US Congressman. He moved to Mason, Illinois in 1858 and became a schoolteacher until enlisting for the Civil War in 1862. Thistlewood became commander of Company C, Ninety-eighth Illinois Infantry Regiment with the rank of Captain and served until the end of the war, seeing action in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and receiving a wound at Selma in 1865. After the war he returned to Mason, where he entered into a business partnership with his brother, including a farm supply store and an auction house for grain, tobacco and other farm products. Thistlewood later relocated to Cairo, where he served as Mayor from 1879 to 1883 and 1897 to 1901. He was a delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention, and also became active in the Cairo Board of Trade and the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as commander of the Illinois GAR department in 1901. In 1908 he was the successful Republican candidate for the US House of Representatives in a special election held to fill the seat left vacant when George W. Smith died. He was reelected to two full terms and served from February, 1908 to March, 1913. Thistlewood was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912, after which he lived in retirement in Cairo.
US Congressman. He moved to Mason, Illinois in 1858 and became a schoolteacher until enlisting for the Civil War in 1862. Thistlewood became commander of Company C, Ninety-eighth Illinois Infantry Regiment with the rank of Captain and served until the end of the war, seeing action in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and receiving a wound at Selma in 1865. After the war he returned to Mason, where he entered into a business partnership with his brother, including a farm supply store and an auction house for grain, tobacco and other farm products. Thistlewood later relocated to Cairo, where he served as Mayor from 1879 to 1883 and 1897 to 1901. He was a delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention, and also became active in the Cairo Board of Trade and the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as commander of the Illinois GAR department in 1901. In 1908 he was the successful Republican candidate for the US House of Representatives in a special election held to fill the seat left vacant when George W. Smith died. He was reelected to two full terms and served from February, 1908 to March, 1913. Thistlewood was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912, after which he lived in retirement in Cairo.
Bio by: Bill McKern
Family Members
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See more Thistlewood memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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