Smith Thompson

Smith Thompson (January 17, 1768 – December 18, 1843) was a US Secretary of the Navy from 1819 to 1823 and a US Supreme Court Associate Justice from 1823 to his death. Thompson graduated from Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey) in 1788, taught for a short period thereafter, then studied law under James Kent and subsequently set up a law practice. He practiced in Troy, New York from 1792 to 1793, and in Poughkeepsie, New York from 1793 to 1802. from President James Monroe on September 1, 1823. He was to fill a seat vacated by Henry Brockholst Livingston.

But Chief Justice Marshall found that the Cherokee Nation was not a "foreign nation" and that the Supreme Court had no subject matter jurisdiction to even consider the merits of its petition to enjoin the State of Georgia from invading its territory to possess mining interests. Justice Thompson's dissent stated:

Thompson presided over the Circuit Court trial in Connecticut in the Amistad case in 1839. He would also rule on the same case as a justice of the US Supreme Court in 1841.

Justice Smith Thompson remained on the court until his death in Poughkeepsie, New York, on December 18, 1843.

Marriages

Smith Thompson married first, Sarah Livingston (1777–1833) daughter of Gilbert Livingston (1742–1806), a law partner of Thompson, and had four children. Second, he married Elizabeth Davenport Livingston (1805–1886), daughter of Henry Livingston Jr. (1748–1828), and had three more children. Gilbert and Henry were siblings, making his wives, Sarah and Elizabeth, first cousins. Sarah Livingston and her husband's Supreme Court predecessor, Henry Brockholst Livingston, were also cousins via their common Livingston family ancestors, Robert Livingston, the Elder (1654–1728) and Alida (née Schuyler) Van Rensselaer (1656–1727) who lived in eastern New York during the 18th century.

One of his sons, Gilbert Livingston Thompson (1796–1874), married Arietta Minthorne Tompkins (1800–1837), daughter of Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins. Their daughter, Arietta Livingston Thompson (1823–1886), was the mother of Guy Vernor Henry and grandmother of Guy Vernor Henry Jr.