John Martin Thompson

John Martin Thompson (1829–1907) was a lumberman and civic leader, born in the old Cherokee Nation prior to removal in what is now Cass County, Georgia, USA. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Thompson, a South Carolinian of Scottish descent, and Annie Martin, a mix blood Cherokee. She was the daughter of Judge John Martin, the first Chief Justice of the Cherokee Nation.

Thompson's family had ties to the Cherokee Ridge Party, who supported the removal treaty known as the Treaty of New Echota. In 1844, Thompson's family left the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory along with other Ridge Party supporters to settle in Rusk County, Texas. B.F. Thompson initially purchased 10,000 acres (40 km2) near present-day Laird Hill, Texas, on which the family made its home. The community later became known as the Mount Tabor Indian Community, the name given to the area by John Adair Bell as recorded in the book Cherokee Cavaliers, (pg 80).

Following the American Civil War, J.M. Thompson became one of the largest lumbermen in Texas. During the reconstruction era and into the early twentieth centuries Thompson along with his sons built their vast holdings in timber through a series of sound business decisions. In 1881, they left the Rusk County area, moving operations into Trinity County in order to market their product via the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. They facilitated their marketing campaigns by developing connections to retail lumberyards. Further, they organized a series of companies to expedite and manage their ever-growing timber empire. Thus were formed the Thompson and Tucker Lumber Company followed by the J. M. Thompson Lumber Company, the Thompson Brothers Lumber Company, and finally the Thompson and Ford Lumber Company. By 1907, the various companies owned over 149,000 acres (600 km2) of land while operating mills in communities such as Willard, Doucette and Grayburg. In 1906, the company relocated all corporate interests to Houston.

Although as busy as he was, Thompson was first a family man and community leader. He led the Mount Tabor Indian Community (and by extension the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands), following the death of William Penn Adair in 1880, until his own death in 1907. He was succeeded as Executive Committee Chairman of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands by Claude Muskrat.

His business successor was his son Hoxie Harry Thompson. It was H.H. Thompson who sold 94,126 acres (380.91 km2) to the United States Forest Service for $12.50 an acre. These lands eventually formed the largest part of the Davy Crockett National Forest. By 1960, Hoxie Thompson had sold neally all of the Thompson lands, but maintained most of the mineral rights.