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Ancestry and Descendants of GRIFFITH THOMAS

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Ancestry and Descendants of GRIFFITH THOMAS WKm 13 T lliii 922.573 T36Aw 3 U>fu OUR KINSMEN A Record of the Ancestry and Descendants of GRIFFITH THOMAS A Pioneer Resident of Orange County, North Carolina BY GRACE HARPER WINGERT \ ^5 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 % ! * https://archive.org/details/ourkinsmenrecordOOwing ' Foreword This modest and unpretentious volume is the result of four years work by an 'amateur in genealogy with only a limited means of research. In the compiling of the record of our Thomas family, much of the material had to be gathered from incomplete family records and from the memory of those now living. There has been a diligent endeavor to include some- thing of interest and personal value to all who care to read, but with the lack of vital records in the early days of our country and the yet unawakened interest in genealogy among many members of the family, it has been impossible to accomplish all that was desired. So few records have been kept and there is yet such a, lack of regard for family history that one can not hope to have a full and complete "mosaic of the long-forgotten past. ' The genealogy of our Thomas family affords no occasion for vain intoxication on wine of ancestor wor- ship, but there is a certainty that the character and worth of the family has been found to be up to the level of the average man and woman. It is reasonable to suppose that the pioneers of our Thomas family possessed the essential attributes neces- sary to endow their posterity with the strength to build ourselves out of the material of this world by esteeming what is right, perpetuating what is beautiful and exalting what is good. Our courageous forbears should receive from us our most profound admiration and respect. Those staunch and sturdy men and women who braved the perils of mountains and rivers to establish homes in a wilderness, who dared all things, whose courage was invincible and whose valiant hope and endeavor gave us a name and home, are too fine to be forgotten. The vibrations of their energy should still cause us to tingle with desire to 3 accomplish. Our heritage is richer by the knowledge of their endurance and achievements. There has been, of necessity, a burden placed upon various members of the family who have been called upon for assistance regarding lateral lines. Their efforts and interest are deeply appreciated, but where so many are concerned space does not permit personal miention. There is, however, special acknowledgement due our kinsman, Fred Thomas of Monon, Indiana, since he has in truth made this history possible by his outstanding services. Whatever degree of success this record may merit is mainly due to his unlimited generosity, and his willingness to give of his valuable time. His tireless efforts to obtain information and his enthusiasm and faith in the venture have been most important factors in bringing this work to what the author hopes is a reasonably successful conclusion. GRACE HARPER WIXGERT, Springfield, Ohio. September, 1938. 4 ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF THOMAS The name of Thomas ranks seventh in the sixty most common of Welsh and English names and is of great antiquity in Wales, the family claiming descent from the Ancient Kings of Britain. Its authentic history be- gins with Uryan or Urien Rheged, a British Prince who lived in the sixth century after Christ. Urien is said to have been the son of Cynvarch Oer ap Meirchion Gul, a Prince of North Britain, who was expelled from his principality by the Saxons and took refuge in Wales. Urien drove the Gwyddelians or Irish Scots from Rheged, a district lying between the Towy and Tawe rivers in Carmarthen, and was granted the sovereignty' of that principality as a reward. He married Margaret La Fay, daughter of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and had two sons, Owain and Pasgen. Through the latter the line descends to Sir Rhys', a, grandson, whose son Thomas was the father of Gruffyd. As a means of designation, men began at that time to use the word "ap," meaning "son of" or "descended ' from. ' Prior to that, men had borne but a single name. It was at this period that we first find the name of Gruffyd ap Thomas which in time came to be Griffith Thomas. iSir Rhys ap Thomas, who lived in the reign of Henry VII and Henry VIII of England, according to Welsh historians, had an extant pedigree going back to Adam. Sir Rhys was a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. His name was later spelled Rees and it is both natural and reasonable to assume that his descend- ant was one Rees Thomas who, as leader of the Welsh people in Pennsylvania, founded in 1691 the Merion Colony on the Schuylkill River in what is now Mont- gomery County. In 1750 there was a Griffith Thomas living in Ply- mouth Township of this county. His will was proven in 1751. We are inclined to believe that this Griffith was a son of Rees Thomas. It is difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion owing to the lack of authentic records, but the continuity of these similar and unusual given names will lead one to believe they were used by our family from generation to generation. 5 ' GRIFFITH THOMAS OF NORTH CAROLINA Griffith Thomas, the common ancestor of all whose names are contained in this record, was of Welsh parent- age. It has long been believed by past generations of our family that he was born in Wales and came to America while he was a very young man. This, of course, may be true, but the source of their information has never been determined, and in the absence of more authentic data, we have come to accept the statement contained in the diary of the White Pilgrim that his parents "were natives of Pennsylvania." Griffith Thomas was married in Pennsylvania to Charlotte Huffman or Hoffman,. We do not know just when they left that state, but according to the Pilgrim, it was "soon after their being wedded together " that they migrated to North Carolina. There is a record of Griffith Thomas' having purchased three hundred acres of land in Augusta County, Virginia in the year 1753. There is also a record of his having served in the Fifth Company of Augusta County Militia in the year 1742. There is in the Pennsylvania Historical Society in Philadelphia a will of one Griffith Thomas of Plymouth Township, Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County, written in 1750 in which he names his son, Griffith, as chief beneficiary and executor. From the diary of the Pilgrim, we learn that in 1791 Griffith Thomas lived near the village of Haw Eiver in Orange (now Alamance) County, North Carolina. There are records of two deeds dated 1794 and 1795 on record in Hillsboro, North Carolina in which we learn that the land (some three hundred and eighty-eight acres) had been conveyed to Griffith Thomas by land grant from the ' ' state in the year 1788, ' the tenth year of Independence. This land lies adjacent to Hawfields. In 1791, the year of the Pilgrim's birth, the family consisted of nine living children, seven sons and two daughters. At that time most of them were grown men and women according to the Pilgrim), who was the youngest child. The other children were Mary, Moses, John, Noah, Griffith, Jacob, Betsey, and James. This family, being among the first to settle in that part of the country, had by frugality and industry ob- tained a considerable share of honest wealth. Then the 6 Revolutionary War came on, spreading devastation and death over that section. The British, commanded by Lord Cornwallis, plundered and devoured the last re- mains of the property of Griffith Thomas, leaving nothing but the land. After the war the family attempted to re- pair their fortunes, but the day of prosperity had passed away, leaving storms of adversity, affliction, and distress. Soon the family was scattered. The sons left the parental home. John went to Missouri and nothing is known of him except that one of his daughters married a man named Shepard. Noah went to New York State and nothing is known of him. Moses and Griffith, Jr. went to Virginia, married sisters, lived there many years and later came to Ohio. Jacob moved first to Pulaski County, Kentucky, then to Ohio. James remained in North Carolina as did Mary, who married Henry Trol- linger. Betsey married a man named Davis and moved to Mississippi and was never heard from afterward. Joseph, the Pilgrim, later came to Ohio. We draw conclusions from the Pilgrim's writings that the death of his father occurred in 1800. This is substantiated by statements of the kin at Haw River. They also tell us that the mother, Charlotte Huffman Thomas, died in 1813 and was buried in the T'rollinger Cemetery at Haw River. The father, Griffith Thomas, was buried at Hawfields Cemetery near Haw River. No stone marks his grave today but there is an aged woman living near Graham, North Carolina who can recall having seen many years ago a gravestone at Hawfields bearing the name of Griffith Thomas. These children of Griffith and Charlotte Thomas, together with their descendants, have been placed in this history in the order of their birth, as nearly as could be determined. The matter has been given most careful consideration and every effort has been made to be fair and impartial as to sequence.
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