Jonathan Thompson (December 7, 1773 – December 30, 1846) was an American merchant, banker and politician.

Early life

Thompson was born on December 7, 1773, at

Sagtikos Manor Sagtikos Manor is a historic home located at West Bay Shore in Suffolk County, New York. It is a long, eclectic structure which has been extensively enlarged by additions and alterations during its long and active life as a residence. The ori ...

Islip Islip may refer to: Places England * Islip, Northamptonshire *Islip, Oxfordshire United States *Islip, New York, a town in Suffolk County ** Islip (hamlet), New York, located in the above town **Central Islip, New York, a hamlet and census-d ...

. He was the son of Isaac Thompson (1743-1816), judge of the Suffolk Court of Common Pleas, and member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

in 1795, and Mary (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Gardiner) Thompson (d. 1786), who wed in 1772. His brother was Abraham Gardiner Thompson. His paternal grandparents were Mary (née Woodhull) Thompson (a first cousin of Gen.

Nathaniel Woodhull General Nathaniel Woodhull (December 30, 1722 – September 20, 1776) was a leader of the New York Provincial Congress and a brigadier general of the New York Militia during the American Revolution. Biography Woodhull was born on December 30, 17 ...

) and Jonathan Thompson, a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for forty years. His maternal grandfather was Col. Abraham Gardiner of

East Hampton, New York The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States census, it had a total ...

, son of the lord of the manor of

Gardiners Island Gardiner's Island is a small island in the Town of East Hampton, New York, in Eastern Suffolk County. It is located in Gardiner's Bay between the two peninsulas at the east end of Long Island. It is long, wide and has of coastline. The isl ...

(descendants of

Lion Gardiner Lion Gardiner (1599–1663) was an English engineer and colonist who founded the first English settlement in New York, acquiring land on eastern Long Island. He had been working in the Netherlands and was hired to construct fortifications on the ...

Career

Along with his brother and Nathaniel Gardiner, he became a partner in Gardiner & Thompson, a New York City import firm trading in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. From 1813 on, he was a director of the

Bank of the Manhattan Company The Manhattan Company was a New York bank and holding company established on September 1, 1799. The company merged with Chase National Bank in 1955 to form the Chase Manhattan Bank. It is the oldest of the predecessor institutions that eventually ...

. The first peak of the transatlantic company "Black Ball Line" began in 1820 with packet-ships voyages as per schedule. The company was founded by Jeremia Thompson, Francis Thompson and others and one packet-sailing ships of the "Black Ball Line" had name ''"James Monroe" '', - named in honor of President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

. «A Tribute To A Dynasty. The Black Ball Line and The Pacific Northwest 1817~2006» (www.TacomaScene.com)
/ref> From March 1840 until his death, he was President of the

Political career

For ten consecutive years, he was the chairman of the

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

general committee. In 1813, he was appointed collector of direct taxes and duties by President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

until that role was abolished in 1819. In 1820, President

appointed Jonathan Thompson

Collector of the Port of New York The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import duties on foreign goods that entered the United States by ship at t ...

. He held this office until 1829, when he was removed by President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

and replaced by

Samuel Swartwout Samuel Swartwout (November 17, 1783 – November 21, 1856) was an American soldier, merchant, speculator, and politician. He is best known for his role in the Swartwout-Hoyt scandal, in which he was alleged to have embezzled $1,222,705.09 du ...

(later known for his role in the Swartwout-Hoyt scandal).

Personal life

On June 4, 1796, he was married Elizabeth Havens (1773-1868), daughter of James Havens of Shelter Island. Together, they were the parents of seven children, including: * David Thompson (1798–1871), who served as President of the

New York Life Insurance and Trust Company New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

who married Sarah Diodati Gardiner, a daughter of John Lion Gardiner, 7th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner's Island. * Junius Thompson, who died young. * George W. Thompson (1805–1884), who married Eliza Ann Prall. * Mary Gardiner Thompson (1807–1887), who married Hon. Samuel Buell Gardiner (1815–1882), 10th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner's Island and a son of John Lion Gardiner, in 1837. * Elizabeth Thompson, who married Alonzo Brown, Esq. * Dr. Abraham Gardiner Thompson (b. 1816). Thompson died in New York City on December 30, 1846.

Descendants

Through his daughter Mary, he was the grandfather of Sarah Griswold Gardiner (1848–1927), who married

John Alexander Tyler John Alexander "Alex" Tyler (April 7, 1848 – September 1, 1883) was the second son of President John Tyler and his second wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler. He was born at the Tyler estate, Sherwood Forest Plantation, near Charles City, Virginia. Du ...

(1848–1883), second son of President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president dire ...

and his second wife,

Julia Gardiner Tyler Julia Tyler ( ''née'' Gardiner; May 4, 1820 – July 10, 1889) was the second wife of John Tyler, who was the tenth president of the United States. As such, she served as the first lady of the United States from June 26, 1844, to March 4, 184 ...

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Jonathan 1773 births 1846 deaths Collectors of the Port of New York People from Islip (town), New York American bankers