John L. Thompson

Biography

John Lay Thompson (April 3, 1869, Grand River Township, Decatur County, Iowa – 1930) was an Iowa journalist and businessman who played a key role in the early history of the African American newspaper the Iowa Bystander. Thompson was born to Andy and Catherine Thompson in 1869, while the family lived in Decatur County. He was the first of four children (John, Eldora, Eddie), and had one older half-brother (Benjamin Sheppard). Born into slavery in Kentucky, Andy Thompson was released by his enslaver in 1862 and settled in Decatur County, Iowa. The elder Thompson put all his children through college with his earnings as a farmer on 240 acres (0.97 km2) in Decatur County. Thompson graduated from Iowa Business College in 1896 and the Drake University Law School in 1898. While still a student at Drake, he took over the newly founded Iowa State Bystander from original publisher William Coalson in 1896.

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