Brick Wall Ancestor | #8 Jesse Thomas Sr

We all have them! Those stubborn ancestors that refuse to come out of hiding. No matter how much coaxing we do! Well, I think it's time to bring them out of the shadows - put their redacted story out there - another piece of the puzzle could be lurking just around the (cyber) corner, in someone's basement, or closet, or sitting in a box on a bookshelf ...... You never, ever know where that loose chink will manifest, the one that allows you to push out one brick, then the next. Food for thought. So without further ado....


Brick Wall Ancestor | # 8 Jesse Thomas Sr

Jesse Thomas seems to magically appear in Chester Co, PA in 1810, prior to that time he is a complete mystery. What I do "know" is information gleaned from other researchers, none of it is sourced. The rumor floating around is that Jesse was born in 1786 in Chester Co, PA to unknown parents. He married, supposedly in 1808 in Fallowfield Meeting Hall, Chester Co, PA; Rebecah Hampton, Daughter of Jonathan Hampton and Elizabeth Phillips. The Hampton relationship has been substantiated through numerous DNA matches with other Hampton descendants.

Jesse appears on the 1810 US Census in New London, Chester Co, PA with three household residents; a male aged 16 thru 25, a female aged 16 thru 25 and a female aged under 10.

In March 1820 Jesse and Rebecah request removal from their Fallowfield Monthly Meeting in Chester Co, PA to join the Stillwater Monthly Meeting in Washington Co, OH. Did they actually live in Ohio at the time of the request?

I did find a Jesse Thomas on the 1840 US Census in Washington Co, OH, the household includes one male aged 50 thru 59, two males 10 thru 14, one female 50 thru 59, two females 20 thru 29 and two females 15 thru 19.

According to Quaker records Jesse died February 20th 1842 at Plymouth, Washington Co, OH. Aged 55.

End of story.

That's one HUGE brick wall!


GENEALOGY

Jesse Thomas  b. say 1786 d. 20 Feb 1842 m. say 1808 Rebecah Hampton, daughter of Jonathan Hampton and Elizabeth Phillips, b. 12 May 1790 d.  20 Dec 1850

children:

• Elizabeth Thomas b. 1 Jan 1810 PA d. UNK
• Sarah Thomas b. 17 Apr 1811 PA d.  UNK
• Mary Ann Thomas b. 7 Mar 1813 PA  d. UNK m. Walter Stanley
• Joseph Thomas b. 5 Dec 1814 PA d. UNK m. Mary G Parker 
• Debora Thomas b. 27 Mar 1817 PA d. UNK m. Josiah Walton
• Philena Thomas b. 9 Oct 1819 PA d. 22 Jan 1894 m. Seth Williams
• Joanna Thomas b. 23 Jan 1822 OH d. UNK 
• Jonathan H Thomas b. 25 Mar 1824 OH d. UNK m. Hannah E Henry
• Eli Thomas b. 19 May 1826 OH d. 18 Nov 1855 m. Adeline McConnell
• Jesse Thomas Jr b. 28 Jul 1828 OH d. 19 Sep 1907 m. Joanna Bell Stanley
• David Thomas b. 26 Jun 1831 OH d. 11 Apr 1832

There were 30 'Thomas' heads of household in Chester County PA on the 1800 census, nine with a male child between the age of 10 and 15. Family tradition says the Thomas family was of Welsh origin. Was Jesse born in PA or did he immigrate as a child or young adult? Was Jesse's family Quaker? Or did Jesse join the faith upon his marriage to Rebecah? 

As is typical, more questions than answers. 

And the answers are out there ...... somewhere.

©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Notes From My Grandmother | Thomas Lineage and Genealogy, Part 2

Somehow, much of my grandmother's hand written and (badly) typed notes and research wound up in my possession. Traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles and back to Chicago again. It sat, in the dark of my mother's closet, until my dad passed and my mom decided to begin her great purge. Knowing I had picked up the torch, the next generation to pursue the Greatest Hobby on Earth, the papers came to live with me. Unsure for many years on just what to do with them, I have decided to bring them out and share them with you - transcribed, of course - no one can read my grandmother's handwriting! But in her own words; mistakes, rambling sentences, and all. I think she will be pleased her work and her writing are once again out in the light.

We pick up the story with Jesse Thomas Jr., tenth child and fourth son of Jesse Thomas Sr and Rebecah Hampton. Grandma did not have this information. She also did not have Jesse Jr's birth or death. Grandma knew that Jesse married Joanne B Stanley and that the couple lived in Perry Twp and Columbus Co, OH. She knew of one child, Zadoc Willis Thomas, her husband's father.

Jesse Thomas Jr was born July 28, 1828 in Morgan OH. He married Joanna Bell Stanley May 1, 1851 at Upper Springfield MH, Columbiana, OH. 

Jesse and Joanna farmed the land in Ohio until about 1870 when they removed to Oskaloosa, Iowa and for a time ran a hotel. This was the same time and the same place that Penn College was founded. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters, all born in Ohio. By 1890 Jesse and Joanna had moved to Fort Dodge, IA, where they remained until death. Both Jesse and Joanna are buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Webster Co, IA.

GENEALOGY

Jesse Thomas Jr b. 7/28/1828
                              d. 9/19/1907
                              m. 5/1/1851 to Joanna Bell Stanley
                                                   daughter of Benjamin Stanley and Elizabeth Cobbs
                                                   b. 7/27/1827
                                                   d. 6/3/1904


children:

Benjamin Franklin  b. 5/26/1852 d. 1924
ZADOC WILLIS b. 5/18/1856 d. 6/16/1914 m. 10/1/1885 to Laura Alice Busby
                                                                                         b. 9/26/1861 d. 1952
Elma Luella b. 11/8/1860 d. 1/20/1913
Mary Eldora b. 12/12/1863

to be continued .......

©2016 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

©1980 Elizabeth Twining Potwin Thomas - private collection

Notes From My Grandmother | Thomas Lineage and Genealogy, Part 1

Somehow, much of my grandmother's hand written and (badly) typed notes and research wound up in my possession. Traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles and back to Chicago again. It sat, in the dark of my mother's closet, until my dad passed and my mom decided to begin her great purge. Knowing I had picked up the torch, the next generation to pursue the Greatest Hobby on Earth, the papers came to live with me. Unsure for many years on just what to do with them, I have decided to bring them out and share them with you - transcribed, of course - no one can read my grandmother's handwriting! But in her own words; mistakes, rambling sentences, and all. I think she will be pleased her work and her writing are once again out in the light.

As THOMAS was my grandmother's married name she did much less research. However, since it was her children's surname she did do a fair amount. When I inherited her box of work I found all that she had uncovered. I have been able to leaf out the branches somewhat, but am still butting my head against the same brick wall that stymied her. Using the work-around of tracing the women, and being afforded the luxury of internet access, I have been able to take the branch farther, and to more exciting places, than she was able to accomplish pre 1980.

The earliest Thomas in America, according to my grandmother, was Samuel. I do not know where she got this information or where this Samuel was said to reside. She also had notes about a Thomas Thomas. According to her notes he both signed the Magna Carta AND was a Quaker in Buck's county PA.

Must have had a time machine too.

Other notes hint that the Thomas's came from Wales.

We really start our Thomas story with Jesse. Jesse can be proved down the line. And as much as I wanted to keep this series strictly about my grandmother's research, I will be bending that rule for the Thomas study. Grandma had a big brick wall with the Thomases that she was unable to bust in her lifetime. Or, perhaps, she eventually focused her research on her lineage - she was very busy joining lineage societies!

At any rate, she knew Jesse Thomas and his wife Rebecca were her husband's great grandparents. She knew that they were Quakers. She knew that they lived in Wesley Township and Washington County, Ohio. She knew they had a son named Jesse.

That's all she knew.

So, let's begin this story with what I know. Thanks to modern-day technology and the increasing availability of archived images, records, books, etc, this story can travel a little farther back in time.

Jesse Thomas is still a brick wall, however.

From the online Quaker meeting records it is learned that Jesse Thomas was born in June 1786 at Chester, PA. Neither an actual birth record, or the names of Jesse's parents have been found to date.

Through some excellent sleuthing by my cousin, we learned that Jesse married Rebecah Hampton, of the Bucks County Hamptons, September 7, 1808 at the Fallowfield MH in Chester PA. Again, we have not found a marriage record ... yet. A trip to Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore or Haverford will most likely be in our future.

DNA further confirms that we are on the right track.



GENEALOGY

Jesse Thomas Sr. b. 6/1786 in Chester, PA
                              d. 2/1842 in Athens, OH
                              m. 9/7/1808 to Rebecah Hampton,
                                                daughter of Jonathan Hampton and Elizabeth Phillips
                                                     b. 5/12/1790 in Bucks Co, PA
                                                     d. 12/20/1850 in Washington Co, OH


children:

Elizabeth b. 1810
Sarah b. 1811
Mary Ann b. 1813
Joseph b. 1814
Deborah b. 1817 d. q862
Philena b. 1819
Joanna b. 1822
Jonathan b. 1824 d. 1825
Eli b. 1826 d. UNK m. Adeline McConnell
JESSE b. 1828 d. 1907 m. 5/1/1851 to Joanna Bell Stanley
David b. 1831 d. 1832

Thanks to the excellent book: Hampton history; an account of the Pennsylvania Hamptons in America in the line of John Hampton, Jr., of Wrightstown; with an appendix treating of some other branches by John Hampton Doan, I was able to take the female side of this union back five more generations!


As I always say "genealogy, the greatest hobby on earth"!

to be continued ........

©2016 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

©1980 Elizabeth Twining Potwin Thomas - private collection

Jesse Thomas Sr.: Might As Well Be John Doe (52 Ancestors #21)

Jesse Thomas Sr.

An infuriating Quaker.

Might as well be John Smith or Doe. Seems Thomas was a very common surname among the Quakers in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Very common. Hair pulling frustration common. And (of course) there are (at least) two Jesses.......

Now, I'm sure my 3rd great grandfather didn't mean to be so difficult, and buried somewhere deep in the tomes of Quaker history lie the answers. Alas, a trip to Swarthmore is not in my future any time soon.

So today, as I write this short sketch, the answers I seek remain buried.

I admit I do have ulterior motives for this post. A little fishing expedition. The more we all can get out onto the world wide web, the more chance there is for someone; anyone, anywhere; to stumble across it and perhaps supply a missing piece of the puzzle. Genealogy appears to be a solitary pursuit, you know, with the Cave and all, but it is only successful with collaboration.

Also I might add, that I have avoided this for a while.  Quaker genealogy really is a study unto itself and I must admit that it boggles my mind and makes me cranky.

So here is what I know.

• Jesse Thomas Sr. was born about 1786* in Chester Co., PA. His parents UNK to date.  FYI there are 41 heads of household in Chester County in the 1790 Federal Census with the Last name of Thomas. Forty One! Thirty two of those households report male children under 16. (Jesse would have been 4 at the time) By 1800 there are 30 heads of household, by 1810 (eureka!) there is but one Jesse listed in Chester County with 2 young adults and one child. (The 1786 Pennsylvania Census of Taxpayers lists 52 Thomas'.... but let's not go there)

• He married Rebecca (or Rebecah) Hampton in 1808* in Chester Co., PA They were members of the Fallowfield Monthly Meeting in Chester Co., PA. 

• Rebecca (Rebecah) was born May 12, 1790 in Bucks County, PA, the daughter of Jonathan Hampton and Elizabeth Phillips. This is one case where there is actually more recorded info on the woman than the man!

• The couple had at least 11 children, according Quaker records. You'd think with 11 descendants there would be numerous people looking for Jesse, wouldn't you?

• In 1820 the family requested removal from the Fallowfield Monthly Meeting in Chester Co., PA. in preparation to move to Ohio. They requested admittance to the Stillwater Monthly Meeting in Belmont Co., OH.

• In 1839 the family is listed in the Deerfield Monthly Meeting records in Morgan Co., OH.

• In 1842 Jesse is listed in the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting in Athens Co., OH, having died in February. He is recorded as being buried at Plymouth. Could that be Plymouth, Washington Co, OH?  There is a Jesse Thomas listed in the 1840 census residing in Westley Twp, Washington Co, OH - Plymouth is in Westley Twp. Plus my grandmother (the Genealogy Queen) has in her notes that the family was from Westley Twp.

*Dates are from other family trees. I usually don't use this type of information as I have not been able to source it, but I am including it this post as a stepping off point.

As I mentioned above, there are a few records for a Jesse Thomas born in 1791 to a Phillip and Hannah Thomas. He was born in Chester but the family attended the Goshen Monthly Meeting - probably not our guy.

There is a record of a Jesse Thomas "accomplishing" his marriage in 1806, but it was recorded in the Philadelphia Northern District Monthly Meeting - probably not our guy.

And that is it. That is all I know.  If only my Genealogy Cave was equipped with a time machine .......

Well, a girl can dream.


©2015 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved