{{Short description|Minnesota politician (1805 – 1895)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Hewitt Ludlow Thomas | office = Member of the Minnesota Senate | image = File:H.L. Thomas.jpg | birth_date = April 27, 1805 | birth_place = Tompkins County, New York, U.S. | death_date = October 23, 1895 | death_place = Cass County, Indiana, U.S. | resting_place = Galveston Cemetery,<br/>Galveston, Indiana, U.S. | term_start = December 2, 1857 | term_end = December 6, 1859 | office2 = Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives | term_start2 = January 8, 1861 | term_end2 = January 5, 1863 | caption = Thomas c.1858 | children = 4, including Minor T. Thomas | spouse = Charlotte Corday Helm | other_party = Republican | alma_mater = Miami University | occupation = Teacher<br/>lawyer<br/>politician }} '''Hewitt Ludlow Thomas''' (April 27, 1805 – October 23, 1895) was an American educator, businessman, lawyer, judge, and politician who served in the Minnesota Senate and the Minnesota House of Representatives.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=H. L. Thomas |url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15089 |access-date=March 23, 2026 |website=Minnesota Legislators Past & Present |ref={{sfnref|Minnesota Legislators Past & Present}}}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Thomas was also the father of Union Army Brigadier General Minor T. Thomas.<ref name=":2" /><ref>Helm, ''History of Cass County, Indiana'', p. 822.</ref>
== Early life == Hewitt Ludlow Thomas was born on April 27, 1805, in Tompkins County, New York, to parents Reverend Minor Thomas, a Baptist minister, and Nancy Thomas (née Wynans).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Helm |first=Thomas B. |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofcasscou00helm |title=History of Cass County, Indiana: From the earliest time to the present ... : together with an extended history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the state of Indiana |date=1886 |publisher=Brant and Fuller |location=Chicago |pages=821–822 |language=en}}</ref> Thomas was educated in common school while working as a farmer in New York<ref name=":4">Helm, ''History of Cass County, Indiana'', p. 821</ref> and eventually became a teacher and studied in Oxford, Ohio, for several months before moving to Fayette County, Indiana, in 1826.<ref name=":4" />
== Career ==
=== Teaching and law === Beginning in 1828 Thomas began a subscription school in Harrison Township where he would teach privately.<ref name=":1" /> Between 1831 and 1836 Thomas lived and taught in Connersville (1831), Waterloo Township (1832), and Harrison Township (1834) before relocating to Clinton Township in 1837.<ref name=":1" /> While living in Clinton Thomas built a log cabin and settled land as a farmer.<ref>Helm, ''History of Cass County, Indiana'', pp. 382, 710.</ref> Thomas was also the initial schoolmaster of Clinton township<ref>Helm, ''History of Cass County, Indiana'', p. 712.</ref> and was later elected as the township's justice of the peace.<ref name=":1" /> Although Thomas was an educator, he was elected as the associate judge of Cass County from 1845 to 1847.<ref>Helm, ''History of Cass County, Indiana'', p. 298.</ref>
=== Political career === Thomas moved to Minnesota Territory in 1855 following his son, Minor T. Thomas, who had originally settled in the territory to recover from malaria.<ref name=":2">''The Worthington advance''. (Worthington, MN), October 7, 1897. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85025620/1897-10-07/ed-1/. p. 8</ref> The ''Minnesota Legislative Reference Library'' also confirms Thomas' move to Minnesota Territory as being in 1855.<ref name=":0" /> Thomas and his family later moved to Afton, Minnesota near the city of Stillwater, Minnesota.<ref name=":2" />
According to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Thomas was elected as a member of the Minnesota Senate on October 13, 1857, and was later sworn in on December 7, 1857.<ref name=":0" /> Thomas would serve during the 1st Minnesota Legislature from 1857 to 1858.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Compiled by the Secretary of State |url=https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/sll:11155 |title=The Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota: Compromising the Constitution of the State, Rules of the two Houses, Joint Rules, Standing Committees, List of Members, etc. |date=1872 |publisher=Ramaley's Job Printing Office |page=64 |language=en |access-date=March 23, 2026}}</ref> In 1860 Thomas was elected as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 2 of the Minnesota House which at the time included Chisago, Kanabec, Pine, and Washington Counties.<ref name=":0" /> Thomas would be reelected to his House position in 1861 and would serve in both the 3rd Minnesota Legislature and 4th Minnesota Legislature as a member of the Republican Party of Minnesota.<ref name=":0" /> In 1863 following Thomas' political career he was appointed as a commissioner to appraise lands in Minnesota which were owned by the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">''The Worthington advance''. (Worthington, MN), October 24, 1895. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85025620/1895-10-24/ed-1/. p. 5</ref>
== Personal life and death == Thomas married Charlotte Corday Helm of Mason County, Kentucky, on March 9, 1826. They had four children, one of which was Minor T. Thomas.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Thomas died on October 23, 1895, in Galveston, Indiana. He is buried with his family in the Galveston Cemetery.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Betty Zane Darland |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/999883387302121 |title=Galveston Cemetery Index: from the Records and Platbooks of the Galveston Cemetery, Galveston, Cass County, Indiana; Includes burials through December 31, 1995, with an addendum of burials in 1996 and 1997 |date=1998 |publisher=Old Richardville Publications |location=Kokomo, Indiana |pages=117 |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Hewitt L.}} Category:1805 births Category:1895 deaths Category:19th-century American educators Category:19th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature Category:American justices of the peace Category:Miami University alumni Category:People from Tompkins County, New York Category:Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Category:Republican Party Minnesota state senators Category:Schoolteachers from Indiana