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{{Short description|American politician}}
<!-- This article was automatically created by [[User:polbot]] from http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000221. The prose may be stilted, and there may be grammatical and Wikification errors. Please improve in any way you see fit. -->

{{Infobox Congressman
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Waddy Thompson, Jr.
|name = Waddy Thompson Jr.
|honorific-suffix =
|image = Waddy Thompson Jr.svg
|image = Waddy Thompson Jr.svg
|office1 = [[United States Ambassador to Mexico|United States Minister to Mexico]]
|alt =
|appointer1 = [[John Tyler]]
⚫
|state = South Carolina
|term_start1 = February 10, 1842
|district = 9
|term_end1 = March 9, 1844
|term_start = 1835
|predecessor1 = Henry E. Lawrence (as Special Diplomatic Agent)
|term_end = 1841
|successor1 = [[Moses Yale Beach]] (as Special Diplomatic Agent)
|predecessor = [[John K. Griffin]]
⚫
|state2 = [[South Carolina]]
|successor = [[James Rogers (congressman)|James Rogers]]
|district2 = [[South Carolina's 6th Congressional District|6th]]
|term_start2 = September 10, 1835
|term_end2 = March 3, 1841
|predecessor2 = [[Warren R. Davis]]
|successor2 = [[William Butler (1790-1850)|William Butler]]
|office3 = Member of the [[South Carolina House of Representatives]]
|term3 = 1826–1829
|party = [[Anti-Jacksonian]] (1835–1837)<br>[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] (1837–onward)
| birth_name =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1798|1|8}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1798|1|8}}
| birth_place = Pickensville, South Carolina
| birth_place = Pickensville, [[Ninety-Six District, South Carolina]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1868|11|23|1798|1|8}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1868|11|23|1798|1|8}}
| death_place = [[Tallahassee, Florida]]
| death_place = [[Tallahassee, Florida]]
⚫
| resting_place = Tallahassee, Florida
| profession = [[Lawyer|attorney]], [[judge]], [[diplomat]]
| signature = Waddy Thompson Jr signature.svg
| signature = Waddy Thompson Jr signature.svg
| rank = [[File:US Army O7 (1861).svg|30px]] [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]]
| serviceyears = 1832
| branch = South Carolina State Militia
}}
}}
'''Waddy Thompson, Jr.''' (January 8, 1798 - November 23, 1868) was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[South Carolina]].
'''Waddy Thompson Jr.''' (January 8, 1798 – November 23, 1868) was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[South Carolina]] and U.S. Minister to Mexico, 1842–44.


Born in Pickensville, [[Ninety-Six District, South Carolina]]—near [[Easley, South Carolina|Easley]] in present [[Pickens County, South Carolina|Pickens County]]—Thompson was reared in [[Greenville, South Carolina|Greenville]]. He graduated from [[University of South Carolina|South Carolina College]] in 1814 when he was 16; and he was admitted to the bar in 1819, beginning practice in [[Edgefield, South Carolina]], and marrying Emmala Butler, the daughter one of the state's richest plantation owners. The couple moved to Greenville circa 1824, where Thompson became politically active. He served as member of the [[South Carolina House of Representatives]] from 1826 to 1829. Thompson was elected [[solicitor (South Carolina)|solicitor]] of the western circuit in 1830.<ref>Judy Bainbridge, "General Waddy Thompson," ''Greenville News'', November 19, 2015, 1D.</ref>
Born in Pickensville (now in [[Pickens County, South Carolina|Pickens County]]), [[Ninety-Six District, South Carolina]]. Thompson moved to Greenville with his parents in his infancy. He received his early education in neighboring schools, and was graduated from [[University of South Carolina|South Carolina College]] in 1814.


Fervently supporting the theory of Vice President [[John C. Calhoun]] that a state could nullify an act of the U.S. Congress, Thompson introduced a resolution in the [[South Carolina General Assembly]] in 1832 calling for a convention to nullify the "[[Tariff of Abominations]]." The [[Nullification Crisis]] dissipated the following year; but in the meantime Thompson was appointed brigadier general of South Carolina militia, and he was thereafter referred to as "General Thompson."<ref>A. V. Huff, Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995), 103-05; Bainbridge.</ref>
He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1819, beginning practice in [[Edgefield, South Carolina]]. He moved to [[Greenville, South Carolina]], and continued the practice of law.
He served as member of the [[South Carolina House of Representatives]] from 1826 to 1829. Thompson was elected solicitor of the western circuit in 1830.


⚫
In 1835, Thompson was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the [[24th United States Congress]] to fill the vacancy caused by the death of [[Warren R. Davis]]. He was reelected as a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] to the [[25th United States Congress|25th]] and [[26th United States Congress|26th]] Congresses serving from September 10, 1835, to March 3, 1841. Thompson served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in the 26th Congress.
<!-- A grammar fix may be needed here. -->Brigadier general of militia in 1832.


In 1842 President [[John Tyler]] appointed Thompson Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico, where he served from February 10, 1842, to March 9, 1844. Thompson quickly learned enough Spanish to make his first speech to Mexican cabinet members in that language. He became friendly with Mexican president [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]] and succeeded in having 300 Texan prisoners freed.<ref>Bainbridge, 2D.</ref> Two years after his return to the United States, Thompson published [https://archive.org/details/recollectionsofm00thom ''Recollections of Mexico''], and he opposed the Mexican War.<ref>New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846. Ernest M. Lander, Jr., "General Waddy Thompson, A Friend of Mexico during the Mexican War," ''South Carolina Historical Magazine'', 78: 1 (January 1977), 32-42.</ref>
⚫
Thompson was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the [[24th United States Congress]] to fill the vacancy caused by the death of [[Warren R. Davis]]. He was reelected as a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] to the [[25th United States Congress|25th]] and [[26th United States Congress|26th]] Congresses and served from September 10, 1835, to March 3, 1841.


Thompson returned to Greenville and managed plantations in Edgefield and [[Madison, Florida]]—the latter of which was 1,300 acres and employed 80 slaves. After his wife died in 1848, he married Cornelia Jones of [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], and eventually moved to Paris Mountain, near Greenville, where he owned a 1,000 acres and built two large identical houses, one for himself and the other for his wife—though the couple seemed to be on good terms. Thompson filled his house with Mexican memorabilia and employed a full-time gardener to care for exotic plants and shrubs he had collected.<ref>Bainbridge, 2D. Thompson was an explicit racist, in his ''Recollections'' calling blacks "lazy, filthy, and vicious creatures" whenever "not held in bondage.(6)</ref>
He served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs (26th Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1840.


By the time of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Thompson had become a Unionist, but the conclusion of the war nevertheless ruined him. In 1866, he sold his Paris Mountain property and moved to his Florida plantation. The Florida legislature appointed him solicitor general of a circuit in 1868, but in 1868 he died while in [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]], and he was buried in the churchyard of St. John's Episcopal Church there.<ref>Bainbridge, 2D.</ref>
He was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico and served from February 10, 1842, to March 9, 1844.


==Sources==
He moved to [[Madison, Florida]], and engaged in cotton planting. He was appointed solicitor general of a circuit in 1868.
{{Reflist}}

He died while on a visit to [[Tallahassee, Florida]], November 23, 1868 and interred in St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery in Tallahassee.

==Source==
{{CongBio|T000221}}
{{CongBio|T000221}}

==Further reading==
[[William Lee Miller]] (1996), ''Arguing about Slavery: The Great Battle in the United States Congress'', New York: Knopf.


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth28 Texas State Historical Association - Waddy Thompson]
*[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth28 Texas State Historical Association - Waddy Thompson]
*[http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/t/Thompson,Waddy.html Southern Historical Collection at UNC-CH houses his papers while Envoy to Mexico]
*[http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/t/Thompson,Waddy.html Southern Historical Collection at UNC-CH holds his papers as envoy to Mexico]
*[https://rose.library.emory.edu/ Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library], Emory University: [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8zzbg Waddy Thompson papers, 1848-1865]
*{{findagrave|7778879}}


{{s-start}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-dip}}
{{succession box|title=[[United States Ambassador to Mexico|United States Minister to Mexico]]|before=Henry E. Lawrence (as Special Diplomatic Agent)|after=[[Moses Yale Beach]] (as Special Diplomatic Agent)|years=1842–1844}}
{{USRepSuccession box
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=South Carolina
| state=South Carolina
| district=6
| district=6
| years=1835–1841
| years=September 10, 1835 &ndash; March 3, 1841
| before=[[Warren R. Davis]]
| before=[[Warren R. Davis]]
| after= [[William Butler (1790–1850)|William Butler]]
| after= [[William Butler (1790–1850)|William Butler]]
}}
}}
{{s-end}}
{{s-end}}
{{US House Armed Services chairs}}
{{US Ambassadors to Mexico}}
{{Authority control}}


{{authority control|VIAF=18788120|LCCN=n/88/256676}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Thompson, Waddy, Jr.
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American politician
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 8, 1798
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Pickensville, South Carolina
| DATE OF DEATH = November 23, 1868
⚫
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Tallahassee, Florida]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Waddy, Jr.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Waddy, Jr.}}
[[Category:1798 births]]
[[Category:1798 births]]
[[Category:1868 deaths]]
[[Category:1868 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina]]
[[Category:Southern Unionists in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:South Carolina Whigs]]
[[Category:South Carolina Whigs]]
[[Category:South Carolina National Republicans]]
[[Category:South Carolina National Republicans]]
[[Category:American militia generals]]
[[Category:American militia generals]]
[[Category:19th-century American diplomats]]
[[Category:National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:19th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico]]
[[Category:South Carolina state solicitors]]

Latest revision as of 03:43, 2 June 2024

Waddy Thompson Jr.
United States Minister to Mexico
In office
February 10, 1842 – March 9, 1844
Appointed byJohn Tyler
Preceded byHenry E. Lawrence (as Special Diplomatic Agent)
Succeeded byMoses Yale Beach (as Special Diplomatic Agent)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 6th district
In office
September 10, 1835 – March 3, 1841
Preceded byWarren R. Davis
Succeeded byWilliam Butler
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
In office
1826–1829
Personal details
Born(1798-01-08)January 8, 1798
Pickensville, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina
DiedNovember 23, 1868(1868-11-23) (aged 70)
Tallahassee, Florida
Resting placeTallahassee, Florida
Political partyAnti-Jacksonian (1835–1837)
Whig (1837–onward)
Professionattorney, judge, diplomat
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceSouth Carolina State Militia
Years of service1832
Rank Brigadier General

Waddy Thompson Jr. (January 8, 1798 – November 23, 1868) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina and U.S. Minister to Mexico, 1842–44.

Born in Pickensville, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina—near Easley in present Pickens County—Thompson was reared in Greenville. He graduated from South Carolina College in 1814 when he was 16; and he was admitted to the bar in 1819, beginning practice in Edgefield, South Carolina, and marrying Emmala Butler, the daughter one of the state's richest plantation owners. The couple moved to Greenville circa 1824, where Thompson became politically active. He served as member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1826 to 1829. Thompson was elected solicitor of the western circuit in 1830.[1]

Fervently supporting the theory of Vice President John C. Calhoun that a state could nullify an act of the U.S. Congress, Thompson introduced a resolution in the South Carolina General Assembly in 1832 calling for a convention to nullify the "Tariff of Abominations." The Nullification Crisis dissipated the following year; but in the meantime Thompson was appointed brigadier general of South Carolina militia, and he was thereafter referred to as "General Thompson."[2]

In 1835, Thompson was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the 24th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Warren R. Davis. He was reelected as a Whig to the 25th and 26th Congresses serving from September 10, 1835, to March 3, 1841. Thompson served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in the 26th Congress.

In 1842 President John Tyler appointed Thompson Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico, where he served from February 10, 1842, to March 9, 1844. Thompson quickly learned enough Spanish to make his first speech to Mexican cabinet members in that language. He became friendly with Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna and succeeded in having 300 Texan prisoners freed.[3] Two years after his return to the United States, Thompson published Recollections of Mexico, and he opposed the Mexican War.[4]

Thompson returned to Greenville and managed plantations in Edgefield and Madison, Florida—the latter of which was 1,300 acres and employed 80 slaves. After his wife died in 1848, he married Cornelia Jones of Wilmington, North Carolina, and eventually moved to Paris Mountain, near Greenville, where he owned a 1,000 acres and built two large identical houses, one for himself and the other for his wife—though the couple seemed to be on good terms. Thompson filled his house with Mexican memorabilia and employed a full-time gardener to care for exotic plants and shrubs he had collected.[5]

By the time of the Civil War, Thompson had become a Unionist, but the conclusion of the war nevertheless ruined him. In 1866, he sold his Paris Mountain property and moved to his Florida plantation. The Florida legislature appointed him solicitor general of a circuit in 1868, but in 1868 he died while in Tallahassee, and he was buried in the churchyard of St. John's Episcopal Church there.[6]

Sources

[edit]
  1. ^ Judy Bainbridge, "General Waddy Thompson," Greenville News, November 19, 2015, 1D.
  2. ^ A. V. Huff, Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995), 103-05; Bainbridge.
  3. ^ Bainbridge, 2D.
  4. ^ New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846. Ernest M. Lander, Jr., "General Waddy Thompson, A Friend of Mexico during the Mexican War," South Carolina Historical Magazine, 78: 1 (January 1977), 32-42.
  5. ^ Bainbridge, 2D. Thompson was an explicit racist, in his Recollections calling blacks "lazy, filthy, and vicious creatures" whenever "not held in bondage.(6)
  6. ^ Bainbridge, 2D.
  • United States Congress. "Waddy Thompson Jr. (id: T000221)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
[edit]
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Henry E. Lawrence (as Special Diplomatic Agent)
 United States Minister to Mexico
1842–1844 		Succeeded by
Moses Yale Beach (as Special Diplomatic Agent)
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 6th congressional district
1835–1841 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waddy_Thompson_Jr.&oldid=1226835446"