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.
From the guide to the Edward H. Thomson papers, Thomson, Edward H. papers, 1826-1924, 1836-1885, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
