Thomas Hindman and Sallie Holt Hindman, were of English and Scottish ancestry. Sallie's ancestors included Major Robert Holt, a successful planter and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1655. The Holt family originally came from Halifax County, Virginia before moving to Knoxville. Hindman's paternal lineage descended from the Carmichael clan in Scotland, some members of which made their way into America after King George II of Great Britain ousted nine hundred Scottish followers of Bonnie Prince Charles to America after the April 16, 1746 Battle of Culloden.

One of the descendants of the Carmichael clan, Sarah Carmichael, married Samuel Hindman, a wealthy Pennsylvania merchant in the early 1790s. They then moved to Knoxville TN, and their youngest son Thomas C. Hindman, Sr. was born on November 10, 1793. Family legend claims that Hindman, Sr. was the first white male child born in Knoxville.

Hindman, Sr. was an ensign in the 39th United States Infantry during the War of 1812. He was promoted to third lieutenant on January 11, 1814, and to second lieutenant on May 20 of the same year. He fought in the Battle of New Orleans, the final major battle of the war, and served on active duty until he resigned on June 30, 1816 due to health concerns. After leaving the army, Hindman, Sr. operated a military ferry on the Tennessee River and served as a lieutenant colonel in the 10th Territorial Militia Regiment for the Alabama Territory. In his dealings as a merchant, he met Lewis Ross. Hindman, Sr. was a frequent visitor at the Ross household, and it was there that he met Lewis' sister-in-law, Sallie Holt. After a brief courtship, the couple was married in Knoxville on January 21, 1819. After settling down in Rhea County, Tennessee, their first daughter was born in 1820. Three more children, Robert, Mary, and Sarah, were born after the family moved to Post Oak Springs. The family moved back to Knoxville in 1827. Thomas Carmichael Hindman, Jr. was born the next year, and Mildred followed in the year after that

Hindman frequently made business trips to Alabama and even moved the family to Jacksonville after buying several lots of land there. He took advantage of the many local business opportunities and was able to provide his family with whatever they needed. He also gained a reputation for honesty with his business associates, which included Cherokee Indian tribes in the area. Hindman became trusted by the Cherokee Nation and was appointed as the sub-agent to the Cherokees by President James Monroe. After Andrew Jackson became President, Hindman. was appointed to the post of United States Agent for the Cherokee Nation. Hindman frequently traveled to Washington D.C. to discuss the interests of the Cherokee Nation, and in 1841 was assigned by Acting Secretary of War Albert M. Lea to determine why the Cherokees in North Carolina had rejected the government's suggestion to join other parts of the tribe in Indian Territory. Hindman spent almost two months unsuccessfully trying to persuade the North Carolina Cherokees to rejoin the rest of their nation further West.

That year, Hindman's father purchased a new plantation in Ripley, Mississippi. Meanwhile, the younger Hindman attended local schools before leaving for the Lawrenceville Classical Institute in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, the third oldest boarding school in the country. Hindman received a classical education there and graduated with honors on September 25, 1843,as the class salutatorian.[]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThomasC.Hindman#cite_note-19) After spending some time visiting relatives and studying in New York, Hindman went back to Ripley and commenced his law studies under Orlando Davis, a notable local attorney and Whig Party politician.

Hindman became an active participant in Mississippi politics. He led the state's Whig Party and served as a member of the executive committee of the local Henry Clay club. In 1845, he was selected as a delegate to attend a convention in Memphis, Tennessee that promoted transportation and infrastructural projects in the South and West.

Thomas C Hindman