Tried to do a clean reinstall, but cannot find/delete my old Thunderbird data--how can I completely uninstall Thunderbird on MacBook Pro with OS 10.8.5?

Question

Had a bug in my Thunderbird 24.4.0 (error message stating not enough room in folders, must delete messages, etc.---but this doesn't work) and attempted to download and install a new T-bird program. I saved mail folders & addresses from my profile (in user/hank/library/caches/,metadata/Thunderbird) on a thumb drive after verifying that it was my current stuff---took an hour--- then deleted it, and also deleted the program in my Applications folder.
However, when I installed the new program, it automatically showed all my same emails, folders and data. I figured I had not removed the old stuff properly, but it was "gone"---and the error message continued to appear, keeping me from downloading messages. Obviously the newly installed Thunderbird had gotten it from somewhere, but I don't know where!
This morning I opened T-bird again, and now it seems to be working normally! Halleluja---but I realize I don't know where the stuff was stored. So my questions are:
(1) How do you uninstall Thunderbird?
(2) Where is the data REALLY stored?

Answer 1

Your settings and email are stored in your profile. This is separate from the program as you discovered. Under the HELP menu is a selecting Troubleshooting Information. There is a button there that shows where your profile is located.