# John Reuben Thompson

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**John Reuben Thompson** (October 23, 1823 – April 30, 1873) was an American poet, journalist, editor and publisher.[1][2]

## Biography

John Reuben Thompson was born in [Richmond, Virginia](/source/Richmond,_Virginia), in 1823. He graduated in law from the [University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia) in 1845.

Thompson did not pursue a career in the legal field, but instead dedicated himself to journalism and editorship. In 1847, he became the editor of the *[Southern Literary Messenger](/source/Southern_Literary_Messenger)* in Richmond, and in 1859 editor of *[The Southern Field and Fireside](/source/The_Southern_Field_and_Fireside)* in Augusta, Georgia. Thompson did not take part in the [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), suffering from tuberculosis. After a recuperative trip to Scotland, went to [London](/source/London) in 1864, became editor of the *Index*, a pro-[Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_of_America) newspaper, and promoted the Southern cause throughout various literary and social circles. Thompson was introduced to [Thomas Carlyle](/source/Thomas_Carlyle) by [Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie](/source/Anne_Isabella_Thackeray_Ritchie) in October. On the fourteenth, Thompson spent the first of many evenings at [Carlyle's House](/source/Carlyle's_House), engaging in discourse which Carlyle so delighted in that he insisted upon accompanying Thompson to his hotel in the evening, where they conversed on various topics from [Christopher Wren](/source/Christopher_Wren) to [Alfred, Lord Tennyson](/source/Alfred,_Lord_Tennyson). He continued to visit Carlyle several times a month until Thompson's return to Virginia in September 1866.[3]

In 1866 he became editor of the *[New York Evening Post](/source/New_York_Evening_Post)*, a position that he maintained until his death in New York in 1873.

Thompson was also a poet, most of his works being war-poems.

During his career and travels, Thompson had the chance to work closely with [Edgar Allan Poe](/source/Edgar_Allan_Poe), and many notable Southern authors, such as [William Gilmore Simms](/source/William_Gilmore_Simms), [Henry Timrod](/source/Henry_Timrod), [Paul Hamilton Hayne](/source/Paul_Hamilton_Hayne) and [Philip Pendleton Cooke](/source/Philip_Pendleton_Cooke), as well as European authors.

## Works

- *Genius and Character of Edgar Allan Poe*
- *Poems of John R. Thompson*

## References

1. Giemza, Bryan Albin; Flora, Joseph M.; Vogel, Amber (2006). *Southern writers: a new biographical dictionary*. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. p. 400. ISBN 0-8071-3123-7. [on Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=xxd451POnpYC&pg=PA400)

1. Fulton, Maurice Garland (ed.) (1917). "John Reuben Thompson". Ginn & Co., Boston.

1. Fusco, Richard (2004). ["Thompson, John Reuben"](https://books.google.com/books?id=8Nvdx-4-CzoC). *The Carlyle Encyclopedia*. Cumming, Mark (ed.). Madison and Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 467–468. ISBN 978-0-8386-3792-0.

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