[Gutenberg 7087] • Gaut Gurley; Or, the Trappers of Umbagog: A Tale of Border Life

Daniel Pierce Thompson (1795-1868) was an American novelist and lawyer born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He married in 1831 and had six children. Thompson began practicing law in 1823 or 1824 and served as secretary of state for Vermont between 1853 and 1855. He became active in the Liberty Party, and edited a paper associated with the anti-slavery movement for six years. In 1856, he joined the Republican party because of its emphasis on abolitionism. Influenced by James Fenimore Cooper and Walter Scott, he wrote historical adventure and romance novels, many of which feature life in Vermont. His best-known work is 1839's The Green Mountain Boys, a historical novel about the land-grant controversy between New York and New Hampshire, and honouring Ethan Allen's Green Mountain militia. The novel also covers Allen's capture of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Hubbardton. Amongst his other works are: May Martin; or, The Money Diggers (1835), Locke Amsden; or, The Schoolmaster (1847), The Shaker Lovers, and Other Tales (1848), The Rangers; or, The Tory's Daughter (1851) and Gaut Gurley; or, The Trappers of Umbagog (1857).