Philip Burton Thompson Jr. (October 15, 1845 – December 15, 1909), nephew of the politician John Burton Thompson Sr., was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Born in

Harrodsburg, Kentucky Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census. Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the Virginia House of Burgesses after Boo ...

, Thompson attended the common schools and the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, he and his twin brother John Burton Thompson Jr. entered the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

at the age of sixteen and served throughout the war. He studied law, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1866, and commenced practice in Harrodsburg. He was city attorney of Harrodsburg from 1867 to 1869. In 1869, he was appointed Commonwealth attorney for the thirteenth judicial district of Kentucky. He was subsequently elected and served until 1874. He was reelected in 1874 and served until 1878, when he resigned, having been elected to Congress. Thompson was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1885). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Forty-eighth Congress). In 1883, he fatally shot his wife Martha's alleged lover, Walter H. Davis (who had supposedly seduced her with alcohol), on a train near Harrodsburg. (The couple had two children, Garnett 868-1899 and Martha, known as Mattie 872-1922) He served as delegate to the

1884 Democratic National Convention The 1884 Democratic National Convention was held July 8–11, 1884 and chose Governor Grover Cleveland of New York their presidential nominee with the former Governor Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana as the vice presidential nominee. World Book B ...

. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and resumed the practice of law. He died in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, December 15, 1909 and was interred in Spring Hill Cemetery,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Philip B. Jr. 1845 births 1909 deaths Confederate States Army soldiers Kentucky commonwealth's attorneys Kentucky lawyers People from Harrodsburg, Kentucky University of Kentucky alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives