David P. Thompson
David Preston Thompson ( born November 8, 1834 in Cadiz, Harrison County, Ohio; † December 14, 1901 in Portland, Oregon ) was an American politician. He also served as American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Governor of Idaho Territory and mayor of Portland.
Early years
David Thompson grew up in Ohio and learned there the trade of blacksmith; later he worked in land surveying for the railroad. At the age of 19 he went walking on the way to the Oregon Territory. On the way he took on odd jobs. Upon his arrival, he was impoverished. In Oregon, he again worked as a land surveyor for the railroad. Between 1857 and 1869, he was very successful in this profession. He had to fulfill several contracts in the land surveying and thereby became a rich man. He soon teamed up with partners.
Political rise
Thompson was a member of the Republican Party. From 1866 to 1872 he was a member of the legislature of Oregon. Four years of which he was in the state Senate and the remaining two years he was a deputy in the House of Representatives from Oregon. In 1875 he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to the new territorial governor later in Idaho. But Thompson was rarely present there and was more concerned with his private business outside the territory. For this reason he was dismissed again in 1876 by the President. In Idaho Territory ruled in the meantime, until the arrival of the new governor of State Edward J. Curtis.
More career
In 1876, David Thompson was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati, was nominated at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential candidate of the party. Between 1879 and 1881 Thompson was mayor of Portland. After that, he was a deputy in 1882 and again in 1888 the House of Representatives of Oregon, a mandate, in which he had been elected in 1878. In 1890 he ran unsuccessfully for the office of Governor of Oregon. In 1892, Thompson was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison to the Messenger of the Ottoman Empire. This office he held until 1893. With the accession of President Grover Cleveland, who was in 1892 elected to a second term, Thompson was dismissed in 1893 from his post. Later he was head ( Regent ) of the University of Oregon. David Thompson was married to Mary R. Meldrum, with whom he had three children.