Thomas Sidney Main was born 1835. His obituary says Mercer County. The 1880 federal census says his parents were born in Pennsylvania. An Aunt says their names were Samuel and Genevieve. I have never found them on a census record or tax record. I don't know when they were born and I don't know about any siblings. I don't know if they were Irish or German or anything else. I found a Thomas Maine born abt 1836 on the 1850 census. He is living with George and Elizabeth Stroop in Upper Darby, Delaware Co PA. I have researched this family and cannot find the relation to them. He might have been a farm hand but he was only 14 years old.
My thought, If this is the same Thomas Main, is that he is orphaned and living with a relative. Elizabeth Stroop's maiden name is Earle.
Thomas Sidney Main moved to Iowa and married in 1859 Linn County. He married Electa Jane Day. She was born 1840 Ohio. They had 13 children. He worked for a government surveying party until he married then began farming. One of the surveys he worked on was the Northwestern railroad.
I am searching for Samuel and Genevieve Main in Pennsylvania. Maybe they were born abt 1800. I have all the information about Thomas after he married but nothing before.