Name/Title
John ThompsonEntry/Object ID
Thompson, John2Description
Seated, waist-length plus three-quarters left profile of a man in a black coat and white shirt and tie. His hands are gathered in his lap. His graying hair is combed straight back and he sits in a red chair.Collection
Private CollectionMade/Created
Artist
Earl, Ralph Eleaser Whiteside, approximately 1785-1838Reproductions
Notes
Permission to reproduce by request only.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