William Tappan Thompson
William Tappan Thompson was an American humorist born on August 31, 1812, in Ravenna, Ohio. Orphaned at a young age after the deaths of his parents, he found work at a newspaper in Philadelphia and later served as an assistant to a Florida territory secretary while studying law. Thompson moved to Augusta, Georgia, in the mid-1830s, where he worked alongside Judge Augustus Baldwin Longstreet and contributed to local newspapers. He is best known for creating the character Major Joseph Jones, whose adventures were featured in his popular publications, including "Major Jones's Courtship" and "Major Jones's Chronicles of Pineville." Throughout his career, Thompson was an influential figure in Georgia's literary scene, founding the Augusta Mirror, the first exclusively literary journal in the state. A staunch supporter of the Democratic Party, he defended slavery and authored propaganda in support of the Southern cause before the Civil War. Thompson passed away on March 24, 1882, in Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind a legacy of humorous dialect literature that reflected his experiences in the South.
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William Tappan Thompson
Writer
- Born: August 31, 1812
- Birthplace: Ravenna, Ohio
- Died: March 24, 1882
- Place of death: Savannah, Georgia
Biography
American humorist William Tappan Thompson was born in Ravenna, Ohio, on August 31, 1812. He was the son of David Thompson, a settler from Virginia, and Catherine Kerney Thompson, who was born in Ireland. He attended school in Ravenna. His mother died when he was eleven years old. After her death, he and his father moved to Philadelphia, where his father died soon afterward. Now an orphaned teenager, Thompson found employment at a Philadelphia newspaper, the Daily Chronicle, and in 1830 he was hired as an assistant to James Diament Westcott, the secretary of the Florida territory. He studied law for several years under Westcott.
In the mid-1830’s, Thompson moved to Augusta, Georgia, where he worked with Judge Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, author of Georgia Scenes; Thompson worked on the staff of Longstreet’s newspaper, the State Rights Sentinel. In 1836, he fought against the Seminoles in Florida as a member of the Richmond Blues, an Augusta militia unit. Some of his earliest literary sketches were based on his experiences in the Florida territory. He married Caroline A. Carrie of Augusta on June 12, 1837. They had ten children together, although only six survived to adulthood.
Thompson founded a literary journal, the Augusta Mirror, in 1838, the first exclusively literary paper published in Georgia. He and his wife moved to Macon, Georgia, and in 1842 he merged the Augusta Mirror and the Macon Family Companion to create the Family Companion and Ladies Mirror, which folded the following year. His famous character Major Joseph Jones first appeared within the pages of this periodical. He edited the weekly periodical Miscellany, published in Madison, Georgia, until 1845, and then moved to Baltimore, to work on the Western Continent with poet Park Benjamin. He returned to Georgia and founded the Savannah Morning News in 1850, and he served as its editor for the rest of his life.
Thompson was a fervent supporter of the Democratic Party. He defended the institution of slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. His book, The Slaveholder Abroad (1860), written under the pseudonym Ebenzer Starnes, was a volume of fictional propaganda in support of the Southern cause. He was a delegate to the national Democratic convention in 1868 and a member of the convention that helped draft a new constitution for Georgia in 1877.
Thompson, whose work was influenced by Longstreet, is best known for his humorous character sketches of Southern backwoodsmen. His dialect letters from the fictional Georgian planter Major Joseph Jones were collected and published in 1843 as Major Jones’s Courtship. The book proved popular with readers and other books followed: Major Jones’s Chronicles of Pineville in 1845; John’s Alive: Or, The Bride of a Ghost in 1846; and Major Jones’s Sketches of Travel in 1848. His play Major Jones’s Courtship: Or, Adventures of a Christmas Eve, a Domestic Comedy was published in 1850. Thompson died on March 24, 1882, in Savannah, Georgia.