THOMPSON, Richard Wigginton, secretary of the navy, born in Culpeper county, Virginia, 9 June, 1809. He received a good education, and removed in 1831 to Kentucky, whence, after serving as a store-keeper's clerk m Louisville, he went to Lawrence county, Indiana There he taught for a few months, and then returned to mercantile business, at the same time studying law at night. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, began to practise in Bedford, Indiana, and served in the lower house of the legislature in 1834-'6, and in the upper house in 1836-'8 He was for a short time president, pro tempore, of the state senate, and acting lieutenant-governor. He was a presidential elector on the Harrison ticket in 1840, zealously supporting General Harrison in public speeches and by his pen, served in congress in 1841-'3, having been chosen as a Whig, and was a defeated candidate for elector on the Clay ticket in 1844. He served again in congress in 1847-'9, declining a renomination, and also refused the Austrian mission, which was offered him by President Taylor, the recordership of the land-office, which Fillmore tendered him, and a seat on the bench of the court of claims, which President Lincoln urged him to accept. He was again a presidential elector, on the Republican ticket, in 1864, and delegate to the National conventions of that party in 1868 and 1876. In the latter he nominated Oliver P. Morton for the presidency. In 1867-'9 he was judge of the 18th circuit of the state. On 12 March, 1877, Mr. Thompson entered President Hayes's cabinet as secretary of the navy, and he served nearly through the administration, resigning in 1881 to become chairman of the American committee of the Panama canal company. He is also a director of the Panama railroad. He has written many political platforms, and obtained a reputation for his ability in formulating party-principles. He has published " The Papacy and the Civil Power" (New York, 1876), and a "History of the Tariff" (Chicago, 1888).