Thomas Thorn Flagler (October 12, 1811 – September 6, 1897) was an American businessman and politician from New York.

[1] He was raised and educated in Ulysses and began working at age 11 when he was hired by a local tannery to chop hemlock bark used for processing leather.

[1] Publishing the Courier led to his participation in politics, and he began to make campaign speeches on behalf of Whig candidates including William H.

[1] Flagler was also involved in several other Lockport-based enterprises, including serving on the board of directors of the Lockport Hydraulic Company, which purchased and repurposed surplus water from operation of the Erie Canal's Flight of Five Locks near Lockport.

[1] As an opponent of expanding slavery, including the Compromise of 1850, in 1852 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Whig.

[2] During his congressional career, Flagler was a strong opponent of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, believing that it would permit the continued spread of slavery.

[5] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress