Background
He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1836. He was the son of Agnes (Smith) and Henry Tazewell Thompson. Waddy Thompson was his uncle. His youth was passed in poverty on his father's farm in Greenville District.
He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1836. He was the son of Agnes (Smith) and Henry Tazewell Thompson. Waddy Thompson was his uncle. His youth was passed in poverty on his father's farm in Greenville District.
He entered the Citadel Academy at Charleston in 1852, where he graduated, four years later.
He taught at the Arsenal Academy in Columbia. In 1861 he returned to the Citadel, where until 1865 he taught French and belles-lettres and served in the Confederate Army as captain of a company of cadets of that academy in the defense of the Charleston harbor and the coastal region of South Carolina. Immediately after the war he became principal of the Columbia Male Academy, a position he held until 1880. His unusual ability as a teacher and disciplinarian raised this school to a position of preëminence among the educational institutions of South Carolina.
His success as an educator, coupled with his engaging personal qualities, facilitated his entrance into public life. His handsome physique, mellow voice, and ease of speech made him a popular orator. In 1876 he became the Democratic candidate for state superintendent of education and in the canvass of that year aided Wade Hampton in winning the election for his party. He was state superintendent of education from May 1877 until December 1882. His conduct of this office was brilliantly constructive. The plans for universal education drawn up by his Radical predecessors were put into operation by him. He reformed the educational administration, spent wisely the funds he had at his disposal for the benefit of both whites and blacks, and in a series of moving addresses and reports largely removed from the public mind the prejudices against universal public education. In 1880 he established summer teachers' institutes, and the following year directed the foundation of a state teachers' association.
In 1882 the Democrats nominated him for governor. Being easily elected for two terms, he served in that office from December 1882 until his resignation three and one half years later. His conduct of the governorship was efficient but unsensational. He promoted tax reform, rigid economy, and education. In June 1886 President Cleveland appointed him assistant secretary of the treasury. In the summer of 1887 he resolutely anticipated and averted a seasonal monetary stringency by releasing an unusually large treasury surplus to purchase federal bonds in the market over and above the annual sinking fund requirements.
From 1889 to 1892 he was a member of the civil service commission on the appointment of President Harrison. In this capacity he cooperated with his fellow-commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in carrying out the intentions of the Pendleton act. During the last twelve years of his life he was comptroller of the New York Life Insurance Company. He died in New York City and was buried in Trinity Church Yard, Columbia, S. C. , leaving behind him the memory of one who had discharged with efficiency as many important public trusts as have been held by any South Carolinian since the Civil War.
On April 6, 1858, he married Elizabeth Anderson, the daughter of Thomas Boston Clarkson.