Crane Thomas

The following data is extracted from Ida County, Iowa Biographies.

Thomas Crane was born on the Isle of Man, March 25, 1844. His father, William Crane, was a soldier in the British army and died of cholera while in the Indias when Thomas was 18 months old. His mother, Catherine (nee Faragher), was born on the Isle of Man. His brother was William Crane and they lived in a sod house thatched with straw and had an earth floor. At the age of eleven, Thomas came with his uncle, C. Faragher, to America, landing at New Orleans after a voyage of 6 weeks and 2 days. They then went up the river to Dubuque, Iowa, and across the country with oxen to Monticello, Jones County, Iowa. He married Miss Elizabeth Jones, a native of Kentucky, on December 25, 1864.
Thomas came to Ida County in 1877 with his capital consisting of two teams and wagons, five cows and six shotes, and settled on 160 acres of land in Maple Township, Ida County, Iowa. The land cost him $17.50 per acre. He built a house and for a time used his wagons for stable and granary. He tied the cows with hay ropes and made a pen for his shotes with willow bark. For many years, he successfully practiced as a veterinary surgeon dehorning the first 6,000 cattle in Ida County. He had a farm of 320 acres in Section 14, Maple Township, Ida County, Ia.
Mr. & Mrs. Crane had eight children: Elmer Ellsworth, Frank Siegel, George Henry (born Sept. 23, 1868, died Mar. 31, 1931), William Wesley (born April. 5, 1870), Jennie Frances, Charles Enoch (born Nov. 23, 1873, died May 16, 1961), Ed Harrison, and Eudell Thomas. He served as a member of the School Board and as a Township Trustee.

Source: Ida County, Iowa Biographies

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