Johnson Thompson, a notable figure in Cherokee history, was born on February 10, 1822, in Cass County, Georgia. He was the third son of James Allen Thompson, a white man, and Martha Lynch, a Cherokee woman.
His maternal lineage is significant, as his grandfather, Geter Lynch, was a United States citizen and brother-in-law to the prominent Judge J. Martin of the Cherokee Nation.
Thompson's formative years were shaped by his diverse heritage. He attended missionary and private schools until the age of fifteen.
In 1837, after the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, his family, along with other notable Cherokee families like the Boudinots, Adairs, Mayes, and Ridges, relocated to what is now the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.
There, Johnson continued his education in Vinyard Township and Bentonville, Arkansas, until he was eighteen.
Upon reaching adulthood, Thompson began working for his uncle at J. M. Lynch & Co. as a clerk. This experience laid the foundation for his future business endeavors.
In 1843, he married Eliza C. Taylor, the daughter of Richard Taylor, the second chief of the Cherokees, and granddaughter of George Fields, a prominent United States military officer.
Johnson Thompson embarked on a mercantile career in 1846, a venture he continued except during the American Civil War.
In 1849 his brother, Jeter Thompson, M.D. had journeyed by wagon train with the Cherokee 49'ers to the Gold Fields in California while Johnson took a ship to arrive there, escaping as it turned out the many cholera deaths that ran through the gold camps,
Jeter worked in various camps to prevent the disease from taking a larger toll. thereby layinga foundation for latter generation of the family to become leaders in eastern Oklahoma in the field of medicine.
During the war, he served as a quartermaster for the First Cherokee Regiment in the Confederate service. Due to a disability, he retired from military service and focused on farming in the Chickasaw Nation.
After the war, Thompson resumed his mercantile business and expanded his agricultural pursuits along Grand River. In the late 1860s, he relocated to Vinita and later to Tahlequah in 1876. Here, he established a thriving business, stocking a wide range of goods from boots and shoes to farming implements.
Johnson Thompson was not only a successful businessman but also a dedicated family man. He and Eliza had five children, each of whom made significant contributions to their communities. Notably, their son Joseph M. became a practicing physician and medical superintendent in Tahlequah.
Standing at five feet ten inches and weighing 200 pounds, Johnson Thompson was known for his stellar appearance, sound education, and exceptional business acumen.
He was also a pioneering member of the Masonic Lodge in the Cherokee Nation and was known for his charitable acts and support for the needy
.Thompo\son died in Ap[ril of 1900 and was laid o rest in an unmarked grave in a family plot on the Tahlequah Cemetery in Tahlequah.
