William Henry Thompson
Encyclopedia
William Henry Thompson was a Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 politician.

Born in Perrysville, Ohio
Perrysville, Ohio
Perrysville is a village in Ashland County, Ohio, United States. The population was 816 at the 2000 census. The area was first permanently settled around 1811. One of the settlers, Judge Coulter, picked the most beautiful spot for a village with the intentions of naming it Coulterville...

, he attended Upper Iowa University
Upper Iowa University
Established in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private institution of higher education with its residential campus located in northeast Iowa near the Volga River in the rural community of Fayette, where around 900 students are enrolled....

 in Fayette, Iowa
Fayette, Iowa
Fayette is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,300. It was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War. Fayette is the home of Upper Iowa University, a small private college...

 from 1872 to 1875, then graduated from the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 law school in 1877, being admitted to the bar the same year. He started practicing law in what was then known as Brush Creek, Iowa, but is now known as Arlington, Iowa
Arlington, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 429 in the city, with a population density of . There were 212 housing units, of which 191 were occupied....

. He moved to Grand Island, Nebraska
Grand Island, Nebraska
Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 48,520 at the 2010 census.Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state,...

 in 1881, practiced law and did some banking as well.

He became Grand Island's city attorney from 1887 to 1888, then ran and lost in becoming a congressman from Nebraska to the 52nd congress in 1890. He was a member of the board of trustees for Grand Island College in 1893, and was elected mayor of Grand Island serving from 1895 to 1898. He was a member of the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...

 from 1896 to 1900 and again from 1920 to 1924.

In 1902 he ran, unsuccessfully, for governor against John H. Mickey
John H. Mickey
John Hopwood Mickey was a Nebraska republican politician who served as the 13th Governor of Nebraska from 1903 to 1907.-Early life and ancestors:...

. He became a member of the commission for the creation of a new capital
Nebraska State Capitol
The Nebraska State Capitol, located in Lincoln, Nebraska, is the house of the Nebraska Legislature and houses other offices of the government of the U.S. state of Nebraska....

. He was an Associate Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court
Nebraska Supreme Court
The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Each Justice is initially appointed by the Governor of Nebraska; using the Missouri Plan, each Justice is then subject to a retention vote for additional...

 from 1924 to 1931. He was appointed on May 24, 1933 by then governor Charles W. Bryan
Charles W. Bryan
Charles Wayland Bryan was the younger brother of perennial U.S. Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, with whom he shares the distinction of being the only set of brothers to be nominated for national office by a major party.-Biography:Born in 1867 in Salem, Illinois, Bryan...

, brother to democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...

, to fill the senate seat of Robert B. Howell
Robert B. Howell
Robert Howell was a Trial Attorney and a member of the Justice League. He was born in Fort Pierce, Florida. He graduated from Harvard in 2005. Afterwards he went to the Harvard School of Law. He moved to Miami , Florida in 2007....

 when he died. Richard C. Hunter
Richard C. Hunter
Richard Charles Hunter was a Nebraska Democratic politician. Hunter was born in West Point, Nebraska. He moved to Omaha, Nebraska with his family in 1885. He graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1909, Harvard Law School in 1910, and the law department of Columbia University in...

 was elected to replace him.

Thompson died in Grand Island, Nebraska, on June 6, 1937 and interment in Grand Island Cemetery.

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