Joseph Parrish Thompson

Joseph Parrish Thompson (August 7, 1819 – September 20, 1879) was an abolitionist and Congregationalist minister. He was pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle Church (also known as Broadway United Church of Christ and Second Free Presbyterian Church) in New York from 1845 to 1871 and was one of the founders in 1848 of The Independent, an anti-slavery religious weekly based in New York, serving as one of its editors until 1862. He also was one of the originators of The New Englander,[1] served as president of the American Union Commission,[2] and assisted in the Treaty of Berlin with the religious liberty clause.[3]

He graduated in 1838 from Yale, where he was a member of Skull & Bones, followed by theological studies at Andover and New Haven, and was ordained pastor of the Chapel Street church in New Haven in November 1840. During his years at New Haven, he was one of the originators of The New Englander, a Congregational quarterly review, later renamed the Yale Review.[4]

Harvard University conferred upon him the DD degree (divinitatis doctor, Doctor of Divinity)[5] in 1856. He was the brother-in-law of Daniel Coit Gilman, having married, as his second wife, Gilman's sister Elizabeth. He devoted much of his time to Oriental studies, with the results of these labors appearing in Bibliotheca Sacra, the North American Review, and other journals.

During his time at the Broadway Tabernacle church, at one time the largest building in New York City, Dr. Thompson kept preaching the church's anti-slavery beliefs, supporting women's suffrage (voting), and promoting the abolition of alcoholic drinks. He frequently preached to a congregation of 2,500 parishioners. Black pastors were invited as guest preachers. William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth spoke at the church. Rioters tried to burn the church and Dr. Thompson's home in 1863, but they were stopped by members of the congregation.[6]

Dr. Thompson often traveled to Washington, DC, where he spoke with President Abraham Lincoln about issues related to the Civil War. Thompson collaborated further with President Lincoln through his work as president of the Christian Union Commission (also known as the American Union Commission).[1][2]

Doctor Thompson's address "Revolution Against Free Government, Not A Right, But A Crime"[7] about the rights of man and the principles of free government, delivered before the Union League Club in 1884 is considered instrumental to the club's goal of supporting the Union and abolition.[8] The Union Leagues were a group of men's clubs established during the American Civil War to promote loyalty to the Union, the Republican Party, and the policies of Abraham Lincoln. The founders aimed to win the political governing elite over to support of the Union and abolition. They also believed that a centralized government was essential to their prosperity.

At a time when the Union Army desperately needed regiments, Dr. Thompson united the parish to contribute $30,000 dollars for a new regiment.[9]

After President Lincoln's assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln gave Dr. Thompson one of the president's canes. He in turn, left it to the New York Historical Society.[10][11] This walking cane had been property of Henry Clay of Kentucky. He had received it from Judge William H. Robinson of Missouri, Robinson had gifted it to Mr. Cassius M. Clay of Kentucky, and Mr. Clay in turn had given it to President Lincoln. The president's widow gave it to Rev. Dr. Thompson, "as a friend who her husband greatly honored."[10]

Reverend Thompson was one of the main speakers at the funeral honor ceremonies for president Abraham Lincoln held in New York city in Union Square.[12]

The tremendous energy Dr. Thompson extended on behalf of the war effort, the abolition of slavery and his ministries at the Tabernacle, exhausted him, and he found it necessary to submit his resignation in late 1871. He moved to Germany in 1873. Dr. Thompson was nominated as a minister to the German government in Berlin. He declined this position, however.[13]

In 1878, influenced by Dr. Thompson, the Berlin Congress inserted a religious liberty clause in the Treaty of Berlin, based on An Essay Toward Principles of International law to Govern the Intercourse of Christian with Non-Christian Peoples.[3][14] This essay was presented at the Conference of the "Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations", at Bremen on September 1876.

He traveled abroad in 1852-1854, and from 1873 until his death in 1879 he lived in Berlin.[15][16][17][18]

American Union Commission (Christian Union Commission)

The American Union Commission was formed in 1864 [19] by Reverend Joseph P. Thompson, D.D., and Reverend William I. Buddington, D.D. when they visited Tennessee as delegates of the Christian Commission. During the visit, both witnessed the terrible conditions of the country, and saw the great necessity of forming an organization to aid in rebuilding the places hurt by war, as well as the need of help to those who had suffered from it. They consulted with Andrew Johnson, then military Governor of Tennessee, who agreed with them on its importance. The reverends then returned to New York to form a partial plan and discussed it with leading citizens of the city. After the plan was set forth, they met with President Lincoln personally who approved the plan enthusiastically and participated in the proposed constitution. The War Department then gave the commission the same facilities of transportation it had awarded to the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. After the death of President Lincoln, Andrew Johnson became President of the United States, and continued supporting the commission.[2]

"The principal work of the AUC was practical relief. In 1884 it sent donated clothing and blankets to Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida, adding stoves to its shipments to Memphis and Tennessee. It also provided assistance for the thousands of southern refugees who streamed into New York at the end of the war, renting a large building on 24th Street to house the women and children. To accommodate them in transit, the AUC placed beds on two steamers working between New York and Southern ports."[19]

Works

Joseph Parrish Thompson was the author of a number of works including:

The Fugitive Slave Law: Tried by the Old and New Testaments (1850),

Photographic Views of Egypt, Past and Present (1856),

The Christian Graces (1859),

Constitution of the African Civilization Society: Together With the Testimony of Forty Distinguished Citizens of New York and Brooklyn (1861),

The Sergeant's Memorial (1863),

The Psalter and the Sword (1863),

Revolution Against Free Government - Not a Right But a Crime (1864),

Bryant Gray (1864),

Christianity and Emancipation, Or, The Teachings and the Influence of the Bible Against Slavery (1868),

The Holy Comforter: His Person and His Work (1866),

Man in Genesis and Geology (1870), a work addressing issues of science and faith in the light of Darwinism,

The Theology of Christ: From His Own Words (1871),

Church and State in the United States (1873),

Lucretius or Paul: Materialism and Theism Tested by the Nature and the Needs of Man (1875),

Let the Cannon Blaze Away (1876), six lectures that were given in five leading cities in Europe on the United States' centennial,

The Workman: His False Friends and His True Friends (1879),

Parents

Father: Isaac Thompson (1793 - 1873)

Mother: Mary Ann Hanson Thompson (1799 - 1867)[20]

Spouses

Lucy Olivia Bartlett Thompson (____ - 1852)

Elizabeth Coit Gilman Thompson (1821 - 1892)

Issue

John Hanson Thompson (1842 - 1863)

Joseph Parrish Thompson (1844 - 1897)

Lucy Bartlett Thompson Hunt (1846-1883)

Mary Okie Thompson Hunt (1848 - 1884)

Edward B. Thompson (1851 - 1851)

William Gilman Thompson (1856 - 1927)

Siblings

William Dawson Thompson (1817 - 1884)

Mary Gertrude Thompson Okie (1821 - 1847)

Elizabeth Thompson Moyer (1825 - 1898)

Charles C Thompson (1831 - 1855)

Samuel H Thompson (1833 - 1864)

Helen Curtis Thompson (1838 - 1922)[21]

References

  1. 1 2 Joseph Parrish Thompson and Leonard Bacon Papers, 1845-1928, [Bulk Dates: 1845-1879]. Columbia University Libraries Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 2012. pp. http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/ead/nnc–rb/ldpd_9577639/print.
  2. 1 2 3 The American Union Commission: Its Origins, Operations and Purposes. Sanford, Harroun & Co. 1865. pp. 2, 3, 26 – via https://ia801407.us.archive.org/26/items/americanunion00amer/americanunion00amer_bw.pdf.
  3. 1 2 Baynes, T Spencer (1889). The Encyclopædia Britannica: Supplement 1884-1889, Volume 4. University of Chicago Library: New York, Philadelphia J.M. Stoddart, 1884-1889. p. 679. OCLC 39988589.
  4. ↑ Ripley, George; Dana, Charles (1867). The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Volume 15. NYPL Research Libraries: D Appleton and Company. p. 446 – via https://books.google.com/books?id=kYhRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA446&lpg=PA446&dq=The+American+Cyclopaedia+Joseph+Parrish+Thompson&source=bl&ots=OVTE8e48M0&sig=4oZLHykR1WSTieeTvn--AEOAhWU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsgLPOmOzOAhXDOyYKHSUfAtAQ6AEIKjAE#v=onepage&q=The%20American%20Cyclopaedia%20Joseph%20Parrish%20Thompson&f=false.
  5. ↑ "Degree Abbreviations".
  6. ↑ "Joseph Parrish Thompson - Broadway United Church of Christ". 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  7. ↑ Thompsonn, Joseph Parrish (1884). Pamphlets, Volume 1. Union League Club (New York, N.Y.) – via https://books.google.com/books?id=RpY-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Joseph+Parrish+Thompson%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqz5PPkezOAhUE6WMKHd3-AU8Q6AEIMzAE#v=snippet&q=%22joseph%20parrish%20thompson%22&f=false.
  8. ↑ Fredrickson, George M (1965). The Inner Civil War: Northern Intellectuals and the Crisis of the Union. University of Illinois Press. pp. 134, 135 – via https://books.google.com/books?id=XY4Xzitc470C&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=joseph+parrish+thompson+union+league&source=bl&ots=N4Ojso_ltb&sig=DNzbtUuSy9eziRT9A3AfTmxLzq0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjj1NeFv-zOAhUG7GMKHbKbDJQQ6AEISzAJ#v=onepage&q=joseph%20parrish%20thompson%20union%20league&f=false.
  9. ↑ "Joseph Parrish Thompson - Broadway United Church of Christ". 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  10. 1 2 "New-York Historical Society | Cane". www.nyhistory.org. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  11. ↑ "DR. THOMPSON'S WILL.; MANY BEQUESTS TO FRIENDS AND RELATIVES ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S CANE.". The will of the late Rev. Dr. Joseph Parrish Thompson, formerly Pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle, who died in Berlin in September. The New York times. November 21, 1879.
  12. ↑ "FUNERAL HONORS TO THE REMAINS OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN--COMMITTEE OF THE CITIZENS OF NEW-YORK--ORDER OF CEREMONIES.". April 24, 1865 – via http://www.nytimes.com/.
  13. ↑ "Joseph Parrish Thompson, The Second Pastor, 1845-1871". https://web.archive.org. 9/5/2016. Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |website= (help)
  14. ↑ Thompson, Joseph Parrish (1884). American Comments on European Questions, International and Religious. Houghton, Mifflin,. p. 107.
  15. ↑ "Dr. Joseph P. Thompson", Harper's Weekly, October 11, 1879, p. 804.
  16. ↑ "Dr. Thompson's Will", New York Times, Nov. 21, 1879.
  17. ↑ "Thompson, Joseph Parrish", New American Cyclopaedia, vol. 15, p. 446.
  18. ↑ Livingstone, David N. Adam's Ancestors (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), p. 133.
  19. 1 2 Spann, Edward K (2002). Gotham at War: New York City, 1860-1865. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 194. ISBN 9780842050579 – via https://books.google.com/books?id=-Hw8-RmhEuYC&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=%22reverend+joseph+p+thompson%22+slavery&source=bl&ots=QloCXhon-M&sig=5LTuM2we8wsB1IJQm78YiopxvM0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpr4SnofHOAhWM7yYKHa04DNkQ6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q=%22reverend%20joseph%20p%20thompson%22%20slavery&f=false.
  20. ↑ "Thompson L Archives, [THOMPSON-L] TFM VOL.10 NO.36-37 WINTER-SPRIN G 1971 P.38".
  21. ↑ "Find A Grave Memorial# 81955037".

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