Thompson, James Maurice

tom'son, James Maurice (1844-1901), an American writer. He was a native of Fairfield, Indiana, but was educated in Georgia. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Although he practiced civil engineering and law at Crawfordsville, Indiana, he was first of all an enthusiastic naturalist. From 1885 to 1889 he was state geologist of Indiana. He cruised the swamp region of the South Atlantic coast with canoe, bow, and arrow. He disliked the noise of a gun and the dismay it caused among wild animals. One of his earliest books is entitled The Witchery of Archery; another Byways and Bird Notes; and still another, The Boys' Book of Sports. Of several excellent tales, the most noted and the one on which his fame will rest ultimately is Alice of Old Vincennes, an interesting and well told tale of the French outpost.