Tompson was born in Portland in 1857, to John A. Tompson and Mary Elizabeth Libby.[1] In 1876, after graduating Portland High School,[1] he entered the office of Francis H. Fassett, Maine's most prominent architect at the time. He worked his way up through the office until 1886, when he was promoted to partner in the new office of Fassett & Tompson. That association lasted until the end of 1890, and Tompson opened his own office in January 1891.[2] He remained in private practice until his death.[3]
In 1894, he married Harriet Lane Larrabee. The couple lived at 33 Carroll Street in Portland. Harriet died in 1908, three years after which Tompson married for a second time, to Leontine F. Farrington.[1]
Tompson's practice was succeeded by Charles O. Poor, Tompson's chief assistant.[5] Later that year Poor formed a partnership with John P. Thomas. Poor died in 1922, and Thomas opened an office under his own name in 1923.[6] He became one of Maine's most successful architects.
Tompson died on February 2, 1919, aged 61. He was interred in Portland's Evergreen Cemetery, alongside his first wife. His second wife remarried after Tompson's death, and was buried beside her third husband in Oregon, Illinois, upon her death in 1921.[1]
His mother survived him by three months. After her death, aged 89, she was interred in Black Point Cemetery in Scarborough, Maine.
Tompson was the designer of several of Portland's most prominent turn-of-the-century structures, and his West house of 1911 remains the city's largest private residence.[7] Several of Tompson's works have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and several others are contributing properties of listed historic districts.
Rich Building,[a] 106 Exchange St, Portland, Maine (1892)[8]
Quarterly Bulletin Containing an Index of Literature from the Publications of Architectural Societies and Periodicals on Architecture and Allied Subjects, Volumes 1-2. American Institute of Architects. 1900. p.233.
