Charles Perkins Thompson (1827-1894) was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, and died in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was a lawyer and politician who began practicing law in 1857 in Gloucester. He later gave up his practice and began a career in politics: first as a representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1871-1872); then he was elected to the Forty-fourth United States Congress as a representative from Massachusetts (1875-1877). His reelection campaign failed and he returned to his law practice in early 1877. In 1877, he represented Mary Baker Eddy in the lawsuit brought by her former student, George Barry. The suit was settled in Barry's favor in October 1879.

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