Biographical Sketch (1912):47, v. 2, p. 759-760. "Thomas J. Frame, deceased, belonged to one of the pioneer families of Porter County, Indiana, and here he was born, reared, passed his days and died, the span of his life from April, 1843 to November, 1908.

Mr. Frame was a son of William and Jane (McCarahan) Frame, the former a native of Kentucky and latter of Ireland and one of a family of eleven children, namely: Newton, James, Elizabeth, Thomas J., John, Sarah, Presley, Rosa, Matilda, William and Newton, the first Newton having died in infancy. In 1865, at the age of twenty-two years, Thomas J. Frame took to himself a wife in the person of Ann E. Cadwell, the daughter of a neighboring pioneer, and the young couple began their wedded life on a forty-acre farm which he purchased in Union township, their primitive little home consisting of a one-room cabin. He worked hard, improved his land, and in time acquired adjoining land, making a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. To him and his wife were given three children: James, Burton, and Irvin, all now married and comfortably settled in life. James, a farmer of Lake county, Indiana, married Rosa Stegmeier and has one child, Irvin; Burton, a farmer of Porter county, married Amy Beam and has two children, Esther and Ruth; Irvin, who lives at the old homestead, married Anna Schaller, a daughter of August and Margaret Schaller, and they have one child, Irene.

Politically Mr. Frame was a Republican, and his religious creed was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, both he and his wife having membership in the church at Wheeler. The only fraternal organization to which he belonged was the G.A.R. and during the latter years of his life he took great pleasure in attending reunions and meeting with his old comrades. His service in the Civil War was as a member of the Company B, One Hundred and Fifty-first Regiment, into which he was mustered at La Porte, Indiana, and with which he went to Nashville, Tennessee. His honorable discharge bears the date of 1865.

Mrs. Ann E. Frame, widow of Thomas J., dates her birth in 1845, and, like her worthy husband, is a native of Porter county, she being a daughter of James and Nancy Cadwell, pioneer farmers of this county. In the Cadwell family were six children: Orissa, Franklin, William, Luzerne, Newton, and Ann E. Mrs. Frame still lives at the old home, where she is surrounded with the comforts of life, has a large circle of friends, and is happy in the companionship of her children and grandchildren.

The history of both the Frame and Cadwell families in Porter County dates back to the time when the Indians were plentiful in northern Indiana. Grandfather Frame’s farm, which he pre-empted from the government, was crossed by one of the old Indian trails, and not long after his settlement here 500 Indians camped on his land. Sometimes the Indians came up to the settlers’ cabins, peeped into the windows and frightened the women and children, but the red men never did serious harm to any of the whites in this locality."

1843 Birth:1515,2054 Recorded in William Frame Family Bible as "Thomas J. Frame, born April 30, 1843." Birth place of Porter County, Indiana given on 1908 death certificate.

1850 U.S. Census:439 Thomas enumerated in the household of his father William Frame as male, age 7, born in Indiana, attended school within the year.

1860 U.S. Census:440 Thomas enumerated in the household of his father William Frame in Porter Township, Porter County, Indiana as a male, age 17, farm laborer, born in Indiana, attended school within the year.

1865 Military Service:80, p. 42. "Thomas Frame, Regiment 151, Company B, mustered in Feb 1865 and mustered out Sept. 1865."

1865 Marriage:2570 Marriage of Thomas J. Frame and Ann E. Cadwell on 3 December 1865 listed in Porter County, Indiana marriage records.

1866 Church Membership:1877, 15th Session, 1866, p. 48. T. Frame attended the Northwest Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, representing Union Chapel of the Valparaiso District.

1870 U.S. Census:2259
Porter County, Indiana (Union Township, Valparaiso Post Office)
Enumerated 15 August 1870
Thomas Frame •• 27, male, white, farmer, real estate value $800, personal property value $250, born in Indiana, eligible to vote
Ann E. •• 24, female, white, keeping house, born in Indiana
James A. •• 9/12 (i.e. 9 months), born in November, male, white, at home, born in Indiana
Newton Cadwell •• 11, male, white, works on farm, attended school within the year, born in Indiana << brother of Ann
A Frances Frame, age 35, enumerated in immediately adjacent household. Presume this was Frances, perhaps a widow (?), married to Thomas Frame, son of Newton Frame and Elizabeth Peak. The Thomas Frame married to Ann Cadwell and the Thomas Frame married to Francis —— were first cousins.

1880 U.S. Census:2302
Porter County, Indiana (Porter Township)
Enumerated 17th & 18th June 1880
Thomas J. Frame •• white, male, 37, married, farmer, born in Indiana, father born in Kentucky, mother born in Ireland
Ann E. •• white, female, 35, wife, married, keeps house, born in Indiana, birth place of parents left blank
James E. •• white, male, 10, son, at home, born in Indiana, father born in Indiana, mother born in Indiana
Berton L. •• white, male, 3, son, at home, born in Indiana, father born in Indiana, mother born in Indiana

1908 Death:1515 Recorded in William Frame Family Bible as "Thomas J. Frame, November 15, 1908."

1908 Death Certificate:2054 Thomas J. Frame; place of death, Union Township, Porter County; date of death, Nov. 15, 1908; male, white; date of birth, April 30, 1843; age 65 years, 6 months, 15 days; married; wife, Ann E. Frame; born, Porter County, Indiana; father, Wm. Frame, Kentucky; mother, Jane McCarahan, Ireland; farmer; James A. Frame, Hebron, Indiana, informant; burial, Blatschly Cemetery (sic).

1908 Obituary:795, p. 53. As her authority, Feighny cites The Daily Vidette, 18 November 1908, p. 1. Funeral of Thomas Frame. The funeral of Thomas Frame who died at his home in Union township early Sunday morning, was held from the Union Church yesterday at 11 o’clock, cnducted by Rev. C. R. Brocke. Interment took place in Blachly’s cemetery, the G.A.R. ritual being used. About twenty members of the Chaplain Brown Post of this city attended the last sad rites.

Thomas J. Frame was born in Porter township, Porter County, April 30, 1843, and had been a resident of this county ever since. On January 28, 1885 he enlisted in Company K, 151st Indiana Infantry and served until the close of the war. He joined Chaplain Brown Post in 1865 and was an active member until his death. He leaves a wife and six children to mourn his departure.

1908 Tombstone:66, Mosier Cemetery, p. 11. Mosier Cemetery, Union Township, Porter County, Indiana
Thomas J. Frame
b. 4-30-1843
d. 11-15-1908