Scientist; born in
Woburn, Mass., March 26, 1753; in early youth manifested much love for the study of science while engaged in a store in
Boston at the time of the
Boston massacre.
Then he taught school in
Rumford (now
Concord),
N. H., and in 1772 married a wealthy widow of that place, and was appointed major of militia over several older officers.
This offended them, and led to much annoyance for young
Thompson.
He was a conservative patriot, and tried to get a commission in the
Continental army, but his opponents frustrated him. He was charged with disaffection, and finally persecution drove him to take sides with the crown.
He was driven from his home, and in October. 1775, he took refuge within the
British lines in
Boston.
When
Howe left for
Halifax, he sent
Thompson to
England with despatches, where the secretary of
[
501]
state gave him employment, and in 1780 he became under-secretary.
In that year he returned to
America, raised a loyalist corps called “The
King's American dragoons,” and was made lieutenant-colonel, serving a short time in
South Carolina.
On returning to
England at the close of the war, he was knighted, and in 1784 entered the service of the Elector of
Bavaria as aide-de-camp and chamberlain.
To that prince he was of infinite service in reorganizing the army and introducing many needed reforms.
He greatly beautified
Munich by converting an old huntingground into a handsome garden or park, and the grateful citizens afterwards erected a fine monument to his honor.
Thompson was successively raised to the rank of major-general in the army, member of the council of state,
lieutenant-general,
commander-in-chief of the
general staff, minister of war, and count of the
Holy Roman Empire.
On the latter occasion he chose for his title,
Rumford, the name of the place where he had married his wife.
In 1795 he again visited
England, and returning to
Bavaria in 1796, when that country was threatened by the war between
France and
Germany, he was appointed head of the council of regency during the absence of the elector, and maintained the neutrality of
Munich.
For this service honors were bestowed upon him, and he was made superintendent of the police of the electorate.
At the end of two years he went back to
England.
The Bavarian government wished him to be its minister, but the
English government, acting on the rule of inalienable allegiance, could not receive him as such.
Count Rumford gave up his citizenship in
Bavaria and settled in
Paris.
There he married for his second wife the widow of Lavoisier, and with her retired to the villa of
Auteuil, where he spent the remainder of his life in philosophical pursuits, and contributed a great number of essays to scientific journals.
He made many experiments and discoveries in the matter of heat and light; instituted prizes for discoveries in regard to light and heat, to be awarded by the Royal Society of
London and the American Academy of Sciences; and bequeathed to Harvard College the funds by which was founded the
Rumford Professorship of the Physical and Mathematical Sciences as Applied to the
Useful Arts, which was established in October, 1816.
He left a daughter by his first wife, who bore the title of
Countess of
Rumford, and who died at
Concord, N. H., in 1852.
He died in
Auteuil, France, Aug. 21, 1814.
