Timothy Edward Tarsney was a politician from the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

.

Tarsney was born in Ransom, Michigan and attended the common and high schools. He worked on the Government roads in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 until the close of the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. When he returned to Michigan, he settled in Saginaw

Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...

, where he was employed as a sawmill engineer and became a marine engineer in 1867. He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 at Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 in 1872 and was admitted to the bar the same year and commencing practice in East Saginaw

East Saginaw, Michigan

East Saginaw is a defunct city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan.East Saginaw was founded in 1850, and was incorporated as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1857...

. He was elected justice of the peace in 1873 and city attorney from 1875 to 1878, when he resigned. His brother, John Charles Tarsney

John Charles Tarsney

John Charles Tarsney was a politician from the U.S. state of Missouri.One of Tarsney's most long lasting contributions was the "Tarsney Act" which permitted private architects to design federal buildings after being selected in a competition under the supervision of Supervising Architect of the...

, was a U.S. Representative from Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. His sister Mary E. Tarsney married Thomas A. E. Weadock

Thomas A. E. Weadock

Thomas Addis Emmet Weadock was a judge and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Weadock was born in Ballygarret, County Wexford, Ireland and immigrated to the United States in infancy with his parents, Lewis Weadock and Mary Weadock, who settled on a farm near St. Marys, Ohio...

 who became a U.S. Representative from Michigan after her death.

In 1880, Tarsney was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the 47th United States Congress

47th United States Congress

The Forty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1881 to March 4, 1883, during the administration...

, losing to Roswell G. Horr

Roswell G. Horr

Roswell Gilbert Horr was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Horr was born in Waitsfield, Vermont and moved with his parents to Lorain County, Ohio, in 1834, where he attended the public schools...

. He was a delegate at-large

At-Large

At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...

 to the Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

 in 1884. That year, he defeated Horr to be elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 from Michigan's 8th congressional district

Michigan's 8th congressional district

Michigan's 8th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Southern Michigan and Southeast Michigan. It consists of all of Clinton, Ingham, and Livingston counties, and includes the southern portion of Shiawassee and the northern portion of Oakland counties.The district was...

 to the 49th Congress

49th United States Congress

The Forty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1885 to March 4, 1887, during the first two years...

. He defeated Horr again to be re-elected to the 50th Congress

50th United States Congress

The Fiftieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1887 to March 4, 1889, during the third and fourth...

, serving from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1889. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1888, losing to Aaron T. Bliss

Aaron T. Bliss

Aaron Thomas Bliss was a U.S. Representative from and the 25th Governor of the US state of Michigan, and was from Saginaw-Early life in New York:...

.

Tarsney moved to Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

in 1893 and resumed the practice of law. He served on the corporation counsel of Detroit from 1900 to 1908. The following year, he died at the age of sixty in Detroit and is interred in Calvary Cemetery in Saginaw, Michigan.