Wiley Thompson (September 23, 1781 – December 28, 1835) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. Born in

Amelia County, Virginia Amelia County is a county located just southwest of Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The county is located in Central Virginia and is included in the Greater Richmond Region. Its county seat is Amelia Court House. A ...

, Thompson moved to

Elberton, Georgia Elberton is the largest city in Elbert County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,653 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Elbert County. History Settled in the 1780s, Elbert was designated seat of the newly formed Elber ...

, and served as a commissioner of the Elbert County Academy in 1808. He served in the

Georgia Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georg ...

from 1817 to 1819 and was appointed

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

of the Fourth Division of the

Georgia Militia The Georgia Militia existed from 1733 to 1879. It was originally planned by General James Oglethorpe prior to the founding of the Province of Georgia, the British colony that would become the U.S. state of Georgia. One reason for the founding ...

in November 1817, a position in which he served until his resignation in November 1824. Thompson was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

17th United States Congress The 17th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. While its term was officially March 4, 1821, t ...

and reelected as a Crawford Republican to the 18th Congress. Thompson was then elected as a Jacksonian to the 19th and three successive Congresses ( 20th,

21st 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. The current century is the 21st century AD, under the Gregorian calendar. In mathematics 21 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 7, and a defici ...

and 22nd). His congressional tenure spanned from March 4, 1821, through March 3, 1833. After his congressional service, Thompson served as a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1833. He became an

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of ...

to the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

s and was appointed in 1834 to superintend the removal of the Seminoles from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. This episode of his life was artistically described by

Thomas Mayne Reid Thomas Mayne Reid (4 April 1818 – 22 October 1883) was an Irish-American novelist, who fought in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). His many works on American life describe colonial policy in the American colonies, the horrors of slave ...

in the 1858 novel ''Osceola''. Thompson was subsequently killed by a band of Seminoles led by

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsman, James McQ ...

Fort King Fort King (also known as Camp King or Cantonment King) was a United States military fort in north central Florida, near what later developed as the city of Ocala. It was named after Colonel William King, commander of Florida's Fourth Infantry and ...

, Florida, on December 28, 1835, and was buried on his estate in Elberton.Smith, pp. 346-347

Notes

References

* Smith, Gordon Burns, ''History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861, Volume One, Campaigns and Generals'', Milledgeville: Boyd Publishing, 2000. ASIN:B003L1PRKI.

External links

Grave of General Wiley Thompson
historical marker {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Wiley 1781 births 1835 deaths People from Amelia County, Virginia People from Elberton, Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) state senators United States Indian agents Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths by firearm in Florida Assassinated American politicians American slave owners 19th-century American politicians