Married Sarah Elizabeth Avery on June 10, 1860.

T. S. Garrison was a native of Georgia. At the age of 31 he moved to Texas and settled in Shelby County, where he lived until his death. He was in business in Timpson most of the time "and did more for that town and that part of Shelby county than probably any other man."

Mr. Garrison assisted in the construction of the HE&WT railroad and also the line that connects with Longview. He twice ran for State Treasurer. He was a member of the Timpson Methodist Church and served as superintendent of the Sunday school for 20 years. In 1910 he was bank president.

His obituary also states that "Capt. Garrison was a staunch Democrat and a lifelong prohibitionist and never lost an opportunity to do his part in the abolition of the liquor traffic and it was a happy day for him when the nation went dry."

Mr. Garrison seemed in good health until shortly before his death, at age 83. His wife Sarah Elizabeth had died on November 18, 1918. Survivors included 2 daughters: Mrs. C. E. Sanford and Mrs. A. C. Vinson of Timpson; 1 son: John T. Garrison of Houston; 3 sisters: Mrs. Carter of Timpson, Mrs. Daniels of Cushing, and Mrs. Johnson of Timpson.

Sources:
-Obituary, The Champion, November 3, 1920, reprinted in Mildred Cariker Pinkston, Obituaries of Early Pioneers, Shelby County, Texas, Center: Center Printing Co., 1983, I:136-137
-1910 census, Shelby County, Texas
(bio provided by Sheron Smith-Savage)

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GARRISON, THOMAS S.
Timpson
Representative from the Thirty-Third district, Shelby and Sabine counties, was born in Carroll County, Ga., 1837; completed his education at Carrollton College, Ga, served in the Confederate Army through the late war as a soldier in Glenn's Battalion of Cavalry, moved to Hays County, Texas in 1867; farmed there for two years; merchandised at Caledonia, Rusk County, for fifteen years, and then moved to Timpson where he has since continued in the mercantile business. Besides his connection with other interests he is now vice-president and owns a majority of the stock of the M. T. & S. P. R. R. Co.

He was married at Bowden, Ga., June 10, 1860, to Miss Lizzie Avery, daughter of the late William Avery, of Mount Pleasant, Texas. Five children have been born of this union.
Mr. Garrison is a member of the M, E. Church, South, Masonic and Knights of Honor fraternities, and Democratic Party. He was a delegate to the general conferences of his church held at Richmond Va., in 1886, St Louis, Mo., in 1890, and Memphis, Tenn, in 1894; was Deputy District Grand Master of Masons from 1888 to 1891; was Supreme Representative to the Supreme Lodge of the Knights of Honor at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1887, and Indianapolis, Ind., in 1888; has been a delegate to minor and all Democratic state convention held in Texas during the past ten years, has done much effective work for his party on the stump, and in 1896, as the Democratic nominee was elected to the Twenty-Fifth Legislature, over a Populist candidate, by a flattering majority He is Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations (one of the most important of all the committees-a position involving great labor), and a member of the Revenue and Taxation committee. (Source: Texas State Government: A Volume of Biographical Sketches and Passing Comment, E. H. Loughery, McLeod & Jackson, 1897