Thomas Kensett was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, on February 12, 1814, the eldest son of Thomas Kensett (1786-1829) and Elizabeth Daggett Kensett (1791-1876). Thomas Kensett (the elder), was born in England and immigrated to New York. He and Elizabeth Daggett married in New Haven, Connecticut on May 9, 1813. They had five children. Thomas was the eldest, followed by John Frederick (1816-1872), a well-known American landscape painter; Elizabeth (b.1817); Frederick (1819-1881); and Ezra (1821-1822). In 1825, Thomas Kensett (the elder) and his father-in-law, Ezra Daggett, received a patent for preserving food in tin cans. The younger Thomas opened an oyster and fruit canning factory in Baltimore in 1849. He became prominent in the Baltimore business community where he served as President of the Baltimore Oyster Packers' Association and Director of the Second National and Mechanics Bank. He also had in interest in railroads, owned real estate and was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Thomas Kensett married Eliza Price Wheeler (1822-1849) in 1838 or 1839. They had four children: Thomas H. (b. 1840), Eliza (b. 1842), Sarah (b. 1844), and John R. (b. 1846). Following Eliza's death in March 1849, Kensett married her sister, Sarah Ann Wheeler (1815-ca. 1872). He and Sarah Ann had three children: Edward (b. 1852), Emily (b. 1855) and Mary (b. 1858). In 1876, Kensett married Gertrude W. Brown (1848-ca. 1906). Their daughter, Gertrude, was born in 1877. Following his death in August 1877, Gertrude and her daughter moved to New York State. Gertrude remarried and was known as Gertrude W. Elder. Gertrude Kensett, the daughter, married Frank Fellows Vanderhoef.
From the guide to the Thomas Kensett Family papers, 1856-1908, 1873-1879, (State of Maryland and Historical Collections)
