Richard W. (Richard Wigginton) Thompson

Born in Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1809, he later moved west to Indiana by way of Kentucky. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in the 1830s and built a career that combined legal work with public service.

He served in both houses of the Indiana legislature and later represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him Secretary of the Navy, placing him in the cabinet during the post-Civil War years.

Remembered as a prominent Indiana political figure of the nineteenth century, he remained active in public life for decades. He died in 1900, leaving behind a career that connected local politics, national government, and the growth of the American state.