Thomas Johnson Pickett was born on March 17, 1821, in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1830, his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, then again moved in 1836 to Peoria, Illinois. Pickett apprenticed as a type-setter, then founded the "Peoria News" in 1840. He soon sold the paper and founded the "Peoria Transcript". After founding the first paper in Pekin, Illinois, Pickett moved to Rock Island, Illinois, founding the "Rock Island Register". In 1851, he was elected the first president of the Illinois Editorial Association. In this capacity, he oversaw the Editorial Convention that prompted the Bloomington Convention, the founding of the Illinois Republican Party. Pickett served as a delegate to the convention and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention later that year.