Thomas Wirt sketch in Compendium of History of NE on line

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THOMAS D. WIRT, deceased, was in life one of the best known and highly respected citizens of York county, Nebraska, where he was comfortably situated on a profitable and well improved farm. He was also widely and favorably known as one of the early settlers of the county, and his name is indissolubly connected with the growth and development of this section of the county. He was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1832, and was a son of Daniel and Margaret Wirt. His parents were both natives of the "Keystone State," from whence they moved in 1834, to Jackson county, Indiana, where the father followed his trade, which was that of a tanner, until his death in 1851.

Thomas D. Wirt was the youngest boy in a family of four sons born to his parents, and was but two years of age when he accompanied his folks to Indiana in 1834. He received his education in the common schools of Jackson county, Indiana, where was living, until he had attained the age of seventeen. He then went west and located in Burlington, Iowa, but did not remain there very long, as he soon afterward made his way to the pineries in Minnesota, where, he worked for two years. Mr. Wirt then returned to Iowa, where he followed agricultural pursuits until 1873, when he came to Nebraska and located a homestead on section 14, of Morton township, York county. The land was all unimproved, and he erected a sod house on the same, in which he made his home until his death.

Mr. Wirt was a veteran of the late war, in which he served for three years. He enlisted in 1862 in Company E, Thirty-fourth Iowa, as a corporal, and participated in the following battles Arkansas Post, siege of Vicksburg, after which he took part in the Texas campaign, and the battle of Mobile Bay, and several other minor battles and skirmishes. He served his entire term of enlistment, without receiving a wound of any kind, and after the close of hostilities he returned to his home in Iowa, where he resided until he moved to Nebraska in 1873.

On April 12, 1857, Thomas D. Wirt and Miss Mary A. Holmes were united in the holy bonds of wedlock in Lucas county, Iowa. The bride was a native of Jackson county, Indiana, and a daughter of William S. and Elizabeth (Iseminger) Holmes, who were natives respectively of North Carolina and Ohio. They came to Iowa in 1854, and located in Lucas county, where they made their home until their deaths.

Mr. and Mrs. Wirt were the parents of four children, as follows: Daniel H.; Maria now Mrs. Isaac Bagnell, of York; Kate, now Mrs. Jasper Kinyon; and Anna K., who is residing at home. He was a member of the Christian church, and a devout believer in its precepts. In his political belief, he was a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and though he ably filled the office of township supervisor he never sought political preferment. Mr. Wirt departed this life on the 12th of February, 1885, and his demise occasioned many expressions of condolence to his bereaved family, as he was very well acquainted and known throughout the entire county. He was one of its representative citizens, and his death was a sad blow to both his family and the community at large, as the family mourned a husband and father, while the county lost one of her most prominent citizens.