Thomas was the youngest of five sons born to John Hoge and Mary Irwin.
At the time of his birth on 7 March 1808, the Hoge family were living in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Aged seventeen, he moved to Cleveland and traveled around the western United States.
Hoge returned to Pennsylvania, and learned ironworking at the furnace in Mount Aetna, then subsequently ran the slab furnace in Franklin Township, Venango County with William Cross.
In 1853, Hoge moved into Franklin, and succeeded his father as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania Senate for District 19.