Oh That Common Name: Thomas

By: Karen Zach

Have any common names in your family tree? Barker? Coleman? Helms? Morgan? Myers? Smith? Those are some of my own more common names but when I told myself before I keel over or at least quit writing that I needed to write about a few from our area and I got a bingo on the Thomas family of the Pleasant Hill area in Montgomery County’s early days. In the CWJ 4 June 1897 p 7 under the “Number 13 News,” a very nice, informative, lengthy family article, entitled, “The Thomas’” was just super amazing.

It seems in 1863 within a five-mile circumference near Pleasant Hill, there were 13 head of households – men whose last name was Thomas, all close relation. That’s pretty amazing when ya’ think on it. Sadly, at the writing of the 1897 article, only two were left. Loved the family history included, however, as I would have guessed the family hailed from England. According to the piece, however, the first of this particular Thomas family was Michael who came to America from Germany, living in Virginia until he passed “at a great age.” His son, Abram was a Revolutionary Soldier going on to Ohio after the war. He was 88 at his death, many of the 13 (Abe, Asa, George, James, Joel, John, Ludlow, Michael, Robert, Silas, Smith, Sol and William), grandsons who lived and dwelled on #13 remembering him and telling their own children marvelous tales about the strength, courage and endurance of the early Thomas ancestors.

Most of the family members were upright, community-oriented, well-loved and appreciated, religious men. Most of the early ones were born in Miami County, Ohio but a few of the oldest hailed from Kentucky.

Very little questionable occurrences surrounded this amazing family but in the summer of 1866 Michael (with one of the best area attorneys, MD White) sued his (missing) wife, Eliza Jane for divorce. Also at least in two probate wrap-ups, hard feelings and hearings hit the newspapers with this Thomas family as the center.

There were interesting occupations including the norm for the times: farmers, teachers, but several doctors (Keifer, Seth, John Milton, M. Cassius) and ministers (Joel, Adam) as well as several plasterers, a Justice of the Peace, Postmaster (John at Pleasant Hill in the 1860s) and county commissioners. Some of the reasons for deaths were pneumonia, heart troubles but mainly, old age. There was but one thing the Thomas family members didn’t always agree on, that being politics, most being Democrats, although several changed their viewpoints after the Civil War. Speaking of the war, three Thomas men died in the Civil War and others fought in it and returned (Hiram; Zebia; Keifer and others).

So, let’s take Silas A. Thomas as a representative of the family. He was born in Miami County, Ohio (son of Samuel and Elizabeth Gerhart who were Virginia natives) and was the oldest of their six children. Silas married Martha Gregory and two children (a small Thomas crew) were born to them: James and Mary.

Always a moral man at age 24 at a small prayer meeting in a log cabin, he confessed his faith and like the majority of this Thomas family, Silas remained as a devout Christian man. Small prayer meetings were always his favorite form of sharing religion calling them “his chief delight!” (CWJ 14 Jan 1898 p10). During the Civil War, the Pleasant Hill Church burned to the ground and he, especially (head of building committee) worked diligently to insure the church was rebuilt. Not a minister per se, Silas served his church members by praying with them, administering to them, talking with them on their death beds, just anything he was able to help with, especially popular in speaking at a funeral as he was “so full of sympathy and consolation,” yet encouraging the bereaved in uplifting prayer. His “ability to speak and the warmth of his exhortations to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in which he was a firm believer” (CWJ 7 Jan 1898) made him an over-all perfect representative of this family.

Silas and wife are buried in Pleasant Hill cemetery (Wingate) with many close relatives (photo by Lesa Epperson FindAGrave). Yet, some of this family returned to Ohio, several went to Illinois and Kansas and still others farther to California with a few in other Indiana counties. Imagine there are still others yet here in our midst. Bless them all – this was a wonderful and enjoyable perusal of a local common-named family! Hope you enjoyed, as well!

– Karen Zach is the editor of Montgomery Memories, our monthly magazine all about Montgomery County. Her column, Around the County, appears each Thursday in The Paper of Montgomery County. You can reach her at [email protected].