His major life accomplishments include founding The Independent, an anti-slavery religious weekly started in 1848, contributing and managing The New Englander (later re-named the Yale Review),[3] served as president of the American Union Commission,[4] being a member of the committee to create the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art,[5][6] played a major role in the development of 20 Congregational churches in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
[7] He was called to the pastoral charge of the Broadway Tabernacle church, at one time the largest building in New York City, in 1845.
[8] Dr. Thompson preached the church's anti-slavery beliefs, supporting women's suffrage (voting) and promoting the abolition of alcoholic drinks.
[9] A Confederate sympathizer attempted to shoot Dr. Thompson during a worship service because of his deep loyalty to the Union.
During his time at the Broadway Tabernacle, he also played a major role in the development of 20 Congregational churches in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The church carried out educational and religious activities in poor neighborhoods of New York City, including Hell's Kitchen, where it established the Bethany Mission in 1868.
[11] Dr. Thompson often traveled to Washington, DC, where he spoke with President Abraham Lincoln about issues related to the Civil War.
[12] Doctor Thompson's address "Revolution Against Free Government, Not A Right, But A Crime"[13] about the rights of man and the principles of free government, delivered before the Union League Club in 1884 is considered instrumental to the club's goal of supporting the Union and abolition.
[6] In 1852, after the death of his first wife, Lucy Olivia Bartlett Thompson, he went to Palestine, Egypt, and other countries in Asia and Africa.
Thompson was one of the main speakers at the funeral ceremonies for president Abraham Lincoln held in New York city in Union Square.
[8] The tremendous energy Dr. Thompson extended on behalf of the war effort, the abolition of slavery and his ministries at the Tabernacle, exhausted him, and he found it necessary to submit his resignation in late 1871.
[19] He spoke French and German very well, and frequently had occasion to lecture in those languages in the public addresses which he delivered in Europe.
[20][21] This essay was presented at the Conference of the "Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations", at Bremen in September 1876.
During the visit, both witnessed the terrible conditions of the country, and saw the great necessity of forming an organization to aid in rebuilding the places hurt by war, as well as the need of help to those who had suffered from it.
It also provided assistance for the thousands of southern refugees who streamed into New York at the end of the war, renting a large building on 24th Street to house the women and children.
"[26] "The U. S. Christian Commission was formed ...to provide to the armies and navies comforts and supplies not furnished by the Federal Government.