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BIRTH & DEATH
b: November 7, 1847; Smith’s Ferry, Pennsylvania
d: 20 September 1909; New York City
EDUCATION
Mount Union College, Ohio (1870)
Boston School of Music
New England Conservatory of Music, Boston (1873)
Leipzig Conservatory of Music, Leipzig, Germany
HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1875 Founded the Will L. Thompson Co.
1875 Composed and published several secular songs (i.e. ‘Gathering Shells from the Seashore’, ‘Drifting with the Tide’, ‘My Home on the Old Ohio’, and ‘Under the Moonlit Sky’) that earned him a lot of money
1880 Published hymn compilation called Sparkling Gems Nos. 1 and 2 Combined, which included Softly & Tenderly
1891 Opened a branch in Chicago
By the 1880s, his publishing company was one of the most prominent and successful such businesses in the United States. Thousands of music teachers and musicians ordered sheet music, instruments, and other supplies from Thompson’s store.
He also began the East Liverpool Historical Society and was a trustee of the Carnegie Public Library.
He donated 100 acres of his own land to the city of East Liverpool to be used as a public park in 1899. Thompson Park is in use today with the same restrictions placed on its use by Thompson: no alcohol or gambling anytime and no ballgames on Sundays.
FAMILY
He was the youngest son of seven children of Josiah Thompson, who was a successful merchant, manufacturer, banker, and a two-term member of the Ohio state legislature. For a while, Josiah owned and operated a hotel in town. His mother, Sarah Jackman Thompson, was devoted to social and charitable work. East Liverpool rose from a small town to become the “Pottery Capital of the Nation.” Some say is was the “Pottery Capital of the world”, since the potteries of East Liverpool surpassed the potteries of England at that time. The Thompson family was involved in the local industry and became wealthy.
The family of Josiah Thompson is common in East Liverpool. As a result of that family, there was a Thompson Store, a Thompson Music Store, a Thompson Hotel, several Thompson houses, a Thompson Park, Thompson Row, Thompson Lane also known as Thompson Place, Thompson Pottery, even a Thompson Hill.
1891 Married Elizabeth Johnson
1895 Born a son named William Leland Thompson
FAITH, SPIRITUALITY & RELIGION
He felt that he owed something to the Lord for his good fortune, so he turned his talents to writing only sacred songs.
Originally a Methodist, but became a Presbyterian when he married.
Dwight L. Moody, the famous evangelist of the later 1800’s, called him “a fine character of sincerity, simplicity, and righteousness.”
HYMNS INCLUDED IN THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST HYMNAL
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