Thomas came to America at age seventeen and landed in New
York,. He stayed a short time in New York City before
moving to Yonkers, NY. Then, he spent two years living on
a farm near London, Canada.

He later purchased a farm in Davis County, Wisconsin where
he met and married his wife. They cleared out sixty acres
of his heavily timbered land, and later sold and came to
Union County, Dakota in 1870. Thomas and his wife built
the first house in their immediate locality before building
a better one 1893.

Thomas was reported to have always had an association with
St. Joseph's Catholic church at Emmet and was the man who
hauled the first load of lumber used to build the church.

Thomas and Catherine Ronan opened a general store in 1880
and ran it for six years. They also started the post
office of Emmet located within the store, where Thomas was
postmaster for nine years.

Thomas served as county commissioner from 1881 to 1884 and
from 1890 to 1893 as a member of the Democratic party.
Thomas was also a candidate for the legislature from his
district as well as for the office of sheriff. Thomas and
his wife retired from farming in 1905 and moved to
Hawarden, IA.

Thomas' biography lists his county of residence in
Wisconsin as having been Door County instead of Davis
County.

Thomas' golden wedding anniversary announcement in the
"Hawarden Independent" reported that he was elected county
commissioner in 1880 and again in 1893. It also reported
that Union county made its first appropriation to erect a
bridge across the Sioux River at Calliope, Iowa because of
the efforts of Thomas Ronan. The article also reported
that Thomas served as chairman of the Emmet township board
from its time of organization to the time of Thomas'
resignation when he decided to move to Hawarden, Iowa. The
article reported that Thomas and his wife moved to
Hawarden, Iowa in 1902 when his age no longer permitted him
to be active enough to maintain his old homestead near
Emmet.

Info from Thomas' obituary and from his biography on page
114-115 in Memorial_and_Biographical_Record. Other info
from his golden wedding anniversary announcement in the
6 May 1909 issue of the "Hawarden Independent."

• Married: 2 May 1859 in Davis County, Wisconsin, US
• Note:

  The golden wedding anniversary announcement of Thomas and
  Catherine Ronan in the 6 May 1909 issue of the "Hawarden
  Independent" confirmed the year of the their wedding date
  (although, it was mistakenly listed as 1659 due to a typo)
  and also provided the month and day. It listed the place
  of their wedding as Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1. THOMAS RONAN
2. JAMES "JIM" A. RONAN b: 21 FEB 1862 in Brown County, Wisconsin, US
3. MARY RONAN b: 3 SEP 1876 in Emmet, Dakota Territory, US
4. MAURICE RONAN
5. JOHN RONAN
6. WILLIAM RONAN
7. RICHARD RONAN
8. ELLA T. A. RONAN b: 11 MAY 1879
9. CATHERINE RONAN b: 3 APR 1875

1. Date: AFT 1892
   Author: Beresford Republic staff
   Title: Beresford Republic
   Abbrev: Beresford newspaper
   Publication: Beresford, SD
   Repository:
   Name: Beresford Public Library
   
   Media: FILM
   Note:
   The newspaper was first published in 1893
   and was known as "The Union County Republican."
   The name was later changed to "The Union County
   Republic" and then to "The Beresford Republic"
   in 1898. It was Beresford's second newspaper.
   No copies of issues that were published
   before 1897 are known to exist. The volume
   and issue numbers published on the front page
   were sometimes inconsistent with those published
   during the paper's earliest years and were
   therefore unreliable. Publication dates are a
   more reliable means of identifying specific issues.
   Text:
   
   Page: 6 Vol. 14 No. 32
   Date: 27 JAN 1910
   Quality: 2
   Note: Thomas Ronan's obituary