Thomas Berry Needles (April 26, 1835 – June 4, 1914) was an American businessman and politician.

Biography

Born in Waterloo, Monroe County, Illinois, Needles went to school in

Mount Sterling, Illinois Mount Sterling is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,006 at the 2020 census. Foodservice distributor Dot Foods is based in Mount Sterling. History Mount Sterling was organized in 1854. I ...

. He then worked with his father in the mercantile business. He then open a store in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Washington County, Illinois, and was involved with the banking business there. Needles served as county clerk for Washington County, Illinois. He married Sarah L. Bliss on December 18, 1860. Needles was involved with the Republican Party. From 1877 to 1881, Needles served as Auditor of Public Accounts, State of Illinois. In 1881, Needles served in the

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the I ...

. In 1889, President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

appointed Needles United States Marshal for the

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

. From 1893 to 1897, Needles served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

. President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

appointed Needles to the

Dawes Commission The United States, American Dawes Commission, named for its first chairman Henry L. Dawes, was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893. Its purpose was to convince the Five Civilized Tribes to agree to cede tr ...

. Needles died in a hospital in

Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

on June 4, 1914.

Notes

External links

* 1835 births 1914 deaths People from Waterloo, Illinois People from Nashville, Illinois Businesspeople from Illinois County clerks in Illinois Auditors of Public Accounts of Illinois Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Republican Party Illinois state senators United States Marshals Indian Territory officials 19th-century American businesspeople {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-stub