Gilbert Thompson (21 March 1839 – 8 June 1909) was an American typographer, draftsman, topographer, and soldier.

[1] Born on March 21, 1839, in Blackstone, Massachusetts, his father had helped combat the Dorr Rebellion in neighboring Rhode Island, and his great-grandmother was Deborah Sampson.

Thompson claimed to have been the first person to use fingerprints for identification in 1882, when he had his thumb print on a message that said "August 8, 1882-Mr. Jonas Sutler will pay Lying Bob Seventy Five Dollar".

[citation needed] In 1884, Thompson was made head of the Appalachian division of the U.S. Geological Survey.

He also studied genealogy, finding connections between himself and Sir Humphrey Gilbert as well as Myles Standish, and was an antiquarian.