Thomas was born in Johnson County, his family having come from VA when he was young. Amanda died in 1883. She was of German descent and also born in Johnson county of a family that were among the first settlers. They were married in 1870, in Johnson county. They had four children, three sons and one daughter.

JOHN BELL SHONN, M. D.: Born in Neva, on the 17th of August, 1874 the second son of the above Thomas and Amanda. He had a mercantile business in Butler, TN. and then went to medical school from which he graduated in 1908. He was married in Butler, on the 4th of August, 1898, to Rosa A. Stallings, a daughter of W. P. Stallings. They had at least three children: Anna Bell, Beatrice, and Mary Evelyn.

John enlisted in the Medical Corps of the United States army for service in WWI. He was discharged 26 May 1919 with a rank of Captain. He then returned to TN (Elizabethton) and set up a medical practice there. He was a Republican and a Baptist.