As his father, Nathaniel S., before him, Thomas D. Appleby was a timber and mill operator 

in Canada.  

He was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada in 1846.  His wife, Mary Jane (Smith) Appleby, 

also a native of Ontario was born in 1851.  They were married in 1867.  Their children were N. A.,

 J. Harrison (Harry); and Benjamin G.  (Benjamin G. Appleby).  There were, also, three daughters,

 Mrs. James McBainie, Mrs. Max Otto and Mrs. Fred E. Button.

      In 1888, Thomas moved his family to Saginaw, Michigan, once known as the timber capital of 

the world.   He associated himself with the Wright Lumber Company, where he worked until 

retirement in 1907.  Thomas D. Appleby died in 1911, his wife, Mary, survived him until May 1931.

      According to a Canadian reference book, Nathaniel S. Appleby, father of Thomas D. and 

grandfather of Benjamin G. Appleby, at one time served as a member of the Ontario Provincial 

Parliament.  A mention, too, that Nathaniel came directly to Canada from England where his 

"family held high political and social position".   

      However, Nathaniel's father, also named Thomas D. Appleby, is said to have been born in 

Dutchess County, New York.  His roots were evidently deep within his ancestral home of 

Westmoreland County, England, as he, supposedly, served with the Loyalists during the 

Revolutionary War.  He married, Maribeth,  a daughter of Nathaniel Solmes, and after the War,

moved his family to Canada.