Richard Edgar Thompson (December 13, 1871 - 1928) was an American Democratic politician. He was a member of the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...

from 1916 to 1920.

Biography

Richard Edgar Thompson was born on December 13, 1871, in

Toomsuba, Mississippi Toomsuba is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States. Its population was 778 as of the 2020 census. Its ZIP code is 39364. The community is named after Toomsuba Creek. Geog ...

. He was the son of John Daniel Thompson and Susan Jane (Camp) Thompson. He grew up in poverty and received his education from a country school. He continued to work on the farm and his father's shop until he became an assistant postmaster and railroad agent. He then served as Toomsuba's postmaster and, while serving in that office, established a

Rural Free Delivery Rural Free Delivery (RFD), since 1906 officially rural delivery, is a program of the United States Post Office Department to deliver mail directly to rural destinations. The program began in the late 19th century. Before that, people living in ru ...

route there. Thompson was elected to represent the 14th district in the

in 1915 for the 1916–1920 term. Thompson died in 1928 in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

."Mississippi, Death Certificate Index, 1912-1943", database, ''FamilySearch'' (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CG8K-2YMM : 31 March 2020), Richard E Thompson, 1928.

Personal life

Thompson was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and a member of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

. In 1891, Thompson married Mollie Elizabeth Hurtt. In 1905, they adopted two children named Paul and Carl.

References

1871 births 1928 deaths People from Lauderdale County, Mississippi Democratic Party Mississippi state senators 20th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature {{Mississippi-politician-stub