This collection contains the correspondence, legal documents, and financial records of Edward H. Thomson, a lawyer from Flint, Michigan, in the mid-1800s. Many items pertain to Thomson's involvement in mining ventures in the Lake Superior region of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The Correspondence series (120 items), the bulk of which is dated between 1844 and 1885, contains personal and business letters, including correspondence addressed to Thomson and his retained letters. Many items pertain to Thomson's involvement with the British and Canadian Mining Company and other mining firms in the Lake Superior region. Other letters relate to his position as commissioner for immigration. A group of Civil War-era letters concerns land claims in Michigan; many of these items bear the letterhead of the Michigan State Land Office. The series also contains 8 letters of recommendation in support of Thomson's candidacy for United States Consul at St. Thomas, Canada, 1885.
The Documents and Financial Records series (117 items) contains indentures and other documents related to land in Massachusetts and Michigan. The series includes receipts and other financial documents, as well as documents related to Edward H. Thomson's mining ventures, including a copy of an agreement between Thomson and others to conduct business as the British North American Mining Company (November 3, 1845). The series also includes Thomson's appointment as consul to Basle, Switzerland, signed by President Andrew Jackson (February 25, 1837), and Thomson's appointment as a captain in the Michigan Militia in 1861 (August 13, 1861); a group of 45 checks includes many drawn on John A. Winston & Company, affiliated with the Bank of Mobile.
The Writings series includes 2 essays composed for debating clubs, several respecting William Shakespeare, brief notes on algebra, and other material. The collection contains 2 Genealogical essays: one traces the history of the Thomson family; the other contains chronology of events in the life of Dr. Douglass Houghton.
A series of Maps mainly contains surveys, including several depicting the Lake Superior region of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Printed Items include pamphlets, printed letters and documents, ephemera, and newspaper clippings. The series includes 2 copies of a printed document pertaining to exploration of the eastern shores of Lake Superior for mineral deposits (November 21, 1845), a broadside for an 1881 dedicatory picnic, and admission and other cards. Most of the 16 newspaper clippings relate to the death of Howard W. Peaslee of Malden Bridge, New York, after he fell from a bridge in 1885; other clippings contain obituary notices and announcements.
Edward Hughes Thomson was born in Kendall, England, on June 15, 1810, and moved with his parents to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1813. After attending school and spending two years at sea, he studied law with Thomas T. Sherwood and Millard Fillmore. He practiced law in New York and Ohio between 1832 and 1837, when he moved to Lapeer County, Michigan. He moved to Flint shortly thereafter and opened a legal practice with John Bartow. Thomson held multiple civil offices throughout his career, serving as prosecuting attorney for Lapeer County and Genesee County, as state senator and representative for Michigan, as commissioner of immigration, as deputy commissioner for the United States at the 1851 World's Fair in London, as a member of the State Military Board, and as a member of the Flint Board of Education. Between 1844 and 1845, Thomson and Dr. Douglass Houghton helped establish the copper mining industry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Edward H. Thomson married twice and had at least three children; he died on February 2, 1886.
