The Israel Thomas Family -- No. I-2

New Year's Resolution #1 for 2012 - Utilize this blog more! One of the things I am going to do is label the generations of the family lines. Israel's line will start with an I, and as such, Israel himself would be I-1. This generation would be I-2, and I'm thinking that I may just label them with the first letters of their names (i.e. Edward would be I-2-E) if I must talk about them specifically. I know that I could number each person, however, for blog purposes that could be very confusing, as I don't have a book written with an index.

So let's start with Israel's family.... We do not know where Israel is buried. He is not listed anywhere on the WPA records (which are both in XLS files and on each municipality's site on the various cemetery and church links). Sarah is buried at Old Union Methodist Church Cemetery in Nether Providence Township.

Note: There is an Israel Thomas buried in Old Union, but it is not Sarah's husband; that Israel is the son of Seth Thomas Jr. - Seth Jr. is Israel 1's brother. See what I mean by confusing with all the many Seths and such?

Back on this post I mentioned that Israel 1 died at the age of 32, leaving his wife, Sarah Lane Thomas (I-1-SLT), with 8 children to raise. They are: Ann C., Elizabeth B., David, Louisa E., Edward Lane, Seth C, Sarah, and Mary L. Prudence.

~Ann C. (I-2-AC)was born in 1809, and married George Grimm of Nether Providence, and had four children. Ann died in 1882, and is buried at Old Union Methodist.

~Elizabeth B. (I-2-EB) did not marry. She was born about 1810, and died in 1891. She is buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon, PA.

~David (I-2-D) was born about 1812. We do not know what happened to him. We believe he may have died young, as when his father Israel died, Edward took over running the family.

~Louisa E. (I-2-LE) was born in 1813. She married Robert Watkins of Nether Providence, and had five children. She died in 1852 and is buried in Old Union Methodist.

~Edward Lane Thomas (I-2-ELT) was born in 1814. He married twice - first to Margaretta Lytle, daughter of Samuel Lytle, the schoolteacher. They had six children, and she died of "child-bed fever in 1859. His second wife was Catherine Watkins, who we believe was the sister of his brother in law, Robert (above), and had one child. Edward took over the family, and his mother lived with him in her old age. Edward died in 1880, and is buried in Old Union Methodist.

~Seth Collie (I-2-SC) was born in 1817, and married Matilda Watkins, sister of Robert and Catherine Watkins (above). They had seven children, and moved to Lancaster County about 1861. According to a family document, Seth was the "only one" to move away from the Media/Delaware County area. Seth died in 1903 is buried at Georgetown Methodist Church Cemetery, in Georgetown, Bart Township, Lancaster County.

~Sarah (I-2-S) was born in 1823. Nothing more is known about Sarah.

~Mary L. Prudence (I-2-MLP) was born about 1824. She married Abner Pyle, of Thornbury, Delaware County, and had six children. Abner was a prominent citizen, and the marriage put the entire Thomas family in a "better position" in society. Mary became the family matchmaker, and married Edward's daughters off to other prominent Chester and Delaware county citizens. Mary died in 1874, and is also buried at Old Union Methodist.

Things to note:

The initials ELT, the name Seth, and the name Watkins have been carried down for many generations through the family.

Many male Thomas children have had Watkins as their middle name. There have been at least four Robert Watkins Thomas males that I know of.

There have not been many (if any) male children named Edward since that second generation, however, many many women have had the initials ELT.

The other names that have had continued use down through the family are Robert (usually in conjunction with Watkins Thomas), Seth, and Louisa or Louise.

Message to an AOL Emailer!

Someone emailed me (Bills) after seeing this blog - I need to ask you to please have AOL allow me to send you mail. I have replied twice and I don't think it's getting through the AOL Mail. Thanks!

Finding the Lines

It seems I am guilty of serious blog neglect! Sorry about that....

One of the goals I had for this little blog was to help connect living descendants of all of the Seth Thomas family, hopefully at least one from each of his children (with the obvious exception of William). We do know of some from each line - Cousin Richard descends from David, I have spoken with some who descend from Elizabeth, and I have found another from Seth's line. I expect Israel's to "turn up" any time now. The only ones we're lacking are the descendants of Anna and Sarah.

Sometimes people we contact don't want to talk to us. That's ok. History isn't interesting to everyone. I was hoping that the TV show, "Who Do You Think You Are" might spur some interest from those who say they'd like to know but really haven't joined in on the dialogue. Maybe it's just the scoop they want. It's taken me over 20 years to get the information I have now, and that didn't just fall into my lap! The lines only continue when everyone helps to fill them in.

But yes, I have scoop.

We have a marital connection to a president. (I personally have two.) You can search the trees to find out who. ;)

Elizabeth Thomas

Elizabeth Thomas' line is rather interesting. Elizabeth (b. @1786) married Amos Davis of Radnor, and they had six children: Elizabeth, Emily, Sally Ann, Maria, Amos and Eveline.

Sally Ann married FNU (First Name Unknown) Stewart. Emily married FNU Brooks. Nothing is known about Amos or Eveline. Maria married George G. Grubb, and had one child, Elizabeth.

It is through Elizabeth's daughter Elizabeth Davis, that the line becomes interesting. Elizabeth married Robert Serrell Wood of Osmington, England. Robert's family owned a rather large parish there, and he is an interesting person worthy of his own post, so I will save that info for later. He and Elizabeth had five children: Emily Serrell Wood, Virginia Serrelina Wood, Agness Wood, Laura Gertrude Wood, and Jefferson Serrell Wood.

At some point in time Elizabeth Davis separated from Amos Davis, and moved in with her daughter, Elizabeth Wood, in Washington, D.C.. At some time Amos also moved to Chicago for a short time, before coming back to Pennsylvania. They did not get divorced. He is buried in the Merion Meeting Graveyard.

Elizabeth D., Elizabeth W., and Virginia were very active in the Washington D.C. social scene. Elizabeth Wood also kept a place in Newport, Rhode Island, and Virginia owned a vacation home in rural Pennsylvania.

Virginia married Richard Henry Chinn, whose father, Richard Henry Chinn I, was Henry Clay's law partner. It has been documented that Richard was the only man with whom Henry Clay would ever partner, and Clay was also the only person who would presume to call Richard, "Dick."

Virginia and Richard had two daughters, Elizabeth Bertha, and Nina. I will post more on this family at a later date.

We do not know where Elizabeth Davis is buried. There is an extra Davis grave in Merion, but Elizabeth Wood and Virginia stayed in the DC area, and are buried at Rock Creek Cemetery, as are many others in the family.

Robert Serrell Wood died at sea, on his way home from Port au Prince, where his doctor had sent him to recover from an illness. Richard Chinn took off for California, and lived with someone else as his wife, however, he was never divorced from Virginia. He is buried in Kentucky, where his family was from. It is possible that he had abandoned his family, as he is not in any of the censuses with them.

Anna M. Thomas

It is hard to find information on folks born back in the 1700s. We have more information on the family of Anna M. (b. @1790) than we do on Anna and her husband themselves. Anna married Joseph Fell of Pennsylvania. We believe they moved to Delaware. Anna and Joseph had four children: Maria, Mary, Reese and Penrose.

Information we have on the children is as follows:

Maria Fell married Robert Alsop, and they had two children, Reese Fell Alsop, and Edward Alsop. Reese Fell Alsop became a minister of some prominence in the Methodist church. I will post on him separately at a later date.

Reese Fell married Anne Marie Leadbetter, and they had eight children: Anna Marion, Edward, Henry Leadbetter, Elizabeth L., Louisa, Ellie, Anna, and Reese D.

Penrose Fell married Mary (Last Name Unknown), and they had four children: Anna, William, Albert D., and Walter P.

Sarah Thomas

There is not a lot known about Sarah Thomas (b. 1793). She married Joel West Edwards of Middletown, Delaware County, before Septemberr 1827 (the month her father died; this is the date of his will).

Sarah and Joel had six children - five girls: Mary Prudence, Rebecca, Amanda, Hannah, and Sarah A., and one boy, Issachar. Sarah died March 11, 1844.

Information we have on their children is as follows.

Mary Prudence married Samuel Wilson, who was a physician. They moved to the Allentown area for a short time before moving to Chicago, Illinois. They had four children: Sarah, Alice R., Isabel, and Joseph E. Mary Prudence lived until sometime after 1910.

Sarah Edwards married John Winterbotham, who was born in England. They moved to Philadelphia, and had seven children: Robert, Sarah, William P., Emma, Bertie, John C. and Ellen.

Issachar married Hannah McClennon, and they had four children: Joseph, C. Albert, Maggie, and Sallie.

Israel Thomas

Israel was born about 1790 in Nether Providence, Delaware County, PA. He was married to Sara Lane, daughter of Edward Lane. Israel was the recipient of his father's house in Nether Providence, and he in in the 1830 census there.

Israel was in business with an Edward Lane, although we are not sure if this Edward is her father or her brother. The Historical Society of Philadelphia has a couple of business ledgers belonging to Israel & Edward.

Israel died young, in 1834. He also left Sarah with eight children to care for. Her father is not found in the 1840 census, and neither is Sarah Thomas. They may have moved in with other members of her family in nearby Ridley Township.

As of the 1850 census, Sarah was easier to find. She lived with her son Edward and his family, and later her daughter, Mary Prudence Thomas Pyle. Sarah died in the 1870s.

Israel's and Sarah's children have been difficult to track. Mary married Abner Pyle of the West Chester area; Mary later proceeded to marry Edward's daughters off to her Pyle nephews. Louisa married Robert Watkin. The others are a mystery.

One of the Seth Thomases later to come moved to Lancaster County. There is some question as to whether Israel's son Seth or whether Seth C.'s son Seth moved. Hopefully we will find more on the Israel Thomas line from descendants of siblings!