Thompson, William Boyce, 1869–1930, American financier, b. Virginia City, Mont. He operated silver and copper mines in Montana and Arizona before moving to New York City. He was (1914–19) a director of the Federal Reserve bank of New York and was twice (1916, 1920) a delegate to the Republican national convention. In World War I, he helped finance and accompanied (1917–18) a Red Cross mission to Russia. He contributed money to the government of Aleksandr Kerensky and, after the Bolsheviks seized power, advocated U.S. recognition of the Soviet government. In 1919, he founded the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Yonkers, N.Y.
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