Albert E. Thompson M. D., A. M.   

Dr. Albert E. Thompson, surgeon and Roentgenologist: former dean of the staff of Washington Hospital; a veteran of the World war with an officer’s commission; a member of the board of United States pension examiners for this district; a citizen of substantial interests in this county, for many years an influential figure in the general social and cultural circles of the community; a practitioner in Washington for more than a quarter of a century and widely known in his profession throughout this section of the state, is a native of Washington, a member of one of the pioneer families of this county, and his interests ever have centered here. He was born November 16, 1874, a son of the late Dr. William Reed and Agnes (Ely) Thompson, both of whom also were born in this county, the latter in the vicinity of the East Buffalo church in Buffalo township, a daughter of Elisha and Keziah (Snodgrass) Ely, who had their home on a farm six miles out of Washington, substantial citizens of that neighborhood.

The late Dr. William Reed Thompson, whose tragic death in the spring of 1917 proved a profound shock to this entire community, had been engaged in medical practice in Washington for fifty years and there perhaps was no one in the county who had a better or a wider acquaintance than he. He was born on a farm in Blame township, this county, January 1, 1836, a son of James and Sarah (Reed) Thompson, and all his life had been spent here, ever a leader in good works, an advocate of things of good report and an intelligent promoter of the best interests of the community in which his lines were cast. James Thompson, his father, a substantial farmer and landowner of Blame township and in his generation a man of influence there, also was born in that township, a son of James and Sarah (Cleland) Thompson, the former of whom, a native of Ireland, was one of the real pioneers of that section of the county. The late Dr. Thompson rendered service during the time of the Civil war as a soldier of the Union and became a noncommissioned officer of the army. His brother, James Thompson (III), also went out as a soldier, was captured by the enemy, was confined in the dreadful prison pen maintained by the rebels in Andersonville, Georgia, and there died a victim of the foul indignities to which the prisoners of war were subjected.

Dr. William R. Thompson was graduated (A. B.) from old Washington College in 1864 (the year prior to that institution’s merger with Jefferson), and from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia (M. D.) in 1867, and thereafter until the time of his death was engaged in the practice of medicine in Washington, for fifteen years or more prior to his death having had as a professional associate his son, Dr. Albert E. Thompson. The elder Dr. Thompson was killed in an automobile accident on May 17, 1917, and his tragic passing caused sincere mourning throughout this region. For years Dr. Thompson had rendered service as a member of the board of trustees of Washington and Jefferson College, had been for several terms a member of the local school board, was the first president of the association which established the Washington City Hospital, a leader in the deliberations of the Washington County Medical Society, of which he was at one time president, and he and his wife were active and influential members of the Second Presbyterian church. Dr. Thompson’s widow survived him less than three years, her death occurring November 19, 1919.

Reared in Washington, Albert E. Thompson attended the local borough schools and then entered Washington and Jefferson College, which in 1895, when he was twenty years of age, gave him his A. B. degree. Three years later (1898) this institution awarded him his Master degree in Arts. From the days of his youth, under the able preceptorship of his father, he had been giving his attention to preparatory studies in medicine and upon leaving college he entered the Medical College of the University of Pennsylvania, which in due time gave him his M. D. Upon receiving his diploma Dr. Thompson was made resident physician of the West Pennsylvania Hospital at Pittsburgh and after a term of very practical and valuable service there returned to Washington and engaged in general practice in association with his father. During the term 1907-8 he took a special course of postgraduate work in surgery at the Polyclinic Hospital in Philadelphia, and in 1915 retired from general practice and began to devote his whole attention to surgery, with offices in the Washington Trust building, where he since has been located. It was about that time that Dr. Thompson equipped himself with an adequate X-ray apparatus and became technically qualified for that work, thus long having been recognized as one of the expert Roentgenologists of this section of the state.

When this country took a hand in the World war in the spring of 1917 Dr. Thompson was asked to assume the chairmanship of the medical defense commission for the district comprised within Washington and Greene counties, and he thus was occupied in war work, at the same time rendering additional service as a member of the medical examining board of the local selective service (draft) board, until July, 1918, when he enlisted his services in behalf of the Medical Corps of the army, was given a commission as captain and detailed to duty at the Base Hospital at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia. Two weeks after reporting for duty there he was made chief assistant to the chief of staff of the Medical Corps and was detailed to have charge of the surgical operating room. On the following November 7th he was ordered to Camp Crane, Allentown, Pennsylvania, to prepare for embarkation for overseas duty, but the signing of the armistice four days later brought about a recall of this order and lie thus did not get overseas. On the following December 6th he received his formal discharge and when the Tenth Regiment (Pennsylvania) presently was reorganized he was appointed to its medical staff, a post which he occupied for a year or more thereafter, or until his resignation.

Upon the completion of his military service Dr. Thompson returned to Washington, resumed his practice and has since been thus professionally engaged. The Doctor is a member of the United States pension board for this district and of the surgical stair of the Washington Hospital, dean of staff during the years 1923-24. He was chief surgeon of the City Hospital staff when that institution became merged with the Washington Hospital. In addition to his professional duties the Doctor has found time to give a good citizen’s attention to local civic affairs and is a member of the board of directors of the schools of the East Washington borough. He also is an active member of the Washington Chamber of Commerce and of the locally influential Rotary Club, ever interested in movements having to do with the advancement of the general interests of the community.

The Doctor is a member of the Washington County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the Pittsburgh Academy of Medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a past president and a present trustee of the Bassett Club and a director of the Washington Cemetery Association; a republican in his political views, and a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He and his wife are members of the Second Presbyterian church, the Doctor being a member of the diaconate of that congregation, and both are members of the Washington Golf and Country Club.

On October 11, 1900, in Washington, Dr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Lou H. Miller of that city, and they have two children: A daughter, Helen Miller, born May 20, 1904; and a son, William Reed Thompson (II), born March 19, 1911, who is even now (1925) mentally directing his studies with a view eventually to following in the professional footsteps of his father and of his grandfather. Miss Helen Miller Thompson was graduated from Washington Seminary in 1924, specializing in instrumental music, and is now continuing her studies at Miss Beard’s School for Girls at Orange, New Jersey. Mrs. Thompson also is a graduate of Washington Seminary. She was born May 27, 1877, a daughter of Thomas D. and Annie (Krepps) Miller, both natives of the neighboring county of Fayette and members of old families there and the former of whom is a retired merchant, making his home in Washington.

History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1926; Forrest, Earle Robert, Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., pages 207-210.  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com.