• Some records also lists his surname as “Holyoake”

• Came to the United States in 1836 via New York City … although he made frequent visits to his home in England … he never became a citizen of the United States, but he was warmly attached to the US, and always considered it his home.

• He was in the hardware business, and soon succeeded in becoming the head of one of the largest wholesale establishments in that line in the United States. He established branches at Natchez and at Memphis, and a short time before the war (Civil War ???) he closed business and retired with a large fortune, a portion of which he afterwards lost.

• He first visited St Paul in 1858, and due to health reasons, he returned in 1865, is recorded as residing in St. Paul, Ramsey, MN in 1870 and continued to live there until his death.

• He invested in lands and lots in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

• He was married, but lost his wife within a year after his marriage.

• Thomas Holyoke would give part of his farm for the grounds of Macalester College. It’s located on the south side of Holyoke's property on the boundary of (today's) Saint Clair Avenue.

• His only heir was a sister, Mrs. F. W. Wright, her husband a barrester in England.


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