Source: Harry Church and Katharyn J. Chappell. History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and Its People. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1914.

Thomas Considine is well known as a pioneer of Buchanan county and Perry township for he has been identified with the agricultural interests in this section since 1857, covering a period of fifty-seven years. He was born in County Clare, Ireland, September 14, 1842, a son of Patrick and Susan (Keane) Considine, who were likewise natives of County Clare. Patrick Considine followed farming in his native county and in 1852, in company with his wife, three sons and one daughter, left the Emerald isle for Canada, the family home being established in Hamilton. There father and sons worked on the railroad for a few years. Their greatest ambition was to get to the United States and make for themselves a good home. To this end they worked diligently and saved their earnings, and in September, 1856, the son, Patrick, Jr., was sent out to invest in farm land. He decided upon Buchanan county, Iowa, as a desirable place in which to live and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres near Littleton, in Perry township. He then joined the other members of the family in Canada, but the following year they came to this state, though for several months they worked on the railroad, in the meantime making their home in Dyersville. In December of 1857 they took up their abode upon the newly acquired farm and at once undertook the task of breaking and developing land in this then new and largely unsettled region. The father remains on this place throughout the remainder of his life and passed away at the advanced age of ninety-two years. The mother died in 1878 at the age of seventy. He was a democrat in his political views and both he and his wife were devout members of the Catholic church. Their four children were as follows: Patrick, who engaged in farming in Buchanan county and died at the age of thirty-eight years; Michael, who was also engaged in farming in that section and died at the age of seventy-three; Thomas, of this review; and Margaret, the widow of Michael Cunningham, and a resident of Waterloo, Iowa.

Thomas Considine was in his tenth year when the family left the land of their nativity for Canada, so that his early education was acquired in the latter place. He worked as a water boy for the railroad company and was a youth of fifteen years when the family home was established in Buchanan county, subsequent to which time he continued his studies in the schools of Littleton. He remained on the home farm until he had reached the age of twenty-seven years, when he established a home of his own by his marriage. He purchased a part of his present farm property in Perry township and has added to it until the place now embraces two hundred and seventy-three acres. He has improved his property with substantial buildings and now owns one of the most valuable and up-to-date farms in that section of Buchanan county.

Mr. Considine has been married twice. His first union was with Miss Bridget Meany, the marriage ceremony being performed January 31, 1870. She was a native of County Clare, Ireland, and in 1866, during her girlhood, emigrated to the United States. She passed away January 6, 1879, leaving two children: Charles James, who is associated with his father in the operation of the farm; and Mary, who died at the age of fifteen years, on the 12th of November, 1885. For his second wife Mr. Considine chose Mrs. Annie (Nolan) Brown, whom he wedded April 30, 1880. She was born in County Wexford, Ireland, and was there reared and married, after which she came with her husband to the United States and located in Freeport, Illinois. Later their home was established in Winthrop, Iowa, and it was in that city that Mr. Brown's death occurred. The widow then made her home in Independence, Iowa, until her marriage to Mr. Considine. By this union there is a son and a daughter: Thomas Joseph, who is still with his parents; and Frances Margaret, the wife of James Meany, a resident farmer of Perry township.

In politics an ardent democrat, Mr. Considine has always manifested a deep concern in public affairs, although he has persistently refused to accept public position at the hands of his fellow citizens. He and his family are communicants of the Catholic church. It was the pioneers who through their patience and energy and their wise foresight organized and built up a community here which in its general prosperity, its orderly society, the pleasantness of its homes and the intelligence and moral tone of its people is all that goes to make up a desirable civilization, and in this work Thomas Considine took a large part. In the fifty-seven years that have passed since he took up abode in Buchanan county, he has witnessed many changes and now in the evening of life he can enjoy many comforts, as the result of a life spent in usefulness and activity. At the age of seventy-two years he is still hale and hearty and is surrounded by a host of warm friends who entertain for him the highest respect and esteem.