My Genealogy Hound

Dr. Gaston M. Thompson. The medical profession is prominently represented by substantial and promising practitioners, and among those worthy of mention is Dr. Thompson. A native of Monroe County, Miss., he was born March 17, 1837, being the son of Dr. James G. and Martha (Shanklin) Thompson, of North Carolina and South Carolina birth, respectively. They were married in Alabama, and soon after moved to Mississippi, where Mr. Thompson became a prominent citizen, serving as State senator for fifteen years in an acceptable manner. He was a brother of the Hon. Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior in President Buchanan’s Cabinet. At the age of sixteen years Gaston M. Thompson entered the University of Mississippi at Oxford, where he remained for three years, pursuing his studies with care, and in a painstaking manner, and later entered the Wesleyan University at Florence, Ala., from which he graduated in 1857. Returning to his home he began the study of medicine under his father, who was a graduate of the Philadelphia Medical College. In 1860 he entered the University of Louisville, and graduated with honors from the Medical Department in 1861. That year he enlisted in Company C, Eleventh Mississippi Regiment, and was mustered into service at Harper’s Ferry, Va. In 1862 he was commissioned assistant surgeon, and held this position until the close of the war. After the struggle was ended he returned to Mississippi, and subsequently engaged actively in the practice of his profession at New Orleans and other places. He came to Arkansas in 1877, locating first at Forrest City, but after a short time moved to Lonoke, where he has since lived, having built up a large and lucrative practice, which is well deserved. His cheerful manner and disposition and sanguine temperament make him a welcome visitor in the sick-room, while his thorough knowledge of the medical science renders him very successful. The Doctor is a member of the Lonoke board of health, and is also on the Lonoke County medical examining board. In his political views he sides with the Democrats.