George F. Thompson
George F. Thompson was born on July 24th, 1870 in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1883, his family moved to Royalton, in Niagara County. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1893, and practiced law in Middleport, New York.
Thompson was initially affiliated with the Republican Party. In 1895, he was elected a justice of the peace. He served as a member of the State Assembly, representing Niagara’s 1st district, from 1904-1905. He was a member of the New York State Senate, representing the 47th district, from 1913-1920. As a state senator, he was a strong supporter of establishing prohibition and urged his fellow senators to take action on the issue.
In 1920, Thompson challenged Nathan Miller in the Republican primary for governor. After losing the Republican primary. Thompson continued to run for governor and was nominated as the Prohibition Party candidate for governor.
Thompson campaigned in support of strongly enforcing national prohibition in New York state, repealing state laws which loosened restrictions on alcohol sales, such as the 2.75% beer law, and working to lower taxes in the state. Thompson questioned whether Miller was committed to prohibition and claimed, if elected, Miller would likely neglect enforcement and leave that task to local authorities.
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During the race, the state leader of the Anti-Saloon League, William Anderson, turned against Thompson. Anderson sought to discourage people from voting for Thompson and encouraged people to vote for Miller in the hope of defeating anti-prohibition incumbent governor Al Smith. Nonetheless, Thompson received 35,509 votes, 1.24% of the vote.
George F. Thompson died on June 13th , 1948.
Sources:
“Boss Anderson as a Critic of Clergymen”. The Standard Union. (Brooklyn, New York). March 22, 1922. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/544440325/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
“Buffalo Women Lauds Wadsworth”. The Buffalo Times. (Buffalo, New York). October 6, 1920. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/441650572/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
“End One Man Rule: Judge Miller tells Lockport Audience he’s for Representative Government”. Buffalo Morning Express. (Buffalo, New York). October 23, 1920. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/352851972/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
“Exit Thompson”. Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, New York). November 17, 1920. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/352605695/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition Fitch, Charles E.
Official New York, from Cleveland to Hughes. New York and Buffalo: Herd Publishing Company, 1911. https://archive.org/stream/officialnewyorkf04fitc#page/349/mode/1up
“G. F. THOMPSON DIES: I RAN FOR GOVERNOR; Prohibition Candidate in 1920 --Lawyer Served in State Senate and Assembly”. New York Times (New York City). June 14, 1948.
Kestenbaum, Lawrence. Index to Politicians: Thompson, G to I.
The Political Graveyard. Accessed October 1, 2020. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/thompson4.html.
Landmarks of Niagara County, New York. Ed. William Pool. D. Mason & Company, Publishers, 1897. In Biography of George F. Thompson: Niagara County, NY Biographies. Online Biographies. Info. Accessed October 1, 2020. http://www.onlinebiographies.info/ny/niag/thompson-gf.htm Lyons, John J.
Manual for the Use of the Legislature of the State of New York for the Year 1921. Albany: John B. Lyons Company, 1921. https://archive.org/details/manualforuseleg01unkngoog/page/n8/mode/2up Lyons, John J.
Manual for the Use of the Legislature of the State of New York for the Year 1922. Albany: John B. Lyons Company, 1922.
Other Past Candidates: New York. Partisan Prohibition Historical Society. Prohibitionists.org. Accessed September 30, 2020. http://www.prohibitionists.org/Candidates/candidates.html
“Primary Rivals Clash Tomorrow: Principal Republican Contests Center on Senator and Governor”. New York Times (New York City). September 13, 1920. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/09/13/107001378.pdf
“Prohi Vote Not Large”. Star Gazette. (Elmira, New York). November 12, 1920. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/276236398/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
“The News Political Forum Thompson and Cannon. Daily News. (New York City, New York). October 20, 1920. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/391445360/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
“Thompson and Tammany”. Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, New York). October 30, 1920. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/352649541/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
“Thompson Declaration a Bombshell: His Stand For Prohibition Means a Fight in the State Senate”. The Buffalo Times. (Buffalo, New York). November 19, 1918. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/441668107/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
“Thompson Hits at Anderson”. The Herald Statesman. (Yonkers, New York). October 18, 1920. Accessed, October 1, 2020. https://www.newspapers.com/image/676642658/?terms=george%2Bthompson%2Bprohibition
-- Contributed by Jonathan Makeley
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