Alexander Thomson (January 12, 1788 – August 2, 1848) was a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the mid-1820s, judge, and law professor. He opened a law school in Chambersburg, that became the law department of Marshall College.

Early life and education

Alexander Thomson was born at

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Franklin County, Pennsylvania Franklin County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 155,932 Its county seat is Chambersburg. Franklin County comprises the Chambersburg–Waynesboro, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, whi ...

, both of his parents died young. His father was Archibald Thomson, who served during the Revolutionary War, and died December 1801. His mother was Ann Thomson, who died after 1801. Alexander was the grandson of immigrant Alexander Thomson who arrived from Scotland in 1771 and settled with his wife and 12 children near

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the ...

. Thomson was the eldest of six children. His siblings were James, Elizabeth, Jane, Agnes, and Hannah. When he was 15, he was apprenticed as a

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feed ...

maker with his uncle, Andrew Thomson. He was a self-taught scholar of Latin and Greek languages. He was hired by Reverend Isaac Grier to be a tutor at his classical school in the Cumberland Valley. While there, he also furthered his education. After three years, he moved to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, where he taught languages at the Bedford Classical Academy.

Career

He studied law under Judge James Riddle in Bedford, was admitted to the bar in 1816, and commenced practice in

. He held several local offices and was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1823. In 1824, Thomson was elected to the Eighteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Tod. He was reelected to the Nineteenth Congress and served until May 1, 1826, when he resigned. He was immediately commissioned assistant judge of the District Court of the City and County of Lancaster, and the Counties of York and Dauphin. He was commissioned president judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, composed of Franklin, Bedford and Somerset Counties, on June 25, 1827 and served until 1841. Thomson moved to Chambersberg where he purchased a mansion that was used as his residence, offices for his private practices, and a law school. His instruction consisted of oral instructions and examinations. His school became the law department of Marshall College.

Personal life

Thomson was married on October 21, 1817 to Abigail Blythe of Bedford. After Abigal's death, he married Jane Graham, a daughter of General Graham of Stoystown. He had two daughters and five sons, one of whom was the railroad executive Frank Thomson. He died in Chambersburg in 1848. Interment in Falling Spring Presbyterian Cemetery.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Alexander Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania state court judges Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Politicians from Franklin County, Pennsylvania 1788 births 1848 deaths Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians