Thomas Sanderson (September 13, 1827October 11, 1912) was an

English American English Americans (historically known as Anglo-Americans) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2020 American Community Survey, 25.21 million self-identified as being of English origin. The term is distin ...

immigrant, farmer, and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician. He served one term in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, representing Columbia County.

Biography

Sanderson was born in

Slaidburn Slaidburn () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers just over 5,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Slaidburn lies near the head of ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, England. In 1851, he left Slaidburn and came to Wisconsin with his wife and children, joining his brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in Columbia County by 1851. He was elected

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

of the

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Springvale in 1859, and chairman of the Town of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

from 1864 to 1865. As of 1871, when he first appeared in the Assembly, he was 43 years of age, and had been in Wisconsin for 19 years; he was at that time a resident of Leeds, and a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

Legislative service

He was elected to the Assembly for the 1871 session, to his brother Robert's old Assembly seat (Columbia County's 2nd Assembly district), with 690 votes to 681 for

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Silas Axtell (incumbent Republican Winslow Bullen was not a candidate). He was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

enrolled bill In the United States Congress, an enrolled bill is the final copy of a bill (law), bill or joint resolution which has passed both Structure of the United States Congress, houses of Congress in identical form. In the United States, enrolled bills a ...

s, which he chaired. The Columbia County Assembly seats were redistricted in 1871; portions of his old district were assigned to the 2nd and 3rd districts. Sanderson was not a candidate for re-election; the two seats were both filled by Republicans ( Henry Charles Brace and Jacob Low, respectively).

Retirement and death

He died at his home in

Poynette, Wisconsin Poynette is a village in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,590 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Poynette was named after Pierre Paquette (1796–1836), an early fu ...

on October 11, 1912, where he had been living since his retirement twenty years before.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Thomas (Wisconsin politician) Farmers from Wisconsin English emigrants to the United States Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Columbia County, Wisconsin People from Ribble Valley (district) 1827 births 1912 deaths 19th-century American legislators