Last Updated on September 1, 2011 by
Thomas B. Trower, M. D., deceased, late of Charleston; was born in Albemarle Co., Va., Nov. 15, 1807, his parents removing to Kentucky a few years later; his father died in 1816, leaving a wife and nine children; he began the study of medicine when he was 19 years old, spending three years under the instruction of Drs. Beamiss and Merryfield, of Bloomfield, Ky., teaching school a portion of the time to obtain means to defray his expenses; he came to Illinois in 1830, and practiced medicine six years in Shelbyville; in 1836, he removed to Charleston and engaged in merchandising, which business he abandoned after three years and resumed the practice of his profession; his practice was a large and lucrative one, extending over a wide scope of country, embracing all of Coles Co., and a portion of surrounding counties, and his acquaintance with the pioneers of this section of the State was correspondingly extensive; his standing among physicians was very high, indeed, and his opinions in their councils most thoroughly respected; he was a member of the Eberlean Medical Society, of the Æsculapian Society of the Wabash Valley, and of the State Medical Society; not only was he prominent as a physician, but was possessed of business abilities of the highest order, and by his financial skill and industry amassed a large fortune; he was President of the Moultrie County Bank, of Sullivan, Ill., and Vice President of the First National Bank, of Charleston; while living in Shelbyville, he represented his county for three years in the State Legislature. He was also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1847. He was married Dec. 22, 1831, to Miss Polly Ann Cutler, daughter of Judge Jacob Cutler; she came with her parents to Illinois in 1828, lived awhile in Edgar Co., removing thence to Shelbyville, where she met, and married Dr. Trower; they had five children, four of whom are living -Amerial (wife of Dr. L. L. Silverthorn, of Charleston), Sinia Antonia (Mrs. Richard Norfolk, of Charleston), Sallie (wife of Daniel Sayer, a prominent merchant, of Chicago) and Xavier B. (a banker in Sullivan, one son, John V., editor of the Fort Madison (Iowa) Democrat, died in Dallas, Tex., Nov. 18, 1875; Dr. Trower died April 15, 1878, and was buried in Mound Cemetery, Charleston.