John E. Thomas

John Edmund Thomas (November 27, 1829 – April 14, 1910) was an American lawyer, public administrator, and populist politician. He served two years in the Wisconsin Senate (1863, 1864) and one year in the Wisconsin State Assembly, elected on the Democratic Party ticket and representing Sheboygan County. Later he ran for Congress on the Greenback Party ticket, and later ran for state attorney general on the Union Labor Party ticket.

Early life Thomas was born in Rensselaer County, New York, in 1829. At age four, his family relocated to Livingston County, then to Genesee County, New York, where he gained his common school education. His family's wealth was decimated by the Panic of 1837 and, at age 16, Thomas moved to Lockport, New York, took a job as a merchant, and continued his studies.

He moved to Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, in 1849, where he married his wife, Clara A. W. Cole. He continued his business pursuits until 1856, when he began studying law. He was admitted to the bar in 1858 and began practicing law.

Career He was elected to represent Sheboygan Falls and northeastern Sheboygan County in the Wisconsin Assembly for the 1862 session. The next year, he was elected to represent all of Sheboygan County for 1863 and 1864 in the Wisconsin Senate. He was a Democrat. In 1888, he was their original nominee for Railroad Commissioner, but in the wake of a dispute over electoral fusion, he apparently withdrew his candidacy, as another candidate was on the ballot in November.

Thomas rejoined the Democratic Party in 1890, but then joined the Populist Party in the mid 1890s, running for district attorney in 1894 on the Populist ticket. He became an ardent supporter of the free silver movement, and was a delegate to the 1896 Populist National Convention in St. Louis, which endorsed Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan.

Later years Thomas died April 14, 1910, at St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan, after a long illness. By that time, he was the oldest member of the Sheboygan legal profession.