John Thompson (November 27, 1802 – April 19, 1891) was an American banker, financial publisher, and dealer in bank notes.

The lottery scheme was legalized by the State Legislature for the benefit of Union College.

[4] It was the most widely read and trusted of the several dozen bank note reporters in print during the free banking era—a genre of periodical which published information about the market value of the notes printed by each of the hundreds of banks spread across North America, as well as up to date descriptions of counterfeit bills in circulation.

[6] In 1863, together with his sons, Samuel and Frederick, he founded First National Bank of the City of New York (a predecessor to today's Citibank) in 1863;[7] it opened its doors on July 22 of that year.

Together, Electa and John were the parents of six children, including:[2] After a severe illness that lasted four months, Thompson died on April 19, 1891, at his home in New York at 295 Madison Avenue.