They settled in the town of Anson, Wisconsin, where he was educated in the common schools.

[1] Just before his 18th birthday, he volunteered for service in the Union Army, in the 4th year of the American Civil War.

[2] The 36th Wisconsin Infantry mustered into federal service in March 1864 and went immediately to the eastern theater of the war.

They arrived in time to join Grant's Overland Campaign, which would grind through Virginia over the Spring of 1864, and would spend the next year in the trenches in the Siege of Petersburg.

[3] Thomas returned to Anson after the war and settled a farm, where he maintained a herd of dairy cows, producing award-winning butter products.

He was also active in the Chippewa County Agricultural Society, was secretary for eight years, and was president in 1883.

[5] In 1902, rather than running for another term in the Assembly, he was the Republican nominee for state railroad commissioner.