The Traitor
Arthur Thompson was born at Pownal, Maine, in 1798. He grew up in Pownal, in relatively proximity to George Washington Lane of New Gloucester, Seward Wyman of North Yarmouth, Patrick Henry Greenleaf of Gray, and Elisha Bacon and Daniel Haraden Griffin of Freeport. Thompson was 23 when he matriculated at Bowdoin, making him one of the oldest members of the Class of 1825. Thompson may not have lived in Brunswick his first year of college, but his sophomore year he moved into Maine Hall. He then switched to Winthrop his junior year. Thompson was a member of the Athenean Society.
Starting in the spring of his sophomore year, Thompson began to appear in the records of the Executive Government for a variety of offences. He had a number of unexcused absences from the college and would miss his recitations and prayers. In July of 1824, Thompson’s scholastic neglect reached its apex. One of Thompson’s tutors found him to be, “ignorant of the appointed lessons of his class.” Despite, the tutor’s increasingly urgent orders to study, Thompson flatly refused to do his work and could offer no explanation for his behavior. As such, the Government voted that Thompson be suspended until September and remanded to North Yarmouth to complete his studies under Reverend Ada Cummings. Thompson was evidently able to catch up on his work and demonstrate his good behavior as he was reported as living in Maine Hall with Nathaniel Dunn in the fall of 1824. However, Thompson did not return to Brunswick for his senior spring. Instead, he transferred to Colby College, from which he received a B.A. in the summer of 1825. Upon completing his collegiate education, Thompson chose to become a teacher. He taught first in Maryland, then North Carolina and finally Georgia. At some unknown point he returned to his hometown of Pownal, where he died in 1853. Thompson was 55 at the time of his passing.