Mr. Thompson was born on a farm in Berlin township, Erie county, Ohio, December 13, 1835, and is a son of Jason K. and Eliza Ann (Frisby) Thompson, who were natives of Poultney, Vermont. They reared five children, James, Emily, Frank D., Frederic and Amos, Frank D. being now the only survivor.
The youthful days of Frank D. Thompson were spent upon the home farm in his native county. He early became familiar with the duties and labors incident to the development of the fields. In 1860, when twenty-five years of age, he left Ohio for Story county, Iowa, where he arrived on the 30th of September. Here he has since made his home. He had been a pupil in the district school and in the high school of Berlin Heights. When seventeen years of age he began teaching. He afterward followed that profession in the winter season and in the summer months continued his own education. Subsequently he attended Oberlin College and later was principal of the graded school of Milan, Ohio. He began reading law at his paternal home, procuring his books from Judge Taylor, of Milan, Ohio, thereby gaining a knowledge that secured his admission to the bar in 1860. In his first trial before a justice of the peace, in which he was opposed by an old and established attorney, he won his suit.
Deciding to come west, Mr. Thompson came to Nevada, Iowa, being influenced by an old friend and attorney, George A. Kellogg, with whom he took up the study of Iowa law. During the year his fees were scant and he gave his note as part payment for board. Practice being light, he returned to, teaching in the Nevada school a part of the year to help out his income.
After two years, Mr. Thompson married in November, 1862, Miss Abby N. Price, of Nevada, a native of Muscatine, Iowa. They continued residents of Nevada until in February, 1864, when he enlisted in defense of the Union, in Company D, Twelfth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry. After one month's service in his regiment he was detailed for service at the headquarters of General A. J. Smith, commander of the Sixteenth Army Corps, and acted as his chief clerk until honorably discharged on the 5th of September, 1865, on surgeon's certificate of disability. He joined his wife and baby at his paternal home in Ohio, enjoying needed rest. In November they returned to their home in Nevada.
In the spring of 1866, Mr. Thompson entered into a partnership with Captain T. C. McCall, under the firm name of McCall & Thompson, for the conduct of a real-estate and law business. This partnership remained mutually pleasant and profitable for seventeen years, during this time, in addition to his extensive court practice, he was employed as pension attorney for about two-thirds of the soldiers of Story county, who sought remuneration from the government for back pay, bounty and pensions.
In 1889, Mr. Thompson was appointed postmaster at Nevada by President Harrison. He continued postmaster for about five years. At one time he was elected county superintendent of schools but resigned for want of