Thomas Robert Wall (May 4, 1840 – April 13, 1896) was an American lumberman, banker, farmer and politician.

Background

Born in Lockport, New York May 4, 1840, Wall received a

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

education. Wall moved to

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

in 1855 with his brother William, and worked for ten years as a clerk on the steamboat ''Berlin City'' which ran between Oshkosh and Green Bay. He was married to Sophronia Adams on November 30, 1864; the couple would have two sons. He became rich with successful investments in Northern

timberlands Timberlands West Coast Limited was a New Zealand State-owned enterprise based on the West Coast. It was formed to manage the native and exotic forests on the West Coast of the defunct New Zealand Forest Service. A large quantity of internal do ...

, eventually owning the Wall-Spalding Lumber Company (a firm so large that it once owned its own

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

), Winneconne Lumber Company, and the Torrey Cedar Company; and served as a director of the Commercial Bank of Oshkosh.

Public office

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 ...

, Wall was elected an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the City of Oshkosh in 1870, and re-elected in 1872. That year, he was first elected to 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, ...

's 1873 session for the 1st Winnebago County Assembly district (the

Towns 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 Oshkosh and

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

, and the 1st, 2d, 4th and 5th

Wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

of the City of Oshkosh), with l,221 votes, to 998 for Republican former Assemblyman Henry C. Jewell. He was assigned to the standing committees on ways and means, and on

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, banks and

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1873, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat

Gabriel Bouck Gabriel Bouck (December 16, 1828 – February 21, 1904) was an American lawyer, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He represented Wisconsin in the United States House of Representatives for two terms. He also served as Wisconsin's 6 ...

. In 1875 he again won the 1st District, with 1,227 votes to 671 for Republican H. B. Jackson and 42 for

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

H. B. Knapp (Democratic incumbent Asa Rogers was not a candidate). He returned to the committee on insurance, banks and banking, and was also on the joint committee on

apportionment The legal term apportionment (french: apportionement; Mediaeval Latin: , derived from la, portio, share), also called delimitation, is in general the distribution or allotment of proper shares, though may have different meanings in different c ...

. At this time, he listed his occupation as "farmer"; He was re-elected in 1876, with 1,606 votes to 1,211 for Republican J. N. Roby. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1877, and was succeeded by Republican James V. Jones. In 1882, he was elected to Wisconsin's 19th State Senate district (Winnebago County) with 3,833 votes to 2,772 for Republican Charles B. Clark, 779 for Prohibitionist Charles Vesey, former and 104 for former Republican-turned- Greenbacker Assemblyman

David R. Bean David R. Bean (January 26, 1827 – March 26, 1891) was an American miller from Waukau, Wisconsin who spent one term as a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and another as a Greenback Party member of the same body. Backgr ...

. He was assigned to the committee on town and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

organizations; and once again listed his occupation as "lumberman".Heg, J. E., ed. ''The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin 1883'' Madison: State of Wisconsin, 1883; pp. 479, 509, 515
/ref> He was not a candidate in 1884, and was succeeded by Republican George H. Buckstaff.

Later years

He died of a sudden stroke on April 13, 1896 while in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

on a business trip.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Thomas 1840 births 1896 deaths Politicians from Lockport, New York Politicians from Oshkosh, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators American businesspeople in timber