Editing Robert Means Thompson (section)

==Biography==
He was born in [[Corsica, Pennsylvania]], of Protestant Scotch and Irish descent to Judge of the [[Jefferson County PA]] court John Jamison Thompson<ref name=jes12/> and Agnes Kennedy.

===Navy days===
Thompson was appointed to the [[United States Naval Academy]] on 30 July 1864.  Graduating tenth in the class of 1868, Thompson first went to sea in [[USS Contoocook (1864)|''Contoocook'']] in the West Indian Squadron. He later served in [[USS Franklin (1864)|''Franklin'']], [[USS Richmond (1860)|''Richmond'']], and [[USS Guard (1857)|''Guard'']] of the Mediterranean Squadron; as well as in [[USS Wachusett (1861)|USS ''Wachusett'']] and at the [[Naval Torpedo Station]], [[Newport, Rhode Island]].<ref name="mollus">{{cite web | url=http://www.suvcw.org/mollus/pcinc/rmthompson.htm | title=Master Robert Means Thompson, Commander-in-Chief 1927 - 1930 | first=Robert Girard | last=Carroon | publisher=[[Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States]] | accessdate=2010-07-15}}</ref>  Commissioned [[Ensign (rank)#United States|ensign]] on 19 April 1869, and promoted to master on 12 July 1870, he resigned from the Navy on 18 November 1871, to study law in his brother's office. 

===Lawyer===
After he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1872, he was still not satisfied with his legal training so he studied law at [[Harvard Law School|Harvard]], graduating in 1874. Thompson subsequently practiced law in [[Boston]] and was a member of the Boston Common Council from 1876 to 1878.

===Metallurgist===
Thompson later became interested in [[mining]] and [[smelting]] enterprises, by which he earned his fortune.<ref name="mollus"/> He became president of [[Orford Copper and Nickel Company]],<ref name=esm1>{{cite news |title=Discovery of the Orford process for nickel extraction |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/wat-on-earth/news/discovery-orford-process-nickel-extraction |publisher=University of Waterloo Earth Sciences Museum |date=23 November 1999}}</ref> and it was at his refinery in [[Constable Hook]]<ref name="ccn1"/> [[New Jersey]] where he earned {{CA Patent|44723A}},{{External links inline|date=January 2025}} "Method of obtaining sulphide of nickel".<ref name=esm1/>

A Boston entrepreneur named [[W. E. C. Eustis]] from [[Eustis Estate|Milton]] bought what was to become the Orford Nickel and Copper Company in 1865 in order to develop a mineral deposit discovered near [[Sherbrooke, Quebec]],<ref name=lac1/> in [[Orford, Quebec]].<ref name="pgc1">{{cite news |url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/M39-78-2001E-1.pdf |title=Information archivée dans le Web }}</ref> In March 1878 Eustis, Thompson, [[Robert Gilmour Leckie]], [[Charles Carroll Colby]] and [[Walter W. Beckett]] established the [[Orford Nickel and Copper Company]] in Quebec.<ref name=thompson60/> Thompson et al established the New Jersey refinery to process the ore from Orford there.<ref name="lac1">{{cite news |url=https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/heirloom_series/volume4/268-271.htm |title=Nickel }}</ref><ref name="thompson60">{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=John Fairfield |last2=Beasley |first2=Norman |title=For the Years to Come: A Story of International Nickel of Canada |date=1960 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co |location=Toronto}}</ref><ref name=pgc1/>

Orford Copper was the generatrix in 1900 of the [[Ontario Smelting Company]] and [[Orford Village]] which Thompson set up near what was to become known as [[Copper Cliff]], at Cobalt Street.<ref name="ccn1">{{cite news |title=Orford Village |url=https://www.coppercliffnotes.com/orford-village.html |publisher=Copper Cliff Notes}}</ref> 

In 1902 Orford Copper merged with the [[Canadian Copper Company]] and [[American Nickel Works]],<ref name="ew18">{{cite journal |last1=Weidenhammer |first1=Erich |title=THE DEVELOPMENT OF METALLURGY IN CANADA SINCE 1900 |journal=Transformation Series |volume=20 |issue=1 |date=2018 |url=https://ingeniumcanada.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/Development_of_Metallurgy_in_Canada_since_1900.pdf |series=Collection Series |publisher=Collection and Research Division of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation}}</ref> into the [[International Nickel Company of Canada]], of which he served as chairman for at least a decade.<ref name="aspc">{{cite book | title=The Olympic games, Stockholm, 1912 | first=James Edward | last=Sullivan | publisher=American Sports Publishing Company | year=1912 | page=[https://archive.org/details/olympicgamessto00sullgoog/page/n234 225] | url=https://archive.org/details/olympicgamessto00sullgoog| quote=robert means thompson. }}</ref>

===Residence===
In 1907 he lived in a [[Embassy of Romania, Washington, D.C.|stone mansion]] at 1607 23rd Street NW in Washington, D.C. which was recently built by New York attorney Frank Ellis.  The mansion is in the Beaux-arts style and was designed by the firm of [[Carrère and Hastings]] which designed many significant buildings of the era.  Ellis sold the mansion to Roumania in 1921 and it has been used as its embassy ever since.

===Philanthropy===
He was an organizer of the Navy Athletic Association and the donor of the Thompson Cup, which is awarded to the member of the [[Navy Midshipmen]] who contributes most to the advancement of athletics at the [[Naval Academy]].<ref name="hnm1">{{cite news |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/thompson-i.html |title=Thompson I (Destroyer No. 305) }}</ref> His interest in sport then extended to the [[Olympic Games]], and was twice president of the American Olympic Association, once for the [[1912 Summer Olympics]],<ref name=jes12/> and again for the [[1924 Summer Olympics|1924 games]].<ref name=fti1>{{cite book | title=Fort Ticonderoga | first=Carl R. | last=Crego | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | year=2004 | isbn=0-7385-3502-8 | page=95 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttsL0tghIrIC&q=robert+means+thompson&pg=PA95}}</ref> In 1912, he was also elected president of the [[New York Athletic Club]].<ref name="aspc"/> He also helped to organize the New York Chapter of the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and served as its first president and as a trustee of the Naval Academy Alumni Association at [[Annapolis, Maryland]].

Thompson was president of the [[Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers]] and president of the [[Navy League of the United States|Navy League]],<ref name=hnm1/> and owner of the yacht ''Katrina''.<ref name=jes12/> He also visited Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government and was awarded the [[Order of the Rising Sun]], Second Class, by the Emperor. He also received the [[Order of Vasa]] by the government of Sweden, and the Cross of Commander, [[French Legion of Honor]], by the French government.<ref name="hnm1"/>

Thompson became a companion of the [[Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States]] (MOLLUS) in 1874 through the Massachusetts commandery.  He was active in MOLLUS affairs and was elected commander in chief October 27, 1927, and served in that capacity until his death.

He was also a companion of the [[Naval Order of the United States]] and a strong supporter of the [[Navy League of the United States]].

He co-edited the ''Confidential Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy'' for the [[Naval History and Heritage Command|Navy Historical Society]].

===Death and family life===
Robert Means Thompson was married to Sarah Gibbs, daughter of Rhode Island governor, [[William C. Gibbs]]. They had one daughter, Sarah Gibbs Thompson.<ref name="jes12">{{cite book |last1=Sullivan |first1=James Edward |title=The Olympic Games, Stockholm, 1912 |date=1912 |publisher=American sportspublishing company |page=233 |url=https://archive.org/details/olympicgamessto00sullgoog/page/n233/mode/2up?q=gibbs}}</ref> He maintained a summer residence at [[Southampton, Long Island]] and in winter he could be found in Washington DC.<ref name=jes12/>

He died while visiting his daughter and her husband, [[Stephen Hyatt Pell]], at [[Fort Ticonderoga]], New York, the commencement of the historic restored fortress being funded by his personal fortune in 1909.<ref name=fti1/> His memorial service was held at the chapel of the [[United States Naval Academy]] and he is buried with his wife in the churchyard of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island]].