THOMSON, ALEXANDER, JR. (1785-1863). Alexander Thomson, Jr., early legislator, only son of Alexander and Lucy (Fontaine) Thomson, was born in St. Matthew's Parish, South Carolina, on August 29, 1785. He lived for a while in Georgia, then moved to Giles County, Tennessee, where he rented land from Sterling C. Robertson,^qv with whom he later formed a partnership for taking families to Robertson's colony^qv in Texas. Although Thomson had mastered seven different trades, his work as a surveyor was the most important in introducing colonists into Central Texas. Thomson represented the district of Hidalgo at the Convention of 1832^qv and in 1835 was a delegate from Viesca to the Consultation,^qv in which he introduced the resolution of December 26, 1835, which changed the name of his municipality from Viesca to Milam in honor of Benjamin R. Milam.^qv Thomson also continued as a member of the General Council.^qv In 1835 he was chairman of the quarterly conference of the Methodist Church^qv and as such was instrumental in raising $300 for the pastor's salary; this was probably the first effort in Texas to raise money for a Protestant minister. Thomson married Elizabeth Dowsing in Lincoln County, Georgia, on July 31, 1805. They became the parents of thirteen children. After his wife's death on December 24, 1849, Thomson married Mrs. Elizabeth Hill, widow of Asa Hill,^qv on May 28, 1850. He died on June 1, 1863, and was buried in the Thomson family cemetery at Yellow Prairie, near Caldwell.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Texas House of Representatives, Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845 (Austin: Book Exchange, 1941). Homer S. Thrall, History of Methodism in Texas (Houston: Cushing, 1872; rpt., n.p.: Walsworth, 1976).

Malcolm D. McLean