Jacob Thompson

Jacob Thompson
Thompson between 1855 and 1865, by Mathew Brady
5th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office
March 10, 1857 – January 8, 1861
PresidentJames Buchanan
Preceded byRobert McClelland
Succeeded byCaleb Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1851
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byBenjamin D. Nabers
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's at-large district
In office
March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1847
Seat A
Preceded byThomas J. Word
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born(1810-05-15)May 15, 1810
Leasburg, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedMarch 24, 1885(1885-03-24) (aged 74)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting placeElmwood Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseCatherine Jones
EducationUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA)
Signature

Jacob Thompson (May 15, 1810 – March 24, 1885) was the United States Secretary of the Interior, who resigned on the outbreak of the American Civil War and became the Inspector General of the Confederate States Army.

In 1864, Jefferson Davis asked Thompson to lead a delegation to Canada, where he appears to have been leader of the Confederate Secret Service. From here, he is known to have organised many anti-Union plots and was suspected of many more, including a possible meeting with Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

Union troops burned down his mansion in Oxford, Mississippi, the hometown of William Faulkner, who based some of his fictional characters on Thompson.