Thomson - Alexander
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal 12-21-1900
The board of trustees of Wabash College desire to place on
record its grateful remembrance of the services of Alexander
THOMSON who departed this life August 5, 1900. Mr. Thomson was a
trustee of the college from 1840 to 1898 and treasurer of the
institution until 1891. During all this period his duties were
faithfully and conscientiously performed. He died full of years
and with a reputation without spot or blemish. He rests from his
labors and his works will follow him.
Source: H. W. Beckwith, 1881 History of Montgomery County, Indiana
(Chicago: Beers) p 214
ALEXANDER THOMSON, retired, Crawfordsville, was born January
15, 1812, in Hamilton County, Ohio, in a small town called
Springfield, since Springdale.
His parents, John and Nancy (Steele) Thomson, were among the
early settlers of Crawfordsville, having arrived here some time
in 1834. John Thomson was born in Pennsylvania, whither his
grandparents (Thomsons) had come from Ireland. He then spent some
years in Kentucky, and in 1800 emigrated to Ohio, where he spent
many years in the Presbyterian ministry in Miami County. Here he
labored in the early work of the Church for thirty years, until
he came to Crawfordsville. His life was unusually long, his death
not occurring until he reached his eighty-sixth year. His wife,
Mrs. Nancy Thomson, died in her seventy-fifth year. Both were
highly respected citizens and earnest Christian people. Alexander
Thomson, son of the above, passed many of his youthful days on a
farm, but improved a part of each year in storing knowledge and
fitting himself for a career of future usefulness. He attended
Miami University. In 1835, on account of the sickness of his
brother, he was called home to Crawfordsville, and although he
had reached the senior year, he never returned to his alma mater.
For several years Mr. Thomson clerked, then engaged in the County
clerk's office, and afterward studied law, which he made his
profession for thirty years, becoming one of the eminent members
of the Crawfordsville bar. For nearly thirty years he has been
connected with the board of trustees of Wabash College, and is at
present financial agent and treasurer of the same, which position
he has filled for fifteen years. Politically, Mr. Thomson was a
whig, but with the advent of republicanism he became a staunch
supporter of that party. On December 31, 1840, he was married to
Miss Crawford, daughter of Alex. Crawford, an early settler of
this city. She was born in 1812. They have three children:
Everett B., Henry R. and Edwin P. All the family are members of
the Presbyterian Church. Everett B., now a Presbyterian minister,
is located at Piqua, Ohio. Henry R., professor of chemistry, is
in Wabash College, and Edwin P. is studying for the Presbyterian
ministry.
Source: Portrait & Biographical Record of Montgomery, Parke & Fountain counties, Indiana. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1893, p 707
ALEXANDER THOMSON, an honored pioneer of Crawfordsville and
for many years one of the most influential and successful
attorneys of Montgomery County, is a native of Ohio and was born
in Springfield January 15, 1812. In his boyhood he was the
recipient of excellent educational advantages, of which he
availed himself to the utmost. For a time he conducted his
studies in Miami University, leaving at the close of the junior
year. In 1835, in the prime of his vigorous and stalwart manhood,
he came to Crawfordsville, and since that time his life has been
inseparably interwoven with the history of the place, to the
development of which he has largely contributed.
After clerking for a short time in a store, Mr. Thomson became deputy to the County Clerk, J. W. Lynn, and while filling this position employed his leisure hours in the study of law. In 1840 he was admitted to practice at the Bar of the State of Indiana and formed a legal partnership with the pioneer lawyer, Ben Ristine, continuing that connection for nearly forty years. Politics has not presented an inviting field to him, and his attention has been given mainly to an extensive commercial and probate business. In 1864 he was elected Treasurer of Wabash College, and from 1870 until his resignation in 1891 he gave his attention wholly to the demands of this position, which he resigned after an active service of twenty-seven years.
On the last day of the year 1840 Mr. Thomson was united in marriage with the daughter of Alexander Crawford, and the sister of Henry Crawford, one of the pioneer merchants of this section. Mrs. Thomson was born in Ohio and died May 7, 1878. The union had been blessed by the birth of three sons: Everett B., Henry R. and Edwin P. The first-named son was graduated from Wabash College in 1864, and completed the course in Lane Seminary three years later. He became a minister of the Gospel and was thus engaged at Crawfordsville for three years; at present he is Librarian of Wabash College. Henry R., now deceased, was a young man of talent, and enjoyed every opportunity for acquiring literary culture, having studied in the Universities of Philadelphia, Yale, Harvard, Ann Arbor and Berlin. Rev. Edwin P. Thomson, a popular and eloquent minister, has held pastorates at Plymouth, Ind., Idaho Springs and the Westminster Church in Denver; he recently accepted a call to Springfield, Ohio, where he now resides.