John Renshaw Thomson

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John Renshaw Thomson (September 25, 1800 – September 12, 1862) was an American merchant and a Democratic senator from New Jersey who served in the United States Senate from 1853 until his death in 1862. He helped develop New Jersey’s transportation and industry, working in the China trade and leading several transportation companies.

Born in Philadelphia to shipowners Edward Thomson and Ann Renshaw, Thomson joined his family’s China trade business. He served as the U.S. Consul to Canton from 1823 to 1825, succeeding his late brother Richard Renshaw Thomson. In 1825 he married Annis Stockton, linking him with the prominent Stockton family, and they settled in Princeton.

In Princeton, Thomson became a director and secretary of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company and later served as president and then treasurer of the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad. He took part in New Jersey politics, serving as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1844 and running unsuccessfully for governor that year. Annis died in 1842, and in 1845 Thomson married Josephine A. Ward, the daughter of Congressman Aaron Ward; they had no children.

Thomson was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of his brother-in-law Robert F. Stockton, serving from March 4, 1853, until his death on September 12, 1862. He chaired the Senate Committees on Patents and the Patent Office and on Pensions during the 36th Congress.

Politically, Thomson was a friend of President James Buchanan and supported the view that slavery was permitted under the Constitution, backing the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. He also supported John C. Breckinridge in the 1860 election. When the Civil War began after the fall of Fort Sumter, Thomson supported the Union, breaking with Buchanan and his party. He is buried in Princeton Cemetery. After his death, his widow Josephine married Maryland Governor Thomas Swann, though they later separated.