Confederate colonel
Jacob Thompson

Jacob Thompson was born May 15, 1810 in Leasburg, Caswell County, North Carolina. He was the third child of Nicholas and Lucretia Van Hook Thompson. Studious and bright, he attended Hawfeild School and later the University of North Carolina in 1831.

Thompson married to Catherine Jones (known as Kate) on December 18, 1838. Their only child, Macon Caswell Thompson, was born November 11, 1839. By 1840, he was elected into the State Legislature. They lived in an estate near the University of Mississippi, and now has the address of 910 Old Taylor Road. He was later elected into the House of Representatives that November and into Congress by 1851 alongside Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederate States of America. He was appointed Secretary of the Interior in 1857.

Thompson was greatly against the secession from the Union, but aquired a rank of Lt. Colonel in the Confederate army anyway. He returned home in 1836 and was reelected into the State Legislature untill Jefferson Davis asked him to lead a secret mission in Canada in 1864.

After a failed attempt to attack the Union warship USS MICHIGAN in 1864 by John Beall, Thompson aquired the GEORGIAN and became a pirate.

Thompson originally hadn't any orders, just sail around. He docked her in Buffalo, New York, and panic spread. Everyone thought that he was preparing for battle. The GEORGIAN was searched, but no such orders were found. No orders of any kind were found. It wasn't untill April 6, 1865 that orders to attack fishing vessels were found. The GEORGIAN was confiscated, but Thompson escaped.

Thompson settled down in Canada with his beloved Catherine. He wished to return the United States, but with a $100,000 bounty on his head down there, he was obligated to stay in Canada. On March 24, 1885, Thompson passed away. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetary in Memphis, Tennessee. "A brilliant statesman, a friend of all classes, and a great man who would be missed by all who knew him."

This site created by Jon Lamphere, October 3, 2006
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