House  1856  (District 6);  Republican Constitutional Convention  1857  (District 6);  Senate  1861  (District 18)
                            
                            
                                Party when first elected:  Not Available
                            
                            
                                Counties Served: 
                   Dakota, Rice, Scott
                            
                            BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
                            
                                
                                    
                                        
                                        
                                            Date of Birth: 
                                            10/3/1825
                                        
                                        
                                            Birth Place: 
                                            , Pennsylvania
                                        
                                        
                                            Birth County: 
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            Birth Country: 
                                            United States
                                        
                                        
                                            Date of Death: 
                                            2/22/1909
                                        
                                     
                                    
                                        
                                        
                                            Gender: 
                                            Male
                                        
                                        
                                            Religion: 
                                            
                                        
                                        
                                            Reported Minority: None Reported
                                        
                                     
                                    
                                 
                                
                                
                                    Other Names: 
                                    Thos. J., T.J., Jacob T.
                                
                                
                                    
                                
                                
                                
                                    City of Residence (when first elected): 
                                    Shakopee
                                
                                
                                    Occupation (when first elected): 
                                    Lawyer
                                
                             
                            EDUCATION
                            
                                
                                    Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania; Attended College; 
Read Law; 
                                
                             
                            OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE
                            
                                
                                
                                        
                                        
                                            County Government: 
                                            Montour County, Pennsylvania (County Clerk); 
                         
                         [Dates Unknown]
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                        
                                            Territorial Republican Constitutional Convention: 
                                            6th Council District, Minnesota Territory; 
                         
                         07/13/1857 to 08/29/1857
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                        
                                            U.S. Executive Branch: 
                                            United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, Lower Sioux Agent, Minnesota; 
                         
                         03/30/1861 to 1862
                                            [Appointed]
                                        
                                    
                                        
                                            Judge: 
                                            Montana Fifth Judicial District (District Judge); 
                         
                         1889 to 01/02/1893
                                            [Elected]
                                        
                                    
                                    
                             
                         
                        
                        
                            FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
                            
                                
	
                                    Spouse: 
                                    Henrietta Garrison (married April 5, 1855; she died in 1883)
                                    Children: 
                                    Eleven children: (six boys and five girls)
                                    
                                    
                                    Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature: 
                                    
                                    
                                
                             
                            GENERAL NOTES
                            
                                
                                    Toensing lists his first name and middle initial as Jacob T. for the 1856 session.  The Minnesota Journal of the House, 1856, and The History of Minnesota: from the French Explorations to the Present Time, 1873 list Thomas J.  The Minnesota Legislative Manual, 1861 lists Thos. J.
He came to Minnesota in 1854.
His parents were Scotch-Irish.
He was a member of the Republican Party.
According to An Illustrated History of the State of Montana, he was originally a Whig, but had been a Republican since the party was organized.
He read law under Hon. Joshua W. Comly in Pennsylvania and was admitted to the bar in 1852.
He died in Cheyenne, Laramie County, Wyoming and was buried in Lakeview Cemetery in that same city.