Thomas Cooney
	Thomas was born in December 1853 in Chester, England to James and Mary Dunn Cooney.  In 1859 Tom, his mother and older sisters followed his father to Afton.  Tom attended local schools and the St. Croix Valley Academy in Afton.  It was here that he learned the basics of surveying.  In 1874 he entered the University of Minnesota to study engineering.  He helped survey the Northern Pacific route from Brainerd on west. He later became a lieutenant of engineers in the Spanish American War in 1898.  He was employed for 19 years as the land agent for the Northern Pacific Railway.  He never married, and retired to his 600 acre farm in Afton.  In the 1940s he hosted school picnics at his home.