Thomas Wasson was born in Michigan around 1843 to John Wasson and Fannie Morehead. His father was an Irish immigrant who worked as a farmer and owned $2,000 of real estate and $400 of personal property. Wasson attended school in Ottawa County, Michigan, before beginning work as a farmer. He enlisted in the Union army on September 16, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company C of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry on October 10, 1861. He was promoted to corporal on February 15, 1863, and he mustered out in Macon, Georgia, on August 17, 1865. Wasson returned to Michigan after the war, and he married Annie Patton in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 1, 1878. Their daughter Jennie was born around 1879. Wasson worked as a baker in Grand Rapids after the war, and he died sometime between 1890 and 1900.