Person:Thomas Place (5)

Thomas Irwin Place, son of Phillip and Emma Place, was born March 9, 1861, near Alfred, N. Y. He was one of six children.
He grew to manhood in his native state, attending school at Alfred and working in the jewelry store of Amos A. Shaw. After graduation in 1884, he came to Milton, Wis., where he went into the jewelry business for himself, continuing for fifty-five years.
On December 8, 1887, he was married to Lena Burdick of Milton who died the following February. On November 17, 1891, he married Catherine Maxson of Milton, who preceded him in death on June 13, 1929. Two brothers and three sisters also preceded him in death. He is survived by eight nephews and two nieces.
He was a life-long member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church. In 1918, he was elected a member of the Milton Village Board and ten years later became its president, serving in that capacity for ten years. He always maintained an active interest in civic affairs.
He died in a Monroe, Wis., hospital on January 19, 1940. Funeral services were held January 22 in the Milton Church conducted by Pastor Carroll L. Hill and Rev. Edwin Shaw. Burial was in Milton Cemetery. C. L. H.

Thomas Irwin Place, Milton jeweler, died Friday night, Jan 19, in the hospital at Monroe where he had been taken to be near his nephew, H. Merton Place following an operation in the Wisconsin General hospital, Madison.
At his request, his boyhood friend, Wm. H. Crandall, Milton, undertaker, had the funeral which was held at 2:30 p.m. Monday in the S.D.B. church, Rev. Carrol L. Hill officiating and being assisted by Dr. Edwin Shaw. The college quartet composed of Bernhardt Westlund, Paul Sayre, Ivan Randolph and Herbert Crouch, sang two selections. Mrs. Robert Randolph presided at the organ. Active pallbearers were members of the village board, D. N. Inglis, R. L. Hull, Henry Ochs, Homer Green, J. R. Davidson, and Wm. D. Burdick. Honorary bearers were F. H. Holmes, village president; W. E. Rogers, village clerk; Miles Rice, village treasurer; and E. L. Barnes, supt. of the water department.
Among those attending the funeral were a group of Edgerton friends; Gus Seeger, Milwaukee; Frank Burdick, Beloit; Mr. and Mrs. Merton Place, Richard, Helen and Robert Place, Monroe; Mr. and Mrs. Sam Swadesh and Phillip Place of Madison. T. I. Place, as he was best known, was born March 9, 1861, near Alfred, N. Y., the son of Phillip and Emma Place. While attending school he also entered the jewelry store of Ames A. Shaw, Alfred, to learn the art and business of a jeweler. In 1884 he graduated from school and also from Mr. Shaw's shop and purchasing the necessary tools and a small outfit, he came to Milton and established the business which he continued 55 years, thus becoming the dean of businessmen of the village.
For a short time he was in partnership with Henry Burdick whose sister Lena he married Dec. 8, 1889. Both Henry and Lena contracted tuberculosis and died shortly after Lena's marriage. On Nov. 17, 1891, he married Miss Katherine Maxson, daughter of Horatio Maxson and sister of the late W. B. [William Benjamin] Maxson of Milton. She died June, 1929. Since then T. I. has lived by himself in the home over his store. He is survived by eight nephews and two nieces of his own family and by two nephews and two nieces of his wife Katherine.
He was a life-long member of the Seventh Day Baptist church and a member of the local church during his residence here.
He was elected to the village board in 1918 and ten years later was elected village president, a position he held several years.