Thomas' uncle, William Wilson, emigrated in 1769 to the city of Baltimore in the Province of Maryland in North America.

Between 1783 and 1788, Thomas made three business trips aboard his uncle's merchant vessels, traveling twice to the city of Cork in Ireland and once to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Corcoran's first stop, however, was the village of Georgetown on the northern shore of the Potomac River in southern Maryland.

[1] He swiftly grew wealthy supplying shoes for the faculty and students at nearby Georgetown College.

His predecessor was Daniel Reintzel, a successful real estate developer under whom Georgetown had rapidly prospered.

[7] After the Burning of Washington on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, some members of Congress wished to move the nation's capital away from the District of Columbia.

Corcoran swiftly offered Congress and the executive branch the use of Georgetown College while the White House and United States Capitol were being rebuilt.

[8] The Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in July 1776 and achieved it with the Treaty of Paris in 1783 (which ended the American Revolutionary War).

On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River.

The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who chose a portion of the states of Maryland and Virginia on January 24, 1791.

[9] The Maryland land was already owned by David Burnes, Daniel Carroll, Samuel Davidson, Robert Peter, and Notley Young (later known as the "original patentees"), and Washington needed to negotiate with them for the purchase of their property.

[2][11] Until December 1, 1800, citizens of the District of Columbia were able to vote in federal, state, and local elections in both Maryland and Virginia.

[20] However, William Wilson Corcoran had his father's and mother's remains disinterred and reburied at Oak Hill Cemetery sometime after 1850.