James Lester Thomas, Jr. (1886 - 1968) was my great-grandfather, the father of my maternal grandmother, Ada Jim "Jimmie" (Thomas) Smith.
The farthest back I have confirmed the Thomas line is to Edward Thomas who was born about 1782 in South Carolina. According to a family history done by Prentice W. Thomas (1912 - 1998), Edward was the son of Samuel S. Miles Thomas of Newberry County, South Carolina. See Thomas GenForum Message #888. There is a great deal of incorrect information in Prentice Thomas' history, so I want to be cautious about his research in Newberry Co, SC. This history implies that Edward Thomas's family came directly from South Carolina to Alabama, when census records prove they were in Georgia for many years before coming to Alabama. Also, it implies that this move happened much later than it actually did, and that Edward Thomas himself never left South Carolina, when in fact he made the move first to Georgia, then to Alabama. Since Prentice Thomas based his work on the recollections of relatives, and did not do any research into census records, I am sure these were honest mistakes.
The part of Prentice Thomas' history that I think is most accurate is the information on Edward Thomas' children and grandchildren, because census records confirm most of this. Edward Thomas was definitely born in South Carolina, as were his oldest children. His younger children were born in Georgia. In the 1850 Census, Sarah Thomas (age 52, born in GA) was apparently Edward's wife, but since she was born in Georgia and was considerably younger than Edward, she may not have been his first wife. So, we cannot be sure if Sarah was the mother of any of Edward's children. According to Prentice Thomas, the children of Edward Thomas were Gabriel, Adeline, Archie (Archibald) Miles, David, Cornelius, George, Caroline, and Martha.
The first Census record that is definitely the correct Edward Thomas is the 1840 Census of Newton County, Georgia. Edward Thomas is living a few households away from his oldest son, Gabriel Thomas. According to marriage records of Newton Co, GA, Gabriel Thomas married Elizabeth Smith on 7 Feb 1840.
In the 1850 Census, Edward Thomas was living in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Note that the census says he was 67, born in South Carolina, and that he was blind. His sons, Gabriel Thomas and Archibald Thomas, were right next door. I have not yet seen marriage records of Tallapoosa County to see if they have Archibald's marriage record, although Tallapoosa records should go back far enough to include this marriage.
In the 1860 Census, the only part of this family I can find is David Thomas with his wife Alsey (Alcey) McCain in Randolph County, Alabama. David and Alcey (McCain) Thomas are the ancestors of researcher Ray Isbell. In the 1870 Census, I can find 5 of the 8 siblings. Most were in Clay County, AL, which was formed in 1866 from parts of Talladega and Randolph Counties. Here is a map of Alabama counties in 1860. I cannot find Edward Thomas or his wife Sarah after the 1850 census; they were probably both dead by 1870.
By 1870, George Edward Thomas was married to Mary Ann Brown. George's middle name is revealed on the death cerificate of James Lester Thomas. George's middle name of Edward almost certainly came from his father, Edward Thomas.
From preliminary research on the Brown family, I believe Mary Ann Brown was the daughter of Joseph Brown and Jane Ezzell. This family was from the Muscadine area of Cleburne Co, AL. I will discuss the Brown family in more detail on the Brown page, but for now I will give a few details. Joseph Brown died in 1849 in what was then Benton Co, AL. Benton County was formed in 1833 from land taken from the Creek Indians. In 1858, Benton County changed its name to Calhoun County. In 1866, the eastern part of Calhoun County was broken off to form Cleburne County. The 1850 and 1860 Censuses show Mary Ann Brown living with her mother, Jane Brown. In the 1860 Census, there is a "Lester Brown", 5 months old, living in Jane Brown's household. Unfortunately, the 1860 Census does not show family relationships. However, I think that "Lester Brown" was in fact James Lester Thomas, Sr., and was Mary Ann Brown's first child, born out of wedlock. This fits in with his birthdate of 15 Jan 1860. Since the census was taken in June, he would have been about 5 months old. Also, his death certificate says that he was born in Cleburne County, and that his mother, Mary Brown, was also born in Cleburne County. Strictly speaking, neither of those could be true, since Cleburne County was not formed until 1866, but I'm sure the informant (who was James Lester Thomas' brother, George W. Thomas), meant that they were born in what is today Cleburne County. The death certificate also states that James Lester Thomas' father was George Edward Thomas, who was born in South Carolina. In reality, George Edward Thomas was born in Georgia, but since his family was from South Carolina, his children may have believed he was born there. There is also a good chance that George Edward Thomas was not really James Lester Thomas' father, but rather that he adopted James Lester when he married Mary Ann Brown.
Unfortunately, I have not yet found the marriage record of George Edward Thomas and Mary Ann Brown. I have checked marriage records of Calhoun and Talladega Counties. Since they probably married before 1866, their marriage record would not be in either Clay or Cleburne Counties, which were both formed in 1866. They may have possibly married in Tallapoosa County (though I doubt it, I have not seen these records yet), but I am thinking they probably married in Randolph County. The Randolph County courthouse burned in 1897, destroying all records. There is also the possibilty they married across the state line in Georgia.
In the 1870 Census, George Thomas's sister, Martha Thomas, is married to John Patty and living very near Jane Brown in Cleburne Co, AL. Another of George's sisters, Caroline Thomas, was living with the Patty family. Possibly this is why George Thomas came to Cleburne County.
By 1880, George Thomas' family was in Cleburne Co, AL, very near the household of Jane Brown. On 16 Aug 1889, George E. Thomas received a patent from the US government for land in Cleburne County (in Sections 4 and 5 of Township 15 South, Range 12 East) See an image of the patent here. This was only about a mile away from the land that Jane Brown was living on in Section 30 of T14S R12E, land her husband Joseph Brown had obtained in 1840. I found a great explanation of the Township/Range system in Alabama here. This is the last record I have of George Edward Thomas. He probably died in Cleburne County between 1889 and 1900 and was buried there.
Researcher Barbara Barnes is a descendant of George Edward Thomas's daughter, Sarah Caroline "Carrie" Thomas. According to Barbara's information from her family, George and Mary Ann Thomas had 6 children:
The 1870 Census lists the children as:
The 1880 Census lists the children as:
Jean "Jeanie" Thomas was not born until Feb 1882, according to the 1900 Census, where she is listed as "Genie" Gallimore, wife of John Gallimore.
Prentice Thomas lists the children of George Thomas as:
When we compare Barbara's list to that of Prentice Thomas, we see that both are missing Clamanda Thomas, the one year old daughter from the 1870 Census, which probably indicates she died as an infant. Barbara's list omits Adella Thomas, who is in Prentice's list as "Della". Prentice's list omits James Lester Thomas. This could possibly mean that Prentice's family knew that James Lester was born before George Edward Thomas and Mary Ann Brown married, and that they did not believe he was George's biological son.
From census records and family histories, it appears that George Edward Thomas and Mary Ann Brown had 8 children:
In both the 1900 and 1910 census, it says that Mary Ann (Brown) Thomas has 7 children and that all 7 were living.
By 1900, Mary Ann was a widow, living with the family of her daughter, Carrie (Thomas) Crawford (also a widow), in Walker Co, AL. John and Jeanie (Thomas) Gallimore were right next door. George W. Thomas and his wife, Lee, were living near Muscadine in Cleburne County, close to Jane Brown (listed as 80 years old, but she was really about 88).
So far, I have been unable to find James Lester Thomas, Sr in the 1900 Census. JLT Sr. married Josie Irene Ham in Haralson County, Georgia, just across the state line from Cleburne County. See the marriage record here. If you look closely at the marriage record, there appears to be two dates. In the middle, it says "Given under my hand and seal this 29 day of Dec 1885". Further down, it says "... were joined together in the holy bans of matrimony on the 29 day of Dec 1886 ...". Their first child, James Lester Thomas, Jr., was born 4 May 1886, according to his tombstone, his death certificate, and Social Security record (however, the 1900 Census says he was born in May 1887). I think that JLT Sr. and Josie Ham were married on 29 Dec 1885. I think the second date of 1886 occurred because it was only two days before 1886, and the person who performed the marriage got the years mixed up. Assuming they did marry on 29 Dec 1885, and JLT Jr. was born 4 May 1886, Josie was a few months pregnant when they married.
Unfortunately, the 1890 Census was destroyed, and this was the only census that would have probably showed JLT Sr. and Josie together. Their only other child, Lille B. Thomas, was born in July 1891. The next record I have of this family is from 1892 Circuit Court records of Calhoun Co, AL, which I saw on a recent trip to the library in Anniston. The record are on microfilm (Calhoun County Circuit Court - Tanner, A J (1881) thru Thomas, J (1893), pages 1591-1598). They name JLT Sr. as "James Thomas, also known as Lester Thomas". I did not copy the pages, but basically, JLT Sr. and another man were convicted of stealing two steers.
My second cousin Julie sent me the following story from our family:
My granny, Kattie, had told me the story of JLT's dad [James Lester Thomas, Sr.] being in jail. She said a cousin had told her -- it was either Lillie or Mamie's daughter. It is said that JLT's dad was in jail for bootlegging. JLT's mom thought he was dead and got remarried. When JLT's father got out of jail he rode up to the house, where JLT's mom was living, on a white horse. When he saw that she was remarried, he didn't say anything but just rode away. It is said that JLT said that he thought his mom died of a broken heart.
On 9 Aug 1896, Josie (Ham) Thomas married John Owings. (See the image here). They had one child together, Mamie L. Owings, who born in Sep 1896, according to the 1900 Census, so Josie was very pregnant with Mamie. Josie Irene (Ham) Thomas Owings died sometime between 1896 and 1900. I have no idea where she is buried. I could not find her in Calhoun Co, AL cemetery records. Neither Calhoun County nor the State of Alabama kept death records for those years (Alabama did not start keeping death records at the state level until 1908). I also have no idea what happened to Josie's second husband, John Owings.
In the 1900 census, James Lester Thomas, Jr., Lillie B. Thomas, and Mamie L. Owings, were listed as the nephew and nieces of Martha Ward, a widow. I think her maiden name was Ham and she was Josie's older half-sister. Martha Ward also had two sons, Earnest J. Ward and Rufus J. Ward. I found Earnest in the 1910 Census of Calhoun Co, AL married to a woman named Adell. By 1920, Earnest and Adell Ward were living in Knox County, Texas. I have not found Martha or Rufus Ward in censuses later than 1900, but I did find cemetery records for them. They were buried in Coldwater Baptist Church Cemetery, in Coldwater, a little town near Anniston in Calhoun County. Rufus J. Ward (1 Sep 1892 - 31 Aug 1979) is buried next to Ruby T. Ward (3 Nov 1899 - no death date), apparently his wife. Close by is Martha Ward (16 Jan 1853 - 16 Jan 1926). There is a stone next to hers that says "Ward babies" with no dates.
I have not yet found James Lester Thomas, Jr. in the 1910 Census. I need to look at the 1910 Soundex for Alabama. James Lester Thomas, Jr. was living in Walker Co, AL, with his mother, Mary Ann (Brown) Thomas, and his nephew, Edward Crawford. JLT Sr. was listed as a widower. The families of his brother, George W. Thomas, and his sister, Sarah Caroline (Thomas) Treece, were next door.
To be continued...
