Scott County, Tennessee
FNB Chronicles

This page was created 06 September 2008

The Thomas Family of Scott County, Tennessee
(Compiled By Louise Carson)

(page 5)

10; FINDLEY, age 5; CICCES, age 4; and LOUCINDA, age 1. In the 1870 census their children are listed as WILLIAM F., age 16; KISSIAH, age 14; LOUCINDA, age 12; MANDA, age 8; and STEPHEN, age 4. ISAAC is not listed. He must have died after 1866, since the youngest child is four years old. WINNIE is listed as 42 years old. Her oldest son is listed: CALVIN, age 21, with wife, ELIZABETH, age 19, and baby, NANCY, age 2 months, living in a separate house close by.

The 1880 census shows WINNEY, age 52, and MANDY, 17, living in a house alone except for JAMES WEST, who helps with the farm. He is 23 years old. The marriage records show MANDA WEST and JAMES WEST were married on August 18, 1881. It lists her son, CALVIN Jr., age 31; wife, ELIZABETH, age 30; NANCY, age 11; ISAAC, age 8; JOHN H., age 5; and WINNEY, 1 month. Next door is her son, WILLIAM F., age 26, and his wife, DELIAH, age 24.

The 1900 census shows WINNEY, age 66, living in the home of MANDY and her husband, JAMES WEST. Scott County Tennessee and Its Families, in the story of BATY WEST (page 223), tells of their children: POLEET 1882, WINEY 1886, TOLBERT 1888, SALLY 1891, MELVINA 1894, SILAS 1895, NANCY 1899, HENRY 1900, SYNDEY, REASON and MARY; and the fact that JAMES WEST was drowned in the Big South Fork near Station Camp Creek mouth on March 10, 1907.

The first ISAAC THOMAS had a son named CALVIN Jr. (after his brother CALVIN). The first CALVIN THOMAS had a son named ISAAC (after his brother Isaac). To make things easier, I am going to call them CALVIN I, CALVIN II, and others later by the same name as Ill, etc. Also, I will call ISAAC I, ISAAC II, ISAAC III, etc.

ISAAC THOMAS I married WINNIE WEST March 3, 1847 (Campbell County marriage records).

The Scott County census for 1900 shows WILLIAM F. (known as FINDLEY), third child of ISAAC I and WINNIE THOMAS) age 46, with wife DELILIA, age 45, and niece DELIAH, age 7.

In a separate house is ISAAC THOMAS III, born 1872 (son of CALVIN Jr. and grandson of ISAAC I and WINNIE) with his wife ELIZABETH, age 29; NANCY, age 10; KERBY, age 7; and KIZAN, age 4.

In another separate house is another grandson of ISAAC I and WINNIE. He is JOHN, born 1875 (son of CALVIN Jr. and brother of ISAAC III), with his wife MENDA, age 29, and children CORDELIA, age 3, and SILVESTER, age 1.

From the Terry book by GEORGE ALVIN TERRY comes the story of more children and grandchildren of ISAAC THOMAS I and WINNIE WEST THOMAS. He lists the names and birth dates as told to him by his step-grandmother, NELLIE SAVANNAH SMITH TERRY: CALVIN THOMAS Jr. (son of ISAAC I) 1848; EMILY JANE THOMAS (daughter of ISAAC I) 1850-1909; WM. FINDLEY THOMAS (son of Isaac I) 1853; KIZRAN THOMAS (daughter of Isaac I), 1856-1876; LUCINDA THOMAS (daughter of ISAAC I) 1858; NANCY THOMAS (daughter of ISAAC I)1861-1866 (died of typhoid fever).

The second child listed above, EMILY JANE THOMAS, married GEORGE WASHINGTON SMITH, who was born in 1841 and died in 1909. EMILY JANE died a few days after her husband in 1909. Their children were: KIZRAN SMITH (1870), MELIVINA SMITH (1871), ABZALOM SMITH (1873) WM. FINDLEY SMITH (1878), DELIA SMITH (1880), JAMES ISAAC SMITH (1881), SARAH SMITH (1882-1900), NELLIE SAVANNAH SMITH (1886), and MARY ROSE SMITH (1892). NELLIE SAVANNAH SMITH was the second wife of ALVIN TERRY. They had one son, LUKE TERRY

The fifth child of ISAAC I and WINNIE as listed above, LUCINDA THOMAS married RILEY CECIL. They had five children: WILLIAM CECIL, married LOUISA YORK; BATY CECIL, had five wives; CRAWFORD CECIL, married ELSIE WILLIAMS (one child, JOE CECIL); LILLY CECIL and BERTHA CECIL. Then RILEY CECIL was killed in the West-Cecil feud and LUCINDA married MAYNARD KEETON. She was then a young widow with five children. She and MAYNARD had seven children: (1) PRENTIE LEE KEETON, who married ELVIN JEFFERS (son of DANIEL and SARAH H. JEFFERS). Their children were: HERBERT, HOWARD, HORACE, LAWTON and DELORES. (2) STARLINE KEETON, who married ERVINE SEXTON (children: CLYDE, DOROTHY and LEON KEETON). (3) MITCHELL KEETON, who married ZONA PHILLIPS (children: HILLERY, VERNON and LEORA KEETON; (4) MERTIE KEETON, who married GORMAN JEFFERS (one child: EDWARD JEFFERS); (5) MANDY KEETON, who married WILL DUNCAN, son of EWELL DUNCAN). (children: JUANITA, BERNIECE, OSBERN, VEDA and TOMMY). (6) ANNIE, who married LUTHER PENNINGTON (children: HAROLD, HELEN, CLIFTON, ALMA, JAMES and DAN). (7) MOLLIE, who married HARRY CHAPMAN (no children). This story was told to the compiler by Prentie Jeffers when Prentie was in her 95th year.

CALVIN THOMAS -From Letha T. Foster West's story in Scott County Tennessee And Its Families:

"CALVIN THOMAS (1) was my grandfather. He was born in 1824 and died in 1899. He was the son of SARAH THOMAS. His wife, my grandmother, was FANNY BROWN. She was born in 1834 and died in 1917. Their children were: MARTHA (1851-1932), JOHN (1857-1934), ANDREW (1860-1915), RHODA (1862), MOSES (1866), WILLIAM HARRISON (1869-1943), and LIZZIE (1870-).

"MAHALA married RICHARD MARCUM; RHODA married ____ THOMAS; WILLIAM HARRISON married MARTHA MARCUM, a sister to RICHARD MARCUM; LIZZIE married TOM J. PETREE; ANDREW J. married (1) NANCY WEST, and (2) REBECCA CARSON.

"JOHN married EMILY CHAMBERS, the daughter of MARION and BETTY WEST CHAMBERS. They were my parents. Their children (after 17 years of marriage without children) were: LELAND THOMAS (1897-), THURMAN (1899-), BETTY (1901), and myself, LETHA (1907). I married ELZIE FOSTER and our children were: ROBERT, AUTHRO, DORINE, RUTH, ARNOLD and ELZIE Jr. I was married a second time to FRANCIS WEST (since this story was written divorced)'.

"My other grandparents MARION CHAMBERS and BETTY WEST CHAMBERS, who had the following children: SARAH, EMILY, P.W., who married AMANDA CARSON, NANCY, CHINA who married EZRA SMITH, and ABIGAIL.

"CALVIN and FANNIE THOMAS raised their children in the Grave Hill community. They are buried in the Grave Hill cemetery."

The 1870 census of Scott County shows CALVIN THOMAS (1824) and wife FANNY with children: ISAAC (1854), MAHALEY (1856), JOHN (1858), ANDREW (1860), RHODA L (1862), MOSES (1866), and WILLIAM HARRISON (1869).

This from Alton Terry's story in Scott County Tennessee And Its Families:

HARRISON THOMAS married MARTHA MARCUM, daughter of JOHNNY MARCUM and NANCY SMITH MARCUM. Children (from Scott Co. 1900 Census: LILLY (1889), REASON (1891), OSCAR (1893), FLOYD (1895), WALTER (1898). FANNY BROWN THOMAS, HARRISON'S mother, is living with them. She is now 66. The Terry story lists the later children: ARTHUR, MAUDE, FRONIA, FOLLY, LENA, BERTHA, ARLENA and JOHN MARRION THOMAS. This story says FLORA (FLOYD) married a PHILLIPS; MAUDE married a CARSON; FRONIA married a WATTERS; LONA married a DAUGHTERY; BERTHA married a TERRY; ARLENA married a WEST; and LILLY, born 1889, married BURDOW TERRY (18891985). BURDOW was a son of LEONARD TERRY and wife LUCY ANNA WEST TERRY. (Leonard had a twin brother, LINDSAY TERRY).

BURDOW and LILLY THOMAS TERRY's children were: CEPHAS (1909), HILARY (1911), HONER (1914), ALTON M. (1916), MABLE (1919), WALTER HARRISON (1921), WILLIAM E. (1924), and MAXINE (1920).

The 1900 census shows in addition to WILLIAM HARRISON THOMAS two other sons of CALVIN and FANNY THOMAS: ISAAC II, born 1854 (oldest son of CALVIN I) with wife EMILY (1852) and children: MARTHA (1878), ANDREW (1879), GEORGE (1881), CRAWFORD (1883), MARY (1885), BATY (1887), IDA (1891), and JAMES (1894). Also shown is ANDREW THOMAS, third son of CALVIN and FANNY, with his first wife NANCY born 1862 and children: SALLY (1881), ESSAU (1883) and MITCHEL THOMAS (1886).

MAHALAY THOMAS, oldest daughter of CALVIN and FANNY THOMAS, born 1856 married RICHARD MARCUM, oldest son of JOHN A MARCUM (1817). RICHARD MARCUM was a brother of MARTHA MARCUM who married W. HARRISON THOMAS; he was also a brother of REASON and LEANDER MARCUM and half-brother of. WILLIAM, MARION, ROSA, LUCY, FRED E., LEMUEL and DELILAH Marcum.

RICHARD and MAHALAY lived in the Helenwood area. He ran a general store. Their children were HENRY, HETTIE, ROSA and ELLEN. ROSA married CHESTER TERRY and their children were ADRIENNE and COLLEEN. This information from ADRIENNE BAKER.

The 1870 census of Scott County shows JOHN THOMAS born 1836 with wife MELISA born 1848, and children: JOSEPH (1860), KISSIAH (1862), WILLIAM (1865) and EMILY (1869). In the 1880 census, JOHN and LISSIE are shown with additional children: MARTHA (1873), POLLY (1876), and STEPHEN (1879). In the 1900 census JOSEPH is shown in a separate house with wife ELIZABETH; JOHN is 69 and MELISSA is 60, KESSIA 35, Steve 18 and there are three grandchildren: HENRY 13, MAGGIE 7, and THOMAS 1.

Also shown in the 1900 census living next door to ISAAC THOMAS 111(1872) (who is the son of CALVIN Jr. and grandson of ISAAC I, who was the son of SARAH) is another ISAAC THOMAS, born in 1845, with wife ELIZABETH, age 25, and children: ISAAC Jr. (born 1872) (I would call him ISAAC THOMAS IV), JOHN R. (1877), NANCY (1874), WINNY (1879), FINLEY (1886), MORRIS (1888), and SALLY (1891).

These two, JOHN THOMAS (1836) and ISAAC THOMAS (1845) fit the names and ages of the wards of ABNER THOMAS and sons of STEPHEN THOMAS who could have been the brother of ABNER THOMAS.

ABNER THOMAS and his wife REBECCA BROWN had eight daughters. A great number of their descendants have served their county, their state and their country well. Several of them are well known, and some of them were, and are, famous.

The first of these eight was SARAH. She was born about 1825. She was married to ALFORD LAXTON on February 14, 1847 (Campbell County Marriage Records). Their children were: MARTHA (1848); ALVIN (1850); REBECCA (1852); THOMAS (1854); ELIZABETH (1856); ABNER (1860); ALFRED Jr. (1864); JOHN (1867); and SALLY (1869).

ALVIN LAXTON married SAMANTHA J. PENNINGTON on August 21, 1870.

REBECCA LAXTON married JACKSON WEST on January 2,1872. Their children were WILLIAM H. (1873); ALFRED (1874); REASON B. (1876); BURL (1877); DELILAH (1878); SARAH (1881); LEONARD (1883); JOHN H. (1890); and CHINA (1892). REBECCA died before 1900 and JACKSON married a second time to NANCY BOTTS. Rebecca's son ALFRED WEST, born 1874, married NANCY L. PHILLIPS, born 1878. She was a daughter of EPHRAIM PHILLIPS. ALFRED WEST and wife NANCY PHILLIPS had nine children, among them was VANELL, who married JOHN LAY. Their son, J.D. LAY, is the present Scott County Road Superintendent.

ALFRED LAXTON Jr. (1864) and wife

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