Thomas J. Dees was born around 1820 in Georgia. He married a woman named Delia, and they had at least four children: Thomas, born around 1842; Julia, born around 1851; James, born around 1855; and Richard, born around 1858. They lived in Neshoba County, Mississippi, and Dees worked as a farmer. By 1860, he owned $50 of personal property. He fell ill in early 1862, and he apparently died soon afterward.