Wapello County IA Archives Biographies.....Ross, Thomas Miller 1811 - 1863
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 July 5, 2013, 9:40 pm

Source: See Below
Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

THOMAS MILLER ROSS.

A half century has come and gone since Thomas Miller Ross passed away. He was
making his home in Ottumwa when called to his final rest and some of the older
citizens here remember him as a man worthy of all respect. He was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in April, 1811, a son of James and Eliza (Brown) Ross,
who were also natives of the Keystone state, spending their entire lives in the
vicinity of Pittsburgh, where the father was a large landowner. He was a son of
Thomas and Jane (Miller) Ross, and he had grants of land from the British
government. The son James operated lumber mills and became one of the
representative citizens of his district. From the north of Ireland the father of
Thomas Ross came to America, his ancestors, who were Scotch people, having made
their way to Ireland to escape religious persecution. Thomas Ross was united in
marriage to Miss Jane Miller in Philadelphia and his remains now lie interred in
the Ross family cemetery of Pittsburgh. Espousing the cause of liberty, he
became a soldier of the Revolutionary war and was wounded at the battle of
Saratoga, but lived to be an old man, his death, however, finally resulting from
blood-poisoning occasioned by that wound, which he had sustained many years
before. He was a close relative of Colonel George Ross, one of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence. John Ross, husband of Betsy Ross, was a nephew
of Colonel George Ross and was killed while guarding military stores in
Philadelphia.

It will thus be seen that Thomas Miller Ross is descended from a family whose
name figures prominently in connection with early events which shaped the
history of this country. He spent his early manhood largely in the south as a
contractor and in 1862 he came to Ottumwa to make his home. At the time of the
Civil war, however, he became superintendent of pontoon bridges and while thus
engaged contracted a disease which terminated his life in St. Louis in August,
1863.

It was about ten years before that Mr. Ross was united in marriage, in
McVeytown, Pennsylvania, to Miss Tabitha Thornburg, who was born in Juniata
county, Pennsylvania, February 6, 1827, and died in Ottumwa, Iowa, in April,
1898, at the advanced age of seventy-one years. She was a good business woman,
and after her husband's death managed her affairs well. She held membership in
the Episcopal church and had many sterling traits of character, which endeared
her to all who knew her.

Mr. and Mrs. Ross were the parents of three children: Flora S. and Laura A., who
reside at the old home at No. 412 North Court street; and Mrs. Mary (Ross)
Kiester, of El Paso, Texas. The daughters who still reside at Ottumwa are active
members in Trinity church and are prominent members in the Daughters of the
American Revolution. For a long period Miss Flora Ross taught in the public
schools of Ottumwa and her sister Mollie was also a teacher for a number of
years. They belong to one of the old families of the city and are widely and
favorably known in Wapello county.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY IOWA
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914


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