served as a scribe for JS and a clerk for the from 1840 to 1841. During this time, he apparently also served as JS’s financial agent, as he managed transactions associated with the land that JS and others had arranged to purchase for the church from and in and . From August to October 1840, Thompson received deeds from Latter-day Saints interested in transferring land they owned in to the church in exchange for land the church had purchased in Illinois and Iowa Territory. Thompson apparently anticipated and participated in so many of these transfers that printed forms were created in for him to use in documenting the exchanges.

Similar land transfers had been made by agents before, most notably with Saints who transferred their land in , Ohio, to church agent in exchange for a receipt and pay order for them to give to , a and church agent in , who then gave them money or land in Missouri. Church agent likewise used this arrangement to acquire land from Saints in the eastern United States in exchange for money or land in or . These transfers allowed agents, like Marks and Granger, to repay church using land from church members while ensuring that members acquired land where the church had relocated and formed new communities of Saints.