Daniel Pierce Thompson (October 1, 1795 – June 6, 1868) was an American author and lawyer who served as

Vermont Secretary of State The secretary of state of Vermont is one of five cabinet-level constitutional officers in the U.S. state of Vermont which are elected every two years. The secretary of state is fourth (behind the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House of Repr ...

and was

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

's most famous novelist prior to

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

Early life

Daniel P. Thompson was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts on October 1, 1795 and moved to

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

with his family in 1800. He was raised in

Berlin, Vermont Berlin ( ) is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States, founded in 1763. The population was 2,849 at the 2020 census. Being the town between Barre and Montpelier, the two largest cities in the region, much of the commercial busines ...

, and graduated from Middlebury College in 1820. He then moved to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, where he taught school, studied law, and attained admission to the bar before returning to Vermont to become an attorney in Montpelier.

Legal and political career

Thompson was Washington County Register of Probate from 1825 to 1830, and Engrossing Clerk of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1830 to 1833 and 1834 to 1836. Thompson was active in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

before moving to the Liberty Party and becoming involved in the abolition movement. From 1849 to 1856 he edited the anti-slavery ''Green Mountain Freeman''

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

. He was Washington County

Probate Judge A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts o ...

from 1837 to 1840 and again from 1841 to 1842, and he compiled 1835's ''Laws of Vermont''. In 1838 he was a founder of the

Vermont Historical Society The Vermont Historical Society (VHS) was founded in 1838 to preserve and record the cultural history of the US state of Vermont. Headquartered in the old Spaulding School Building in Barre, the Vermont History Center is home to the Vermont His ...

. He served as Washington County Clerk from 1844 to 1846. From 1853 to 1855 he was

. After having been affiliated with the Whig Party, he joined the Republican Party at its founding in the 1850s.

Career as author

Influenced by James Fenimore Cooper and

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

, he wrote historical adventure and romance novels, many of which feature life in

. In 1835 he authore
''May Martin, or the Money Diggers''
Its favorable reception established his popularity, and he specialized in Vermont during the

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

and Revolutionary War eras. His writings include a satirizing of Anti-Masonry
''The Adventures of Timothy Peacock''
(1835)
''The Green Mountain Boys''
(1840)
''Locke Amsden, or the Schoolmaster''
(1845)
''The Shaker Lovers, and Other Tales''
(1848)
''Lucy Hosmer, or the Guardian and the Ghost''
(1849)
''The Rangers, or the Tory's Daughter''
(1850)
''The Tales of the Green Mountains''
(1852)
''Gaut Gurley, a Tale of the Umbagog''
(1857)
''The Doomed Chief, or King Philip''
(1860); an
''Centeola''
(1864). Thompson also authored 1859'
''History of the Town of Montpelier''
New England's most famous novelist of the 1840s and 1850s, Thompson's work was responsible for imprinting the story of Ethan Allen and the

Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which late ...

in the public's consciousness. His ability to tell action and adventure stories plainly and quickly made his novels popular well into the 1900s, and many of his books are still in print.

Death and burial

Thompson died in Montpelier on June 6, 1868. He was buried at

Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as man ...

in Montpelier.

Family

He and Eunice Knight Robinson of Troy, Vermont married in 1831 and they had five children—George Robinson (1834–1871); Alma (1837–1883), the wife of George B. Burrows; William P. (1839–1873); Frances (1842–1858); and Greenleaf (1850–1897); and Charles Sumner (1851–1852). Thompson was an ancestor of

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Justice

William O. Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views, and is often ci ...

.Edwin Palmer Hoyt, William O. Douglas: A Biography, 1979, page 3

References

External links

* * * , retrieved January 3, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Daniel Pierce 1795 births 1868 deaths 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American novelists American abolitionists American male novelists Burials at Green Mount Cemetery (Montpelier, Vermont) Lawyers from Boston Middlebury College alumni People from Montpelier, Vermont Secretaries of State of Vermont Vermont lawyers Vermont Democrats Vermont Whigs Vermont Libertyites Vermont Republicans Vermont state court judges Vermont in fiction Novelists from Vermont 19th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers