The Thomas Families of Montgomery County, Ohio

IRVIN THOMAS, of Center, Ohio, a veteran soldier of the late Civil war, was born in Clay township, Montgomery county, Ohio, January 29, 1838. He is a son of Isaac and Tamar (Mendenhall) Thomas, and was reared a farmer boy. On August 21, 1862, when he was twenty-four years of age, he enlisted at Dayton, Ohio, in company A, One Hundred and Twelfth Ohio volunteer infantry, under Capt. Thorn. In November this regiment was consolidated with the Sixty-third, and he became a member of company H, of the new organization, his captain being now O. L. Jackson. He veteranized in January, 1864, and was honorably discharged at Camp Dennison, Ohio, July 18, 1865. He was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., having served his country faithfully and well for nearly three years. He was in the battle of Parker’s Cross Roads, and in the famous Atlanta campaign, during which the Union troops were constantly under fire for nearly four months. While on this campaign he was in the battles of Dallas, Resaca, Pumpkin Vine Creek and of Kenesaw Mountain, and was then on detached duty as cook for Dr. Stewart, of the First division, Seventh army corps. On July 22, 1864, he was taken sick and for three days lay under a tree at Decatur, Ala., at the end of which time he was ordered away to avoid capture by the rebels, who were about to take possession of the town. He was taken care of by comrade Henry Meshler, of Clay township, and partially recovered, but on account of exposure contracted a deafness from which he has not recovered. Shortly afterward he rejoined his regiment, and was in the battle of Jonesboro, afterward going on the great march to the sea. He was also in the battle of Snake Creek Gap, and marched on to Washington, D. C., participating in the grand review. Then going to Parkersburg and thence to Louisville, he was mustered out at the latter place.

Mr. Thomas participated in all the battles in which the Sixty-third was engaged after he joined it. and endured with courage all the hardships of a soldier’s life.

After the war was over he returned to Montgomery county, where he has since resided. Mr. Thomas has been married twice — first on November 7, 1858, at Phillipsburg, Ohio, to Sarah Tibbs, daughter of Jackson and Mary (Falkner) Tibbs. To this marriage there have been born five children, who are still living, as follows: Arnold C., Francis O.,

William W., Cora O. and Webster E. Mrs. Thomas, the mother of these children, died in 1881, a consistent member of the Christian church. Mr. Thomas was next married to Mrs. Ellen Pugh, daughter of John Smith.

After the close of the war Mr. Thomas engaged in farming in Clay township, on his father’s farm, and in 1872 purchased from his father eighty-five acres of land. Upon this farm he lived until he removed to Phillipsburg, in 1892, building in this place an attractive residence. Mr. Thomas takes a deep interest in all things pertaining to the welfare of the old soldiers and the good of the country in general. He has manifested the strictest integrity in his dealings with his fellow-men during all of his life, and as a consequence he is held in the highest esteem by all who know him.

Isaac Thomas, father of Irvin Thomas, was born in North Carolina, and removed to Clay township, Montgomery county, in 1826 or 1827, being thus one of the pioneers in that part of the county. He cleared a farm of ninety-two acres of land, and through toil and economy prospered greatly, eventually becoming the owner of about 400 acres of land. He lived to be about seventy-six years of age, hiss children being Parmelia, Harriet, Milo, Caleb, Seth, Irvin and Susannah, twins, and Elam. Seth Thomas was a soldier in the same company with Irvin, and died at Memphis, Tenn., in September, 1863. Mr. Thomas was a Quaker in religion.

Irvin Thomas has been an Odd Fellow since July 28, 1874, a member of Phillipsburg lodge, No. 594, of which lodge he has been treasurer twelve years. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of Foster Marshall post, of Brookville. His mother, Tamar Mendenhall, was born in Miami county, Ohio, September 1, 1802, and was the daughter of Caleb Mendenhall, a Quaker pioneer of Miami county, Ohio. She was the first white child born in Union township, Miami county, and a woman of excellent character.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JOSEPH THOMAS, farmer, son of Edward P. and Abigal (Benham) Thomas was born in Washington Township, Montgomery Co., Ohio, August 19, 1834, and baft followed farming as his life occupation. He was married, January 1, 1861, to Charlotte Ramsey, daughter of Bloomfield and Matilda A. (Reeder) Ramsey, who was ak born in this township April 23, 1844. They have had the following children; Josepl B, Edward P. (deceased), Mary E., Olive A., Melissa L., William IT. L., Eve M. and Charles P. Our subject was but four years old when his father died, and at twelve years of age, began working out by the month to help his mother support the family. In 1855, he and his brother Benjamin rented a farm, and by hard constant toil, and steady, economical habits, saved sufficient to purchase 100 acre of land, upon which Benjamin now lives. In 1865, Joseph sold his interest in the above farm to his brother, and purchased his present homestead of 131 acres, which is the legitimate result of his earnest efforts to succeed in life. Mr. Thoma is regarded as one of the progressive farmers of his native township, and his motto ha even been to be just and honest with all men.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

FREDERICK THOMAS, farmer, Germantown P. O., is a native of Maryland, born in Washington County October 21, 1802, and son of Gabriel and Christina (Wolf) Thomas, of that State, the former born in 1769 and dying in 1857. The family came to Ohio in 1804, and here our subject grew up and received his schooling. In 1846, he carried Dinah Hetzler, born May 18, 1807, and in 1850 moved upon his present farm, if 102 acres, two and a half miles south of Germantown. He has been a member of the Jnited Brethren Church since a young man.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

ALFRED A. THOMAS.

Alfred A. Thomas, a well known member of the bar of Dayton, was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1845. He is a son of Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Thomas, who was born in England in 1812: graduated at Miami University in 1834; removed to Dayton in 1858; and who died when professor in Lane Seminary in 1875. Dr. Thomas was a useful and revered pastor of the First Presbyterian church in Dayton and brought about and completed its fine, stone church edifice, at the corner of Second and Ludlow streets.

Alfred A. Thomas passed through the Dayton district and high schools; attended Miami University two years; and was graduated at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, in 1867. He then taught two years in the Central high school here, studied law with Judge J. A. Jordan, and was admitted to the Dayton bar in 1869.

During the next twenty years, he practiced his profession in this city, was two terms a member of the board of education; three times elected city solicitor, which position he is said to have filled “with distinction was for ten years active in politics as a member of the local and state democratic committees; was one of the owners who installed the district telegraph, and the telephone service in this city; was president of the southern Ohio Coal & Iron Company, which was the main reliance of John H. and Frank J. Patterson in their large coal mining enterprises; and was general solicitor of the Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Railroad Company, now in large part The Toledo, St. Louis & Western. Under Mr. Thomas’ legal direction the railroad right of way was procured from Dayton to Lebanon, Ohio, from Wellston to Ironton, Ohio, and from central Indiana through Illinois to East St. Louis, which in some cases involved condemnation by legal proceedings of twenty miles of right of way.

In connection with Colonel D. B. Corwin, Mr. Thomas organized the Fifth Street Railroad Company and built its lines, also including the National Avenue to the Soldiers Home, and the electric railroad thereon, which was the first electric railroad built and operated in Dayton. Mr. Thomas was president of the Fifth Street Railroad Company for eight years and until his removal to Chicago in 1887. He was active and influential also in bringing about its advantageous consolidation with the Third Street Railroad Company into the present City Railway Company.

At Chicago, for ten years, Alfred A. Thomas was general solicitor and legal counsel for The Bell Telephone interests of that city; and as an avocation devoted some time and money to developing and operating a large farm in Brown county, Minnesota, and rental residence property on the Chicago north shore, all of which he still owns.

In 1898, Mr. Thomas returned to Dayton and became general counsel and secretary of the National Cash Register Company. During the next seven years he was active in the management of its legal affairs and organizations, both in this country and in Europe. Resigning his connection with this corporation in 1906, he has since been a member of the law firm of Thomas & Bronson.

In 1880, at Kenosha, Wisconsin, Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Jennie L. Head. Their children are: Thomas H., who was graduated at Harvard and then a tutor there; Miss Gertrude; and Felix, who is a senior at Cornell.

As printed in the source³. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

NICHOLAS THOMAS, proprietor of the Hydraulic brewery, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in Germany in 1825, the son of John and Rickey (Machias) Thomas, both of whom died in Germany. In 1848, at the age of twenty-three years, N. Thomas landed in New Orleans, came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers by boat as far as Cincinnati, walking from that city to Dayton, and thence to the home of an uncle in Decatur, Ind., with whom he remained one winter. He then worked on the Wabash canal until the close of the following summer, when he returned to Dayton and worked for three years in the Dickey stone quarry, from which has been taken the stone of which many of the fine business blocks and residences of the city are constructed. He then, in 1852, engaged with Daniel Beckel in his teaming business, and was one of those who assisted in the work of excavation for the cellar of the Beckel house.

In 1855 Mr. Thomas married Miss Margaret Higlerfoot, who was born in Oldenburg, Germany, in 1825, and to them have been born three children — John H., Katie and Henry A., the last named being the only one married. In 1855 Mr. Thomas, having saved a sufficient sum from his earnings, purchased a team and for fourteen years drove his own wagon. He was then for four years appointed watchman of the Dayton banks. In 1873 he established a grocery and saloon, corner of Front and Third streets, conducting a successful business for some years. Mr. Thomas then took an important step, and one which has exerted a favorable influence upon his later fortunes. In 1881 he embarked his hard-earned capital in the present enterprise, the outcome of which might well have been considered doubtful, as the plant where he located had been controlled during the previous eight years by three distinct firms. Its present sound condition is owing to the ability of one man, who, meeting the sharpest competition, increased a business of 2,000 barrels in 1 8 8 r to 5,000 barrels in 1885, to 9,000 barrels in 1890, to 10,000 barrels in 1891, to 14,000 barrels for the fiscal year ending July 1, 1893, and to about 20,000 barrels for 1896.

This business has been conducted without change of location since Mr. Thomas took it in 1881. The first firm name was N. Thomas & Co., the present title being adopted in 1892. George Weddle, who was long connected with Mr. Thomas in the brewery, withdrew in 1892. He was a conscientious businessman, of personal reliability, and secured his large knowledge of brewing wholly through his experience and training in this plant.

John H. Thomas, son of the proprietor, was born in Dayton in 1859. He was educated in this city at the public schools, finishing at the Miami Commercial college. When seventeen years of age he assisted his father in the grocery and afterward in the office of the brewery, manifesting from the first decided financial ability. All his business experience has been with his father, who has found in him an apt pupil, and one who may be relied upon in the future to take up the work of carrying an already large business to even greater magnitude. Undoubtedly the continued success of this brewery depends to a large extent upon John H. Thomas by reason of the age of his father. Henry A. Thomas, brother of John H., was born* in Dayton in 1864. Like his brother he has a public school education, attending also the Miami Commercial college. After acquiring a knowledge of business at the grocery and the brewery, being desirous to become an expert, he engaged in 1885 with the Herman Lackmann brewery, and afterward with J. G. Sohn & Co., being with these Cincinnati breweries four years. While manifesting great skill in the brewing department, he was so apt in mechanics that, in 1890, the machinery of the brewery of his father was placed under his central. Conversant with all departments of the business, his skill and knowledge are invaluable in promoting the best interests of the concern.

In politics Mr. Thomas is a democrat, and in religion he, and all the members of his family, are members of the Catholic church. His residence is at No. 1732 East Third street, and he is recognized as one of the most solid business men of the Gem City.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

NICHOLAS THOMAS.

Among the citizens of Dayton who have long been prominently identified with her business interests is Nicholas Thomas, president of The N. Thomas Brewing Company and today the only survivor of the pioneer brewers of the city. A native of Germany, he was born on the lath of December, 1825, in Esterwege, Hanover, and is a son of John and Regina (Neibers) Thomas. The father, who was a farmer and sheep raiser, died when our subject was only fourteen years of age. At that time the educational facilities in the smaller provinces of Germany were very poor and Nicholas Thomas was only able to attend school for a few years, studying the common branches in a Catholic parochial institution at Esterwege. During the summer seasons he assisted his father in the work of the farm and in harding the sheep. After leaving school he continued to aid in the operation of the farm until about twenty-one years of age.

Up to this time he had been restrained from leaving the old country on account of army regulations, hut was subsequently rejected for service, owing to his inability to pass the medical examination. As soon as he was permitted to leave Germany Mr. Thomas sailed for the United States and after a voyage of ten weeks landed at New Orleans, Louisiana, from which point he traveled by boat up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati. From Cincinnati he walked to Dayton in his stocking feet, carrying his shoes in his pack, although the weather was severely cold. He arrived at Dayton about the middle of January, 1848, but remained in this city for only two weeks at that time, however, working at cleaning the canal. Then in company with three of his fellow countrymen, he started on foot to Decatur, Indiana, reaching that point with only seven dollars in his pocket and having walked the entire distance. He remained there until the following spring, engaged in hauling wood from his uncle’s farm to the soap factory, and later, accompanied by a cousin, he went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he secured employment on a canal boat transporting stone from Huntington to Fort Wayne. After a lapse of nine months, during which time he was ill with ague, he walked to Minster, Ohio, where he took a canal boat for Dayton.

At that time Mr. Thomas located permanently in this city and during the first three years of his residence here was in the employ of the Dickey stone quarry. He next drove a team for Dan Beckel and later acted as foreman during the excavation of the cellars for the Beckel House and in making and keeping up the turnpikes. He drove a four-horse team, hauling the logs and lumber for the Longstead sawmill, which was then located on the present site of the N. Thomas brewery. Saving some of his earnings, he was at length able to purchase a horse and dray and in 1857 embarked in the drayage business, which he carried on until 1871,

NICHOLAS THOMAS and in the following four years was employed as night watchman by several banks in Dayton. With a little accumulated capital Mr. Thomas then opened a grocery at the corner of Third and Front streets, being engaged in that business until 1880, when he purchased the Brown brewery, which then had a capacity of about six hundred barrels per year. Through persistent effort he increased the business and was at length able to purchase the buildings and land from Henry Ferneding. In 1900 the business was incorporated under the name of The N. Thomas Brewing Company with Mr. Thomas as president, and at that lime the output amounted to eleven thousand barrels per year. In 1906 this plant was merged with the Dayton Breweries Company, Mr. Thomas becoming a director and holding the position of general manager of the N. Thomas plant, which now has a capacity of eighty thousand barrels per year. He is also interested in a number of other enterprises, being president of the Thomas Real Estate Company and a director of the Equitable Loan & Savings Association, both of Dayton.

On the 22d of November, 1852, at Emanuel church. Dayton, Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Margreth Hilgefort, who had emigrated from Oldenberg, Germany, the wedding ceremony being performed by Rev. Junker. Of the five children born to them all are now deceased with the exception of one daughter, Katherine A., now the wife of William F. Breidenbach, who is associated in business with Mr. Thomas, and all reside at their present home at No. 2206, East Third street. Mrs. Thomas is now eighty-one years of age, while her husband is eighty-four years.

A life-long communicant of the Catholic church, Mr. Thomas was one of the founders of Holy Trinity, with which he still holds membership. He is also a charter member of the Knights of St. John and the Society of St. Lawrence, and is a retired member of the Uniform Rank, Knights of St. John. He is a life member of St. Joseph’s Orphan Association and has ever been a liberal contributor to church and charitable work. Although he has passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life’s journey, he is still actively engaged in business, his health being exceptionally good, and he is daily found at his office. It is a remarkable fact that Mr. Thomas was more than fifty-five years of age when he entered into business on his own account, an age when most men retire, and the wonderful success that he has achieved is due to his own unaided efforts, good business ability and sound judgment.

As printed in the source³. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected.

JEROME B. THOMAS, who at present occupies the distinguished position of governor of the central branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Luzerne county, Pa., March 26, 1835, and is a son of Isaac and Lydia A. (Beers) Thomas, the former of whom was born in Vermont in January, 1809, and the latter in Washington county, N. Y., in 1816. * These parents, after a married life of over sixty years, died in Wyoming, Stark county, Ill., in 1895, having removed there from the Keystone state in 1844.

Isaac Thomas was of Welsh extraction and descended from a family who established a colony in New England in the early colonial days. His early life was passed on a farm, but his mature years were devoted to merchandizing. To his marriage were born five sons and four daughters, the eldest of whom is our subject; Charles C. and Lewis W. were gallant soldiers in the late Civil war, and now reside in Illinois and Colorado, respectively;

William D. is a resident of Missouri; Allen E. is president of the Ohio Rake company, with his home in Dayton, Ohio; Mary W. is the wife of Dr. A. M. Pierce, an ex-surgeon of the late war and a practicing physician of Wyoming, Ill.; Fanny W. is married to Rev. W. W. Woolley, of the Methodist Episcopal church, Rock Island, Ill., district; Olive E. resides in Boston, Mass., and Kate A. lives in Wyoming, Ill. — the last two named being unmarried.

Col. Jerome B. Thomas is an educated physician, having first studied medicine in the office of Dr. William Chamberlain, of Toulon, Ill.; he afterward graduated from the Jefferson Medical college, of Philadelphia, Pa., and in the same year, 1858, entered upon the active practice of his profession in Wyoming, Ill., where success attended him until, at the opening of the Civil war, he was, on the 3d of March, 1862, appointed assistant surgeon of the Twenty-fourth regiment, Illinois volunteer infantry, and served in the army of the Ohio and the army of the Cumberland throughout the war. After the first year he was detached from his regiment to serve in the responsible position of surgeon in charge of government hospitals in Bowling Green, Ky., and in Gallatin, Tenn., where he also served as acting medical director on the staff of Gen. Paine; later, he was appointed chief executive officer of the Cumberland United States army general hospital, at Nashville, Tenn. At the close of hostilities he engaged in the practice of his profession in Wyandotte, Kas., until the fall of 1867, when he was appointed treasurer of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, at Dayton, Ohio, which position he held until the death of Gen. M. R. Patrick, governor, in July, 1888, when he succeeded to his present important office of governor of that institution.

Col. Thomas was most happily married, in

Illinois, in 1860, to Miss Harriet N. R. Tasker, a native of New Bedford, Mass., and this union has been blessed with three children, viz: Jerome B., Jr., a physician of New York city; Alice and Carlotta W., both at home and both liberally educated. The son received his literary education in the university of Michigan, from which famous institution of learning he graduated with the degree of A. B.; his professional education was acquired at Long Island (N. Y.) College hospital, where he became so proficient that he is still retained as an instructor therein.

Col. Thomas stands high in the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-second degree, beyond which very few Masons advance; he is also a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion, of the United

States, and a charter member of post No. 5, Grand Army of the Republic, at the home. In this connection it may not be improper to add a brief historical sketch of this noble institution. The central branch national home for D. V. S. was first located at Columbus, Ohio, in March, 1867, and in the fall of the same year was removed to the present location near Dayton. It was the second home established under the provisions of the revised statutes, section 4830, approved March 21, 1866. Previous to its becoming a national home, it was operated for a short time at Columbus under the jurisdiction of the state of Ohio, as a state soldiers’ home. We believe the only officer now connected with the home who assisted in the original organization and who was transferred to Dayton with it, is Mrs. E. L. Miller, the matron, who has spent the greater part of her life in ministering to the wants of the disabled soldiers, having been during the entire war, 1861-5, connected with hospital and sanitary commission work.

In 1867 the home grounds comprised 35 5. 25 acres — costing $45,700. In 1869, 30 acres were added, at a cost of $3,600; in 1873, 101.07 acres were added at a cost of $19,190; in 1879, 44.45 acres were added, at a cost of $8,000; in 1880, 31.94 acres were added at a cost of $4,791; in 1881, 13.41 acres were added at a cost of $3,084. 30; and in 1886, 1.35 acres were added, at a cost of $1,080.

The citizens of Dayton contributed $20,000 as part payment for land, which money was applied to general purposes. The total cost to the United States, of 577.47 acres, was $85,- 445.30. The buildings are valued at $1,339,- 862.17. The average cost per capita, for maintenance in the various branches, for the year ending June 30, 1894, was $127.45.

The present official staff of the central branch is as follows: Governor, Col. J. B. Thomas; treasurer, May. Milton McCoy; quartermaster, Capt. James C. Michie; commissary of subsistence, May. Alvin S. Galbreath; assistant adjutant-general, May. Carl Berlin; inspector, Col. John W. Byron; surgeon, Dr. D. C. Huffman; matron, Mrs. E. L. Miller; Protestant chaplain, Rev. Ezekiel Light, D. D.; Catholic chaplain, Rev. C. S. Kemper, D. D.

The former governors of the central branch were as follows: May. E. E. Tracy, first governor, appointed April 12, 1867; Gen. Timothy Ingraham, Appointed December 6, 1867; Col. E. F. Brown, appointed October 8, 1868, now inspector-general of the national homes for D. V. S.; Gen. M. R. Patrick, appointed September 23, 1880, and died in office, in 1888; Col. Jerome B. Thomas now being in command as his successor.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Doctor Thomas was born December, 1846, in Watertown, N. Y. His preliminary schooling was ended in the Philadelphia High school. In 1868 he graduated from the Philadelphia School of Pharmacy, but, deciding to abandon the drug business, entered the Homeopathic College of Medicine in Philadelphia and was graduated M. D. in 1871.

One year was spent as interne in the Albany City hospital, from which he came to Dayton. The death of Doctor Thomas, which came suddenly in 1890 in the vigor of manhood, resulted from burns due to an explosion of gasoline in a house in which he was making a professional call.

As printed in the source³. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

EVAN OWEN THOMAS, superintendent of markets of the city of Dayton, was born in Newport, Ky., February 7, 1836. His father, a native of

Wales, was also named Evan Owen Thomas, and came from his native country to the United States in 1825. He was born in the year 1799 and learned the trade of weaver, becoming a practical factory hand in the old country. Upon arriving in the United States he located in Indianapolis, where he married Jane Mayes, widow of John Hamarman, who was born and reared near Delaware, Ohio. From Indianapolis they removed to Zanesville, Ohio, and thence to Newport, Ky., finally coming to Dayton, Ohio, in 1838, to take charge of what is now the Kratochwill mill. Mr. Thomas was not only a practical factory man, but was also a man of genius and an inventor of note. He died in Dayton in 1892, his wife having died some time before. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are still living, and beside these eight the mother had three children by a former marriage.

Evan Owen Thomas, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Dayton, and was educated in the excellent public schools of that city. In September, 1861, he enlisted in company E, Fifty-ninth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and served until mustered out November 1, 1864. He was captured at Cynthiana, Ky., July 22, 1862, but after being a prisoner two days was paroled. In October, 1863, after the battle of Chickamauga, while guarding an ammunition train, he was again taken prisoner, but after three days was paroled at McMinnville, Tenn.

Having returned from the war Mr. Thomas began working on December 26, 1864, for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad company as brakeman, was promoted to the position of conductor on a passenger train, and for twenty-eight years was in the employ of that company. On August 1, 1894, he was appointed superintendent of markets for Dayton and was re-appointed in 1895. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Old Guard post, No. 23, Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr. Thomas was married December 20, 1854, to Isabella Marshall, of Newport, Ky. To this marriage there have been born four children, as follows: Albert, superintendent of the Dayton Electric Light company; Mary, who died in her twenty-first year; John E., of Toledo, Ohio, and Evan Owen, who died when seven years of age. Mr. Thomas is a man of intelligence and integrity, and is discharging the responsible duties of his office with personal credit and to the approval of the people of the city.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.