Edward Thomson (October 12, 1810 – March 21, 1870) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...

 (and therefore also of the United Methodist Church

United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...

), elected in 1864.

Early life

Thomson was born in Portsea

Portsea

Portsea is an area of the English city of Portsmouth, located on Portsea Island, within the ceremonial county of Hampshire.The area was originally known as the Common and lay between the town of Portsmouth and the nearby Dockyard. The Common started to be developed at the end of the seventeenth...

, part of Portsmouth, England. When he was seven years old, his parents emigrated to the United States, settling in Wooster, Ohio

Wooster, Ohio

Wooster is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Wayne County. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio approximately SSW of Cleveland and SW of Akron. Wooster is noted as the location of The College of Wooster...

.

His father, a pharmacist, influenced Edward toward the study of medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, which he pursued at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

. He united with the M.E. Church April 29, 1832, and was licensed as an Exhorter the next year. Indiana Asbury (now DePauw

DePauw University

DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...

) University gave him the degree of D.D. in 1846, and Ohio Wesleyan that of LL.D. in 1855.

Ordained ministry

The following July, Thomson was recommended for admission to the Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 Annual Conference

Annual Conference

An Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church is a regional body that governs much of the life of the "Connectional Church." Annual conferences are composed primarily of the clergy members and a lay member or members from each charge . Each conference is a geographical division...

, received "on trial" that September. He was appointed junior preacher on the Norwalk

Norwalk, Ohio

At the 2000 census, there were 16,238 people, 6,377 households and 4,234 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,950.3 per square mile . There were 6,687 housing units at an average density of 803.1 per square mile...

 Circuit. His great abilities were apparent almost immediately. In 1836 he was appointed to Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 in the Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 Annual Conference (the northern part of Ohio then being a part of the Michigan Conference). Lewis Cass

Lewis Cass

Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...

, Governor of Michigan

Governor of Michigan

The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. State of Michigan. The current Governor is Rick Snyder, a member of the Republican Party.-Gubernatorial elections and term of office:...

, though a Presbyterian, was among Rev. Thomson's parishioners. While at Detroit, Thomson married a daughter of Mordecai Bartley

Mordecai Bartley

Mordecai Bartley was a Whig politician from Ohio. He served as the 18th Governor of Ohio. Bartley succeeded his son, Thomas W. Bartley as governor, one of only a few instances of this happening in the United States in high offices.Bartley was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania...

, a U.S. congressman

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 and later also a governo).

In 1837 Thomson became the Principal of the Norwalk Seminary

Norwalk Seminary

Norwalk Seminary was a private, Methodist school in Norwalk, Ohio. Opening in 1838 with Edward Thomson as principal, by 1842 it had an attendance of nearly four hundred. Nonetheless, the school was unsuccessful financially, and it was forced to close in 1844. In 1846, a Baptist church purchased...

, where his success was so great that in 1843 he was offered the Chancellorship of the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 and the Presidency of Transylvania College. In 1844 Edward was elected by the M.E. General Conference as the editor of the Ladies' Repository, an important denominational periodical. He was re-elected to this post in 1848, but instead was called to the Presidency of Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...

, a post he held until 1860. He was elected editor of the Christian Advocate in 1860, remaining until 1864 despite much opposition.

Episcopal ministry

Elected to the Episcopacy in 1864, Bishop Thomson continued in this office until his death. He likewise attained high rank as a lecturer and an editor, writing much for periodicals and papers. He was a profound student, though absent-minded, preferring the seclusion of a college to the episcopal "office." Notwithstanding, he was among the most eminent of Bishops of that time.

Thomson died in Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. He was buried

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

 at Oak Grove Cemetery in Delaware, Ohio

Delaware, Ohio

The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...

.

Selected writings

• Educational Essays (new edition), Cincinnati, 1856.
• Moral and Religious Essays, 1856.
• Biographical and Incidental Sketches, 1856.
• Letters from Europe, 1856.
• Letters from India, China, and Turkey, (2 vols.), 1870.
• Our Oriental Missions, 1870.

External links