James Maurice Thompson was an American author, poet, writer, archer, and naturalist. James Maurice Thompson was born in 1844 in the small town of Fairfield, Indiana, in Union County, to a Baptist pastor and his wife. Near the conclusion of the decade, the family relocated to north Georgia. He was tutored in classical languages, literature, French, and mathematics, and he later became a civil engineer, utilizing his mathematical knowledge. During the Civil War, Maurice Thompson and his brother Will Henry Thompson (born 1848) served as privates in the Confederacy. Following the war, Thompson settled in Calhoun, Georgia, where he studied surveying, engineering, and law. In 1867, Thompson undertook a botanical and ornithological exploration of Florida's Lake Okeechobee. Thompson and his brother relocated to Crawfordsville, Indiana, once this project was completed. Maurice started working as an engineer on a railroad being built in the area, and the Thompsons married sisters. In 1871, the brothers established a law firm together. Maurice resumed submitting essays for publication in 1873 (his first was published by Atlantic Monthly), and then went on to write a series of archery articles. He was featured in the New York Tribune, Atlantic Monthly, and Harper's Monthly. His first work was published in 1875, and over the years he wrote in a variety of genres, including novels and poetry.
