Ormsby B. Thomas
Chairman of the House Committee on War Claims
In office
March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891
Preceded byWilliam J. Stone
Succeeded byFrank Eckels Beltzhoover
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 7th district
In office
March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891
Preceded byGilbert M. Woodward
Succeeded byFrank P. Coburn
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 4th district
In office
January 5, 1880 – January 2, 1882
Preceded byGeorge W. Swain
Succeeded byVan S. Bennett
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Crawford district
In office
January 7, 1867 – January 6, 1868
Preceded byGeorge F. Harrington
Succeeded byJames Fisher
In office
January 2, 1865 – January 1, 1866
Preceded byHorace Beach
Succeeded byGeorge F. Harrington
In office
January 6, 1862 – January 5, 1863
Preceded byDaniel Harris Johnson (Bad Ax–Crawford dist.)
Succeeded byJames Fisher
District Attorney of Crawford County, Wisconsin
In office
January 2, 1899 – January 5, 1903
Preceded byAlbert H. Long
Succeeded byW. R. Graves
In office
December 1867 – January 6, 1873
Appointed byLucius Fairchild
Preceded byJoseph M. Wilcox
Succeeded byWilliam Dutcher
In office
January 3, 1859 – January 5, 1863
Preceded byBuel Hutchinson
Succeeded byL. F. S. Viele
Personal details
Born(1832-08-21)August 21, 1832
Sandgate, Vermont, U.S.
DiedOctober 24, 1904(1904-10-24) (aged 72)
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, U.S.
Cause of deathBright's disease
Resting placeEvergreen Cemetery, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Political party
Spouse
Sarah E. Rosencrans
​
​
(m. 1875; died 1884)​
Children
  • Pearl Thomas
  • (b. 1876; died 1877)
  • John Alexander Thomas
  • (b. 1879; died 1954)
  • Carrie Thomas
  • (b. 1881; died after 1904)
Alma materState and National Law School
Professionlawyer
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Years of service1862–1864
RankCaptain, USV
Unit31st Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Ormsby Brunson Thomas (August 21, 1832 – October 24, 1904) was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives for three terms (1885–1891), representing Wisconsin's 7th congressional district. He also served five years in the Wisconsin Legislature[1] and 13 years as district attorney of Crawford County, Wisconsin.

Early life and career

Ormsby Thomas was born in Sandgate, Vermont, but moved to the Wisconsin Territory with his parents when he was a young child.[1] His parents settled in Prairie du Chien, in Crawford County. After receiving his early education, he was sent to the Burr Seminary in Manchester, Vermont, for an academic education. He then graduated from the State and National Law School in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1856. He was admitted to the bar in Albany, New York, that year. He returned to Prairie du Chien to establish his own law practice.[2]

He became active in local politics and was elected district attorney of Crawford County in 1858, running on the Democratic Party ticket.[3] He was subsequently re-elected in 1860.[4]

Civil War service

When the American Civil War started, in 1861, Thomas was the incumbent district attorney in Crawford County and was running for Wisconsin State Assembly. He was elected to represent Crawford County in the 1862 session of the Wisconsin Legislature.[5]

After the end of the 1862 legislative session, Thomas went to work raising a company of volunteers for the Union Army from Crawford County.[2] His company was enrolled as Company D in the 31st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, and Thomas was formally commissioned captain in September 1862. For the first several months of their service, the regiment was solely tasked with training for battle, supervising conscription of draftees, and guarding Confederate prisoners of war at camps in Wisconsin.[6] The regiment was reorganized at Racine, Wisconsin, in the Winter of 1862–1863, and mustered into federal service.[6]

They were sent to the western theater of the war and assigned to protecting supplies and logistics in Middle Tennessee through all of 1863. Thomas resigned his commission in January 1864 and returned to Wisconsin.[7]

Postbellum years

On returning to Wisconsin, Thomas was elected to another term in the Assembly, but was now running on the National Union Party ticket. This was a short-term alliance of Republicans and Pro-Union Democrats. Thomas served in the Union caucus in the 1865 session of the Legislature and remained associated with the Republican Party for the rest of his life.[8] He was not a candidate for re-election in 1865, but was elected to another term in the Assembly in 1866.[9]

After the legislative session in 1867, Governor Lucius Fairchild appointed Thomas to fill the vacant district attorney post in Crawford County, following the resignation of Joseph M. Wilcox.[2][10] He served the remainder of Wilcox's term and was then elected to another term in 1868.[11]

In 1869, he ran for Wisconsin State Senate in the 30th State Senate district, but was defeated by Democrat George Krouskop.[12] He subsequently was elected to another term as district attorney in 1870. In 1872, he was a presidential elector for Ulysses S. Grant.

During the 1870s, Thomas was focused on his legal practice. He formed a partnership with Charles S. Fuller in 1876, which became a prominent and leading practice throughout the state.[2] Fuller was later appointed a county judge in the 1880s.

Thomas resumed his political career in 1879, running for Wisconsin State Senate in the 4th State Senate district, which comprised Crawford County following the 1876 redistricting law.[13] Thomas was easily elected running on the Republican ticket; he received 56% of the vote in a three-person race.[13]

Congressional career

Thomas did not run for re-election in 1881, and in 1882, he waged a campaign for nomination to Congress, from Wisconsin's 7th congressional district. His principal opponent was believed to be Gideon Hixon, who had the support of delegates from La Crosse County, but after 29 ballots at the Republican 7th district convention, the delegates broke in favor of Cyrus M. Butt, of Viroqua.[14] Butt went on to lose the general election to Democrat Gilbert M. Woodward.[15]

Two years later, Thomas made another run for congress. This time, he won the nomination on the first ballot at the convention.[16] He went on to defeat Woodward in the general election with 52% of the vote.[17] He was subsequently re-elected in 1886 and 1888, serving in the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first congresses. During the 51st Congress, Thomas was chairman of the House Committee on War Claims. He was defeated seeking a fourth term in 1890, in the wave election that saw Democrats claim 8 of Wisconsin's 9 congressional seats.[18]

After leaving office, he resumed his legal career with his old partner, Judge C. S. Fuller. Fuller, however, committed suicide in 1897.[19] In 1898, Thomas accepted the Republican nomination for another term as district attorney of Crawford County, and was elected in the Fall.

During his final term as district attorney, Thomas suffered from Bright's disease. His health continued to deteriorate after he left office in January 1903. He died at his home in Prairie du Chien on October 24, 1904.[20][21] At the time of his death, he was described as the oldest member of the State Bar of Wisconsin.

Personal life and family

Ormsby B. Thomas married Sarah E. Rosencrans at Prairie du Chien in June 1875. They had three children together before her death in 1884. Their first child, however, died in infancy.[21]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Senate (1869)

Wisconsin Senate, 30th District Election, 1869[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 1869
Democratic George Krouskop 1,984 52.70%
Republican Ormsby B. Thomas 1,781 47.30%
Plurality 203 5.39%
Total votes 3,765 100.0%
Democratic hold

Wisconsin Senate (1879)

Wisconsin Senate, 4th District Election, 1879[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 4, 1879
Republican Ormsby B. Thomas 4,071 56.77% -10.80%
Greenback P. N. Peterson 1,656 23.09%
Democratic W. N. Carter 1,444 20.14% -12.29%
Plurality 2,415 33.68% -1.47%
Total votes 7,171 100.0% +49.83%
Republican hold

U.S. House of Representatives (1884–1890)

Year Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
1884[17] November 4 Ormsby B. Thomas Republican 18,437 52.62% Gilbert M. Woodward Dem. 15,446 44.09% 35,035 2,991
S. B. Loomis Proh. 1,147 3.27%
1886[22] November 2 Ormsby B. Thomas (inc) Republican 16,720 54.24% S. N. Dickenson Dem. 11,917 38.66% 30,824 4,803
S. B. Loomis Proh. 2,175 7.06%
1888[23] November 6 Ormsby B. Thomas (inc) Republican 19,918 53.50% Frank P. Coburn Dem. 15,433 41.46% 37,228 4,485
J. H. Moseley Proh. 1,871 5.03%
1890[18] November 4 Frank P. Coburn Democratic 15,399 50.83% Ormsby B. Thomas (inc) Rep. 13,397 44.22% 37,228 4,485
Sylvanus Holmes Proh. 1,499 4.95%

References

  1. 1 2 "Thomas, Ormsby Brunson 1832 - 1904". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Butterfield, Consul Willshire, ed. (1884). The History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin. Union Publishing Company. p. 392–393. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Crawford Co. Democratic Ticket". Wisconsin State Journal. September 27, 1858. p. 2. Retrieved February 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Crane, L. H. D., ed. (1861). "County Officers in the State of Wisconsin, for 1861–62" (PDF). A Manual of Customs, Precedents and Forms, in Use in the Assembly of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 58. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  5. ↑ Warren, John H.; Dean, John S., eds. (1862). "Legislative Department" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 85, 114. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Quiner, Edwin B. (1866). "Regimental History–Thirty-First Infantry". The Military History of Wisconsin. Clarke & Co. pp. 793–799. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Thirty-First Regiment Infantry". Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865 (Report). Vol. 2. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. p. 452. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  8. ↑ Stewart, Frank M.; Dean, John S., eds. (1865). "Legislative Department" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 90, 130. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  9. ↑ Stewart, Frank M.; Young, E. W., eds. (1866). "Legislative Department" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 100, 140. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Governor Fairchild has appointed O. B. Thomas..." Semi-Weekly Wisconsin. December 21, 1867. p. 2. Retrieved February 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Election Statistics" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1870. p. 314. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Wisconsin State Government and State Institutions" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1870. p. 355. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 Heg, J. E., ed. (1881). "Biographical Sketches" (PDF). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 395. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Seventh Congressional District". Wisconsin State Journal. August 31, 1882. p. 1. Retrieved February 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Heg, J. E., ed. (1883). "Biographical Sketches" (PDF). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 468. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  16. ↑ "O. B. Thomas for Congress". Wisconsin State Journal. September 10, 1884. p. 1. Retrieved February 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 Heg, James E., ed. (1885). "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  18. 1 2 Cunningham, Thomas J., ed. (1891). "Biographical" (PDF). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 37. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Suicide of a Lawyer". The Neenah Daily Times. February 19, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved February 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Former Congressman Thomas Dead". The Weekly Telegram. October 25, 1904. p. 3. Retrieved November 14, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  21. 1 2 "O. B. Thomas Expires". The Watertown News. October 26, 1904. p. 2. Retrieved November 14, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  22. ↑ Timme, Ernst G., ed. (1887). "Biographical Sketches" (PDF). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 481. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  23. ↑ Timme, Ernst G., ed. (1889). "Biographical Sketches" (PDF). The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 489. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
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