Ross spent his early years at the trading post, and first learned to skate on the nearby lake. He grew up speaking English, and was taught French by his mother, and later in life claimed he knew Ojibwe and Montagnais. In 1892 the family moved back to Lake St. John, though in 1895 Margaret left Thomas, and moved back to Ontario with her younger children. She married Peter McKenzie, who was the Chief Factor for HBC in the region (and thus Thomas' superior) in 1895. They moved again in 1896, settling in the affluent Westmount district of Montreal. Thomas also re-married, and by 1904 was living in Victoria, British Columbia, where he died in 1930.