# Smith Thompson *United States Supreme Court Associate Justice and Secretary of the Navy (1768–1843)* Smith Thompson (January 17, 1768 – December 18, 1843) was an American lawyer, judge and officeholder from New York. He headed the Navy Department as Secretary of the Navy from 1819 to 1823. He then sat as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1823 until he died.[^1] Before entering federal office, Thompson served in the New York State Assembly and sat on the New York State Supreme Court, which he eventually led as chief justice. While on the federal bench he ran for president and later for governor, and he lost both races.[^1] His dissent in *Cherokee Nation v. Georgia*, 30 U.S. 1 (1831), concerned Georgia's incursion onto Cherokee lands.[^1] ## Early life and the law Thompson was a native of Amenia, New York. He finished at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in 1788 and taught for a brief time afterward.[^1] He read law with James Kent and then opened his own practice. He worked first in Troy, New York (1792–1793) and then in Poughkeepsie, New York (1793–1802).[^1] His father, Ezra Thompson (1738–1816), and his grandfather, Samuel Thompson (1696–1768), belonged to a family group that had relocated from New Haven, Connecticut, to Dutchess County, New York, by the Revolutionary period. Israel Thompson and Jesse Thompson, first cousins of his father, each served several terms in the New York State Assembly.[^1] ## Politics and the court Voters sent Thompson to the New York State Assembly in 1800. The next year he was a delegate to the state's Constitutional Convention of 1801.[^1] In 1802 he received an appointment to the New York State Supreme Court. He served there as an associate justice through 1814 and then as chief justice from 1814 to 1818.[^1] In 1819 President James Monroe named him the sixth Secretary of the Navy.[^1] In 1823–1824 he sought the Democratic-Republican Party's nomination for the 1824 presidential election. He abandoned the effort after other candidates drew more support.[^1] On September 1, 1823, Monroe gave Thompson a recess appointment to the United States Supreme Court, which Thompson accepted only reluctantly. The appointment filled the vacancy left by [[Henry Brockholst Livingston]].[^1] Monroe formally nominated him on December 5, 1823. The [[United States Senate]] confirmed him on December 9, 1823, and his commission issued that same day.[^1] During his years on the Court, the Wikipedia account describes him as a staunch opponent of Chief Justice [[John Marshall]].[^1] Thompson kept seeking elected office while serving as a Justice. In 1828 he ran unsuccessfully for Governor of New York. By comparison, Chief Justice [[John Jay]] won the New York governorship in 1795 while he was still on the Court. After his 1828 loss, Thompson largely stepped away from politics.[^1] In *Cherokee Nation v. Georgia*, 30 U.S. 1 (1831), he wrote a dissent objecting to Georgia's invasion of Cherokee Nation lands. The Wikipedia account treats that dissent as significant to the history of Native American rights.[^1] ## Legacy In May 1816 Thompson was among the founding vice presidents of the American Bible Society. As Secretary of the Navy, he gave a copy of the Bible to every officer and enlisted man in the service.[^1] In May 1822 Lt. Commander Matthew C. Perry gave Cayo Hueso (Key West) the new name Thompson's Island in his honor.[^1] In 1919, a century after Thompson became Secretary of the Navy, the destroyer USS *Smith Thompson* (DD-212) was named for him.[^1] ## Marriages Thompson's first wife was Sarah Livingston (1777–1833). She was a daughter of Gilbert Livingston (1742–1806), who had been Thompson's law partner, and the couple had four children.[^1] He later married Elizabeth Davenport Livingston (1805–1886), a daughter of Henry Livingston Jr. (1748–1828), and they had three children. Because Gilbert and Henry were brothers, his two wives were first cousins. Sarah Livingston was also a cousin of Henry Brockholst Livingston, who preceded Thompson on the Supreme Court.[^1] His son Gilbert Livingston Thompson (1796–1874) married Arietta Minthorne Tompkins (1800–1837), a daughter of Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Smith Thompson* (revision 1342206496, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Thompson's birth and death dates, education, New York offices, Navy and Supreme Court service, campaigns, *Cherokee Nation* dissent, legacy and marriages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Thompson