Thomas was born October 14, 1835 in Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka. His father, who he was named after, was in the army and died there while serving. Unfortunately, military records are scarce for that time and location. A brother and sister, also born in Ceylon also died there. Once her husband died, Elizabeth Butcher Tinkler, Thomas's mother, returned to England with her three remaining children, Mary Isabella, Francis Lenetta and Thomas Henry.
Family lore has it that relatives "kidnapped" Thomas and took him to Ireland to raise while Elizabeth and the two girls came to America, settling in New York. Thomas ran away from his relatives and stowed away on a ship to join his mother and sisters in New York.
To earn money, he had a fish cart that he pushed through the streets, selling fresh fish. He was known as "Catfish Tom". Some time ago I saw a television show on how the Irish were forcably conscripted into the Army during the Civil war. I am sure Thomas was one of these, although I have yet to find concrete proof. He does have a quite common name, which makes researching him that much more difficult. He served in the Army as a cook, being stationed in Washington, DC. Subsequent census records list his occupation as "huckster" or "market huckster", showing that he continued selling foodstuffs from a cart.June 20, 1865 he married Mary Ann Tinkler and they had two children, Ida May Smith, my great-grandmother, and Samuel Thomas Smith. Ida went on to marry Willard Reed Haight, and they had eight children, including Esther May Haight, my maternal grandmother.
Thomas spent his last years at the John Dickson Home in Washington, DC, dying November 3, 1926 at the age of 91.
