great financial 
success until the advent of the railroad, owned a two-thirds interest in 
the enterprise and was president of the company at the time of his 
death. He was one of the organizers and leading members of the Black 
Hills Pioneer Association, always manifested active interest in schools, 
churches and institutions for the advancement of the community's social 
and moral interests and manifested a lively regard for the welfare of 
his fellow men. The death of Colonel Thompson, which occurred on March 
31, 1892, was greatly deplored by the people among whom he exercised 
such a marked influence for good and his name and achievements will 
always occupy a conspicuous place in the history of the section of the 
country in which he finished his life work. 

	Thomas W. Thompson, the oldest and only son of Col. C. F. 
Thompson, was born in Green county, Wisconsin, on the 3d of January, 
1858. Blessed with good parentage and excellent home influence, he grew 
up with well-defined ideas of life and duty, and in the public schools 
received an education which, though by no means finished, was sound and 
practical, and, with the valuable knowledge subsequently acquired in 
various business capacities, was sufficient to enable him to carve out 
an eminently useful and honorable career. At the early age of sixteen 
years young Thompson, as already stated, accompanied his father to Iowa, 
thence drove sheep to Colorado, where he helped look after the flock 
until overtaken by the unfortunate conditions which resulted in almost 
complete financial loss. In the spring of 1876 he came with his father 
to the Black Hills and assisted in constructing the toll road alluded to 
in a preceding paragraph and later entered his father's store in Lead 
City, but did not continue very long in the latter capacity, preferring 
the free outdoor life of the freighter to the somewhat uninteresting 
occupation of selling goods. The summer following his arrival he made 
three trips from Deadwood to Sidney, as driver of a freight wagon, and 
when his father took charge of the county treasurer's office, he became 
the latter's deputy, continuing to discharge the duties of the position 
until the latter part of 1878. In January, 1879, he took up land in Big 
Bottom, between Whitewood and Crow creek, and in March following 
returned to Wisconsin, where, on May 1st, of the same year, he was 
united in marriage with Miss Ellen M. Wooster, a native of that state, 
the ceremony being solemnized in the town of Brodhead. 

	Immediately after this event Mr. Thompson and bride set up their 
domestic establishment on the ranch in Big Bottom and under auspicious 
circumstances began to make the most of their opportunities. He 
inaugurated a system of improvements, which soon made his place one of 
the most desirable in that section of the country and, giving his 
attention to farming and stock raising, principally cattle, in due time 
found himself on the high road to financial prosperity. He continued the 
live-stock industry with marked success until 1889, when he moved his 
family to Whitewood, and started a livery stable, which business he 
carried on in connection with the management of his ranch until 1892. In 
the latter year he sold his barn and seven years later disposed of his 
ranch and live-stock interests, receiving handsome prices for all of his 
properties. Meanwhile, in partnership with T. O. Mitchell. under the 
name of Mitchell & Thompson, he engaged in buying and shipping grain, 
erecting a large elevator in Whitewood, and this line of business the 
firm carried on until 1894, when the manufacture of flour was added. In 
the latter year the present large and finely equipped mill was built and 
since that time it has been kept running at its full capacity to supply 
the growing demand of the trade, doing both custom and merchant work. In 
connection with handling all kinds of grain and making flour, in both of 
which branches of business they lead competition in their part of the 
country, Messrs. Mitchell and Thompson are extensively engaged in cattle 
raising, making a specialty of blooded Herefords and other high-grade 
breeds. They own large tracts of fine grazing land in the vicinity of 
Whitewood, giving employment to considerable numbers of men and are 
recognized as the leading live-stock dealers of the district in which 
they operate. 

	Like his father before him, Mr. Thompson early manifested decided 
predilection for public affairs and he is today almost as widely known 
as a politician as a business man. He has long been a power, not only in 
the local Democracy, but in party matters of state import, having been 
largely instrumental in promoting the success of the ticket, besides 
being called to various positions requiring the exercise of ability and 
sound judgment. He was a member of the convention of 1889, which formed 
the present constitution of South Dakota, and took an active part in its 
deliberations, serving on several important committees, besides bearing 
his full share of the general discussions during the regular sessions of 
the body. He has also been his party's candidate for the principal 
county offices and for the legislature, but, by reason of the normally 
large Republican majority, was not always elected, yet he never becomes 
discouraged nor tires in pushing the cause which lies so near his heart. 
Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and for 
some time has been prominently identified with the Pioneer Association 
of the Black Hills. To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have been born two 
children, a daughter, Carrie E., and a son, Charles F.