Thompson, William B.

Submitted by Mike Miller

William B. Thompson, a lawyer by profession but for nearly thirty years a prominent figure in the cotton business at New Orleans, is probably best known for his generous participation in undertakings and enterprises that are vitally linked with the general prosperity and advancement of the city and state.

He was born at Kosciusko, Attala County, Mississippi, September 17, 1865, son of William B. and Mary Phaloe (White) Thompson. In his early childhood his parents moved to New Orleans, where his father founded and developed an extensive business as a cotton factor, a business carried on as W. B. Thompson & Company. William B. Thompson grew up in New Orleans, and ~had all the advantages that the best schools and universities could give. He graduated from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1886, attended the Johns Hopkins University in 1886-7, and in 1889 graduated in law from Columbia University. Mr. Thompson practiced law from 1889 until 1896 at Dallas, Texas. The death of his father recalled him to New Orleans, where he took active charge of the cotton factorage business and has given his time to the development of the W. B. Thompson Company, one of the largest firms of cotton factors at the port of New Orleans. His position in cotton circles is attested by the fact that he was four times unanimously elected president of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, serving 1908-12. He was president of the Worlds Cotton Conference in 1919, and since that year has been chairman of the Louisiana Division of the American Cotton Association.

In 1908 Mr. Thompson was made chairman of the Louisiana State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation. From 1909 to 1912 he served as president pro tem of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Commission. He was commissioner of public utilities in the City of New Orleans from 1912 to 1916, and from December, 1916 to October, 1919, was president of the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans.

He is a member of the Boston Club and Southern Yacht Club.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p. 374, by Henry E. Chambers. Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.