Anderson County, KY - Bios:  Hanks, Thomas H.
Posted by Sandi Gorin on Sun, 1 Mar 1998, at 12:22 p.m.
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HANKS Holman Bond Cavanaugh Myers, Anderson Co.  

Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 5th ed., 1887, Anderson Co.

THOMAS H. HANKS. The family represented by the subject of this sketch is of Scotch origin. 
George Hanks, the grandfather of our subject, resided on the Potomac River in Virginia 
prior to the Revolutionary war and participated in that struggle, finally sacrificing 
his life in the cause of liberty at Yorktown. He had a family of six children, four sons 
and two daughters, all of whom immigrated to Kentucky about the opening of the present 
century. Turner, Chichester and George Hanks died in Anderson County, and Pitman removed 
to Missouri. They were all men of fine constitutions, robust and active, and lived to 
advanced years. Turner Hanks married Nancy Holman and had six children, of whom five 
grew to maturity; William T. (deceased), Thomas H., Mary Jane (widow of Medley S. Bond), 
Reuben A. and Francis M. Hanks. Thomas H. Hanks, the second son, was born about one mile 
from Lawrenceburg, in what is now Anderson County, November 6, 1823. He received a good 
common school education, and, at the age of twenty, left the paternal farm to engage in 
school teaching, an occupation which he pursued for three years in Anderson and Shelby 
Counties. He then entered political life as a candidate for the State Legislature, and 
at the age of twenty-four was elected to represent Anderson County in that body. The years 
of 1850-51 he passed in California, and returning home was elected circuit clerk of Anderson 
County in 1856, serving in that position for six years. Soon after, having engaged in the 
study of law with Judge George W. Cavanaugh, he received a license to practice law and, in 
connection with his preceptor, at once entered into active practice. He was elected county 
attorney, serving four years in that office, and during a practice of twenty-two years was 
engaged in many important and prominent causes in Anderson and adjoining counties, paying 
special attention to criminal law and excelling in the defense of those charged with crime. 
He was again elected to represent Anderson County in the Legislature in 1881, and has always 
been an earnest and active supporter of the Democratic principles. He is closely identified 
with the agricultural interests of Anderson County, owning large landed estates in his native 
State and in Missouri, and enjoys an extended acquaintance throughout his section. He married 
Margaret R., daughter of Silas M. and Sarah H. Myers, of Anderson County, in the year 1858, 
but has no children living. In the civil war he he was identified with the South.