Name/Title
John ThompsonEntry/Object ID
Thompson, JohnDescription
Older man seated in red chair. His silvery gray hair is medium length and combed straight back. His eyes are light-colored (blue?), and his hands are clasped in his lap, the right over the left. His is dressed formally in white high collared shirt, tie, and black vest and coat. His vest is buttoned but his coat is open.Collection
Private CollectionMade/Created
Artist
Cooper, Washington Bogart, 1802-1889Conservation
Notes
Restored by Cumberland Art Conservation in 1995.General Notes
Note Type
Historical NoteNote
John Thompson was born on June 1, 1793, to Cumberland Compact signer Thomas Thompson and Nancy Thompson. In 1823, he married Mary Elizabeth Washington, but she died in 1826. In the late 1820s, he promoted and was an investor in the first major turnpike in Middle Tennessee, the Franklin Turnpike which was established in 1829. He was an initial member of the board of commissioners for the Nashville and Alabama Railroad. John married Betsy Turley Buchanan in 1830 but she died in childbirth the following year. In 1832, he married Martha Dunn Rawlings, she died in 1846. He married Mary Hamilton House in 1851. In 1857, he replaced the blockhouse his father built with a Jeffersonian style mansion, Glen Leven, while some 74 enslaved people worked the 950 acres they owned. The house served as a hospital during the Civil War. John died in 1876.Create Date
October 18, 2026Update Date
October 18, 2026