THOMAS C. SKINNER, of the firm of Irwin & Skinner, Kuttawa, and son of F. H. Skinner, was born in Eddyville, Lyon Co., Ky., June 14, 1844. He attended the local schools until thirteen years old, when he went to Bethel College, Tennessee. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the Confederate service, and served until the close of the war. He participated in the battle of Fort Donelson, where he was taken prisoner and held on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie, for six months. After being exchanged he returned to his command and was appointed a cadet in the Confederate army, and assigned to duty with Gen. H. B. Lyon, as aid, with the rank and pay of second lieutenant. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg, where he with Gen. Lyon's command made his escape. He was wounded at Guntown. Lieut. Skinner participated, with his command, in their numerous sanguinary battles, until their final surrender at Columbus, Miss. After the close of the war, he returned home and read law and graduated in this branch of study from the Lexington law school in 1867, as an essential to a thorough business training. He then went with his father into the commission business in Eddyville, until the city of Kuttawa was laid out, when he moved there and entered business under the present firm name. They carry a general stock, and enjoy a flourishing business. June 23, 1869, Mr. Skinner married Bell Anderson, youngest daughter of Gov. Charles Anderson, whose biography will be found elsewhere. This union has been blessed with four children: Charline, Eliza, Marion and Bartley. Politically Mr. Skinner has always been a Democrat, until 1884, when he supported the Republican candidate for president, because of his protective tariff views, and will always hereafter affiliate with the party of protection. He and wife are members of the Episcopal Church.
Source: J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin, & G. C. Kniffin. Kentucky. A History of the State. Louisville, KY, Chicago, IL: Battey, 1885. Page 865.