1/31/2012:
United States Senator from North Dakota Fountain L. Thompson resigned from his position on this date in 1910. Thompson had been appointed to fill the seat vacated by the death of Martin Johnson, but served less than three months before his resignation.
Born near Scottville, Illinois, in 1854, Thompson was educated as a lawyer. Although he was admitted to the bar in Illinois, he never engaged in legal practice, instead serving as a board member of county supervisors in Macoupin County, Illinois. He also became a merchant and businessman.
In 1888, Fountain moved to Dakota Territory and settled on a farm near Cando. He served as the Judge of the Towner County Court from 1890 until 1894, but continued to maintain his business pursuits. In Cando, he dabbled in real-estate and banking, but also farmed. At one time, he served as the School Director for Cando, and later as a member of the Cando Board of Alderman. At the turn of the century, Thompson was mayor of the city, and it was due to this, as well as his Democratic leanings, that he was appointed to fill North Dakota’s junior Senate seat vacated by Martin Johnson. Johnson, elected to the Senate in 1909, served only seven and a half months of his term before taking ill; he passed away quite suddenly at his Fargo home in October of 1909. In November, Thompson was asked to take Johnson’s place in the Senate, and he reluctantly agreed.
Despite his legal education and knowledge of politics, Thompson’s main interest had always been his business pursuits. By the end of January, he decided he could no longer remain seated as a Senator, and forfeited his seat through resignation. William Purcell, a Wahpeton attorney, was appointed to take his place. Thompson, meanwhile, returned to Cando and his business dealings, which included farming. He retired in 1921, at which time he moved to Los Angeles, California. He passed away there on February 4, 1942, at the age of eighty-seven, and was buried at the Hollywood Cemetery.
Distinctive to Thompson was not only his short term of service, but also that he was twice named the country’s “Oldest Living Senator.” He lost his crown in 1941, when Andrew Houston won a Senate seat, but regained the title three months later when Houston died while in office.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
Lounsberry, Clement Augustus, 1919. Early History of North Dakota: Essential Outlines of American History: pp. 443-444. Washington, DC: Liberty Press.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000199