Thomas Alderson

Thomas Alderson was born January 19, 1827 in Grassington, England, one of seven children (five sons and two daughters) to God-fearing parents - his father was a local preacher in the Methodist church. On August 30, 1851, his twenty-fourth birthday, he married Miss Jane Fawcett. In 1854 he emigrated to America and settled at Council Hill, Jo Daviess County, Illinois. They had ten children, seven of whom predeceased him (three buried in England, four in America), leaving two sons and one daughter surviving.

Thomas was engaged in mining both in England and America, and through industry and wise management accumulated valuable property. He crossed the ocean three times to visit his native land. After returning from his third visit in 1865, he lived on his farm near Nora for about three years, then moved to Warren, Illinois in 1868.

About twenty-six years before his death (circa 1848), he professed faith in Christ and joined the Methodist church in Democrat, Wisconsin. He died peacefully on Sunday morning, July 21, 1874, aged 47 years, 6 months, and 1 day.