Judge Albert C. Thompson

The photo is believed to be the same A. C. Thompson referred to in this obituary. Photo from Cincinnati Enquirer June 3, 1904 – during the Hanging Rock Furnace Strike.

Ironton Register, Thursday, February 3, 1910 – Judge Thompson Dead.

Cincinnati, O., Jan. 26. – Judge Albert C. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio died at 5 o’clock this morning after an illness of several weeks.

The above brief Associated Press dispatch brings the sad news that all our readers have been expecting for several days.  The real cause of his death was septicemia, resulting from an old bullet that had been embedded in his lung since the Second Battle of Bull Run.

Four weeks ago, Judge Thompson caught a slight cold, which developed into an attack on the grippe.  He was recovering nicely when the old bullet wound in his lung reopened, and septic conditions became such that his physician, Dr. Marion Whitacre, was alarmed and feared the worst from the very first.  The best medical men in Cincinnati were consulted, but their efforts were of no avail.

Judge Thompson was in a semi-conscious condition all day Tuesday, and his family was constantly at his bedside.

Captain Clifford Thompson, U. S. A., who returned to the Columbus Barracks on Sunday, encouraged by a brief turn for the better in his father’s condition, returned to Cincinnati last night.  The other children – Mrs. Oscar Newman, Portsmouth, Ohio; Mrs. Eustace Wheeler, of St. Louis; Mrs. Raymond D. York Garrett Thompson and Miss Ruth Thompson, all of Portsmouth, have been notified of their father’s death.

Born in Pennsylvania

Albert Clifton Thompson was born on June 27, 1842, in Brookville, Penn., the son of Hon. J. J. Y. Thompson.  At the age of 12, he was sent to a preparatory school at Cannonsburg, Penn., but was forced to return home in two years on account of the financial difficulties of his father.

At 17, he entered the law office of Captain W. W. Wise at Brookville and remained hard at work for two years.  Then came the outbreak of the Civil War, and each hamlet had its recruiting office.  Albert Thompson was not 20 years old when he enlisted with Captain A. A. McKnight’s three-months men and was sent to the Valley of Virginia.  He was promoted to Sergeant.

On August 27, 1861, his term of enlistment having expired, he re-enlisted as a private for three years in Company B of the 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.  He was soon transferred to Company K with the rank of Captain.  He was still under 20 years of age, and older men grumbled at the youth of the commander, but he soon won them over with his good nature, frankness and courage.

He was in the thick of the fight in Fair Oaks and received a bullet in the back, from which he quickly recovered.  After the Federal troops had won the second battle of Bull Run, a few desultory shots were fired, and an ounce minnie ball entered Thompson’s breast.

He was picked up for dead, taken to Washington, D. C., and the surgeons, finding he was making a battle for life, removed him from the
crowded hospital to his boarding house.  His mother came on, and her tender solicitude won the day, and Thompson was removed to his Pennsylvania home by easy stages, where he recovered.  The bullet fractured two of his ribs before it entered his lung.

Not content with his martial experience, the young man then applied as a member of the Invalid Corps for a position under the Provost.
Marshal of Kentucky, and after spending time in the Blue Grass State, he was sent to New York to help enforce the drafts.

On December 10, 1863, he resigned from the army, holding his rank as Captain, and entered the law office of W. P. Jenks at Brookville.  He was admitted to the bar on December 13, 1864, and after practicing for a time in his home town removed to a larger field in Portsmouth, Ohio.  There he remained until he came to Cincinnati in December 1898.

The Loyal Legion, of which the deceased was a member, will drape the casket in a silken United States flag.  The following members will attend the funeral, and several will serve as active pallbearers:  commander Major James L. Foley, General Charles H. Grosvenor, General J. Warren Keifer, Colonel James Kilbourne, Colonel William R. Warnock, Colonel Cornelius Cadle, Major L. M. Hosea, Lieutenant A. B. Isham, Captain E. R. Monfort, Judge M. L. Buchwalter, Major W. R. Thrall, Captain Joseph G. Wilshire, Captain J. Gorden Taylor, and Captain George A. Thayer.

His Distinguished Career

Judge Thompson was just 68 years old, having been born on Jan. 23, 1842, in Brookville, Penn.  He had been studying law for a short time when the call to arms came, and before he was 20, he was made Captain of the One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He received a painful wound that finally caused his retirement inflicted at Bull Run.  Later, during the war, he served as Deputy Provost Marshal in Kentucky and New York.

After his recovery, he studied and graduated in law and then moved to Portsmouth, Ohio. A few years later, he wedded Miss Turley, the daughter of a prominent and respected family.  He was elected and served as Probate Judge and Judge of Common Pleas at Portsmouth and was elected and served in the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first sessions of Congress.

During his career as a Congressman, he served on many prominent and important committees and wrote part of the McKinley bill.  After leaving Congress, he took a little active part in politics and devoted himself to a large law practice.

In 1898 Judge Thompson was appointed United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio and at once moved with his
family to this city, where he endeared himself to thousands of friends, besides winning respect and confidence of the legal fraternity.

The immediate family of the deceased are the widow, two sons, Captain Cliff Thompson, U. S. A., stationed at Columbus, Ohio, and Guy Thompson, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and four daughters, Mrs. Eustace Wheeler, of St. Louis; Mrs. Charlotte Newman, Mrs. Raymond Gore and Miss Ruth Thompson of Portsmouth.

Judge Thompson was a member of the Queen City and Literary Clubs and belonged to the Masonic fraternity.

Ablest Lawyer in Ohio

Washington, Jan. 27. – General Charles H. Grosvenor, former Representative from the Eleventh District of Ohio, probably was the most intimate friend of Judge Albert C. Thompson, who died in Cincinnati yesterday.

“I tried cases before him when he was Judge of Common Pleas in Portsmouth. I served with him in Congress.  I tried cases before him when he became a Federal Judge.  I have no words to express my sorrow on hearing today of his death.  I looked for it and had feared it for years.

“I was with him when an examination with X-rays was made of his wound in Washington, and I saw with my own eyes the Minnie ball
he received in battle while serving with the Army of the Potomac and which he has carried with him to his grave.  He was a constant sufferer from receiving that bullet until his death.

“Judge Thompson was one of the most eminent jurists and most able lawyers Ohio ever produced.  He was a man of the highest character, able, patriotic, fearless, and just.  I never knew a man for whom I had higher regard.  He was an ornament to the Federal Bench:  he was painstaking and somewhat slow in his deliberations, but he reached wise conclusions and always was conscientious. 

In politics, he was a fair, manly fighter.  He and I were opposing candidates for the nomination for Congress some years ago in a district made up of part of his counties and part of mine, and we fought the battle to the bitter end, and we came out of it as we went into it – good friends – and we remained good friends always.  I wish I could go to shed a tear over his casket.  Ohio has lost a pure jurist, an able lawyer, a patriotic citizen, a good father, and a great man.”

The death of Judge Thompson is keenly regretted by the President and other distinguished men who were his friends. Concerning the funeral of Judge Thompson, the following is taken from Friday’s Enquirer:

Buried in Greenlawn

The funeral services over the remains of Judge Thompson will take place at the family residence at 4 o’clock this afternoon, and Rev. Dudley W. Rhodes will officiate.  There will be no vocal music.  The remains will be removed to the Norfolk and Western Depot and taken to the family home at Portsmouth at 8:45 this evening.

A short funeral service will be held in Portsmouth, after which the body will be interred in the family burial lot.  The family selected honorary pallbearers are Judge D. Thew Wright, General Charles H. Grosvenor, Major W. R. Thrail, Aaron Ferris, A. L. Sandford, Thornton Hinkle, Frank Shaffer, Judge Warrington, Judge Severens, Ledyard Lincoln and Fr. J. Uri Lloyd.