United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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elected a member of the Common Council of the city in Dec., 1876, and again the following year. On April 30, 1873, Mr. Thompson married Sarah, daughter of Gov. Wm. C. Gibbs of Newport. They have one daughter. During his short career as a lawyer and while still a young man, he argued many important cases. I11 1879 Mr. Thompson was induced to assume the active management of the Orford Nickel and Copper Company. He has been identified with the company up to the present time and is now its efficient president. It is principally due to his skill and untiring efforts that the economical smelting of copper in large quantities has become an established fact, by the use of very large brick cupolas. His success in this and other features of copper smelting has placed Mr. Thomp- son in the front ranks of American metallurgists. When the United States government decided to use nickel steel in the manufacture of armor plate, Mr. Thompson was called into consultation by the Secretary of the Navy, and it was largely through his advice and co-operation that the government has been able to obtain the nickel necessary for its purpose at the lowest price ever known to the world, and of very superior quality. It was under his supervision that the improved processes for the preparation of the nickel were developed. In his business relations, Mr. Thompson’s unswerving upright- ness and integrity have gained him the entire confidence of the business community, and his active mind, far-sightedness and clear judgment are recognized by all. He possesses a remarkable intellectual power, and with his strong will and indomitable energy is never daunted by obstacles in his pathway, but pushes to a successful issue all he undertakes. Combined with his power of intellect he possesses a peculiarly strong personal magnetism. Generous, almost to a fault, he is ever ready to see the right in a person and never believes evil until it is forced upon him. His heart and hand are always open to those who need his assistance and many can look back and think of the right thing said by him just at the right time, and the help accorded when all seemed dark and forbidding. The flexibility of his mind enables him to feel and manifest the 8

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ROBERT MEANS THOMPSON IRobcrt fiDcans Thompson, the subject of this sketch, was born March 2, 1849, in the village of Corsica, Jefferson Co., Pa. His ancestors were Scotch and Scotch-Irish of a sturdy and dis- tinguished line of descent, the celebrated Wallaces of Ellerslie being among his ancestors. His early education was received in the common schools and the Academy at Elder! Ridge. At the age of fifteen years he received from the Hon. Gleni Scofield an appointment to the Naval Academy. This appointment had been intended for an older brother who, how- ever, was severely wounded while serving in the War of the Rebel- lion, and who therefore transferred it to his younger brother. Young Thompson entered the Academy, which was then located at Newport, in the summer of 1864. During his four years at the Academy he maintained a high standing in his class, and was grad- uated rwitli distinction in June, 1868, being number 10 in a class of 80. He was then ordered into active service, and served on board the “ Contocook ” in the West Indian Squadron, and the “ Franklin,” “ Richmond ” and “ Guard ” in the Mediterranean Squadron. He was commissioned Ensign in Oct., 1869, and in December of that year was ordered to duty at the Torpedo Station at Newport, R. I., being 011c of the first officers selected for that duty. He was com- missioned as Master in July, 1870. In June, 1871, he joined the “ Wachusett ” at New York, and served on board that ship in the Mediterranean until Dec., 1871, when his resignation from the navy was accepted. He immediately entered the law office of Hon. Geo. A. Jenks in Rrookville, Pa., and was admitted to the bar in August, 1872. He entered iDean Law School at Harvard University the same year, and was graduated in June, 1874, receiving the degree of LL.B. He was appointed Asst. Reporter of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massa- chusetts. In Jan., 1875, he opened a law office in Boston. He was 7

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strongest sympathy for the achievements of those he loves, and what- ever be the subject he is discussing, he heartily enters into it and one can feel his kindly interest in his earnest manner and loving advice. He is very fond of athletic sports, is a member of the N. Y. Athletic Club and the Racquet and Tennis Club, and has made many an enviable record at bowling. He is the first life member of the Navy Auxiliary Athletic Association, having very materially assisted that organization at its start, and his loyalty to the Navy and all pertaining thereto, as he aptly expressed it on the notification of his election to life membership, is such that it “Will only cease with my life.” In speaking at one time of his desire for a less active life he said, “ But God or fortune has put me in a position where I owe duties to others than myself. I must strive along and if I fall by the way I will at last have the consciousness that I have striven earnestly to do my duty, and no man living can say truthfully that I have harmed him wilfully; and I do know that many can say they have had help from me in the weary, weary struggle for existence. I have in my way made the two blades of grass grow where only one grew before, and so at the last I shall not feel as if my life had been an entire failure.” How much better the world would be for more men such as this, bearing such hearty goodwill towards all. “ His life is gentle, and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, ‘ This is a man.' ” 9