Thomas

Please note: The information below is based on the research of others, usually family members of earlier generations and distant cousins. Additional sources are as noted.

I do have considerable information on my Thomas family ancestors in Maine and N.B., including names of spouses and children, as well as dates of birth, marriage, death. If you believe this is your family I would be happy to look up any family member if you contact me.

Earlier Surnames: Bradley, Parks, Somes; information on these families follows Thomas.

THOMAS
John Thomas, moved from Wales, G.B., to North America
Wife - Elizabeth (? surname); married in Boston, March 30, 1666 (or 1667)
Parents of: uncertain how many children, but definitely the son, John Thomas 2nd, below

• John Thomas, 2nd, an inn holder
Wife - Elizabeth Viall; married in Providence RI, in 1696
Parents of: James (no dates); Nicholas (b. appr. 9/30/1702; d. appr. 1770); and their oldest son:

• John Thomas, 3rd (d. 1790, Providence RI); a cooper
1st wife - Elizabeth Bozard (5 daughters);
2nd Wife - Mary Plumb
Parents of: Morris (drowned as a child), Lewis (b. 1742; d. appr. 12/1816), Mary (married John Stewart 10/7/1750); Sarah (married Jonathan Viall 11/26/1761); and their oldest son:

• John Thomas, 4th (b. September 30, 1721; d. March 26, 1793); sea captain & cooper
Wife - Elizabeth Peck; married in Providence RI, October 18, 1744
Moved to Eden ME at some point
Parents of: Elizabeth P. (b. 7/29/1745); Zene (or Zena, b. 12/29/1747; d. 7/28/1836); John (b. 2/9/1750; d. 4/13/1841); Hannah (b. 1/16/1756; d. 3/1/1840); Peggy (b. 12/18/1759; d. 6/28/1817); Huldah (b. 5/10/1762; d. 1/9/1811); Amos (b. 7/17/1764); and their fourth child:

• Nicholas Thomas (b. March 22, 1753; d. January 20, 1838); for 30 years Deacon of the Baptist Church in Eden, ME. Nicholas Thomas served as a private in the Revolutionary War under Col. John Allen; name verified recorded as a member of Col. Allen's troops, listed on flyleaf of Col. Allen's personal journal. Married 3 times. 2nd wife - Jane Richardson; married Mt. Desert Island, October 18, 1792; 6 children - Lucy (b. 6/20/1793); Betsey (b. 8/24/1794); Jacob (b. 3/17/1796); Amos (b. 6/13/1798); James (b. 1/9/1800); David (b. 11/31/1802). 3rd wife - Lydia Hadley; married in Eden ME, December 21, 1820; no children);
1st Wife - Lucy Somes; married in Gloucester MA, on February 22, 1779
Parents of: Nicholas (b. 5/18/1780); Lucy (b. 7/2/1782; d. 9/29/1793); Betsey (b. 2/13/1784; d. 9/30/1793; Abraham (b. 11/4/1785; d. 11/15/1838); Jacob (b. 11/2/1789; d. 10/5/1793); and their fifth child:

• Isaac Thomas (b. November 20, 1787 in Eden ME; d. June 12, 1856 in Presque Isle ME); farmer
      (Note: Family stories often take on lives of their own, interweaving truth and often confusing relatives with the same names. Here is one example, based on family information:
      “Isaac Thomas was a member of the Texas Rangers under Gen. Scott, and was sent to Aroostock in the summer of 1840. Thomas liked the country so well that he sent for his family and they came by ship to St. John and up the river to Tobique [now called Andover], where they were detained for seven months. They made their escape and came over to the fort. When his military term was completed, Thomas settled with his family on the Fox Pasture until the soldiers left Aroostock for the Mexican War. Isaac Thomas left with them and never returned.”
      So what is truth and what is fiction in the statement above? One thing is certain: the last sentence is false. Isaac Thomas is buried in the Johnson Cemetery on the Caribou Rd. in Presque Isle, ME. The date of death recorded on his tombstone is June 12, 1856 at the age of 68 years, 6 months and 22 days. The date of his birth is verified and he is buried next to his wife, Sarah Parks Thomas, so this is "our" Isaac. As to the story of the move to the area of Presque Isle, Isaac may well have traveled up the Aroostook River and decided to settle in the area identified today as Aroostook County, but he moved there much earlier. This knowledge is based on two facts: Isaac Thomas was listed in census data as early as 1830 as being in that area, and his wife, Sarah Parks, was born and grew up there. It is far more likely that he met her after moving north to the area of Presque Isle. So, perhaps the colorful story is true — but about another Isaac Thomas.
Wife - Sarah A. Parks (see Parks); b. appr. January 1, 1803; married July 7, 1821; d. 9/3/1879 at the age of 76 years, 8 months, 3 days — so date of birth is inferred from the information on her tombstone.; buried in the Johnson Cemetery on the Caribou Rd. in Presque Isle, ME)
Parents of: Harriet (b. 10/22/1823); Almira (b. 7/16/1825); Nathaniel (b. 7/25/1827); David (b. 12/23/1829); Irene E. (b. 2/10/1831); George G. (b. 8/23/1834); Moses T. (b. 6/16/1837); Isaac R. (b.12/16/1840 and d. 11/19/1850); Augusta G. (b. 12/13/1842; Charles A. (b. 12/20/1848); and their oldest child:

• Leonard J. Thomas (b. February 28, 1822 in Wicklow, N.B.; d. March 20, 1896 in the area of Presque Isle, ME; buried in the Johnson Cemetery on the Caribou Rd. in Presque Isle, ME)
Wife - Deborah Shelia Brown (b. March 18, 1828 in Chegnacto, N.B.; d. April 13, 1890; buried in the Johnson Cemetery on the Caribou Rd. in Presque Isle, ME); married Maysville, October 18, 1847 by Rev. Wm. Johnston
Parents of: Oscar Edwin (b. 5/29/1849); John Wales (b. 2/17/1853); Angeline (b. 3/13/1855); Frank C. (b. 11/5/1856); Owen Leslie (b. 2/21/1860); Willis Herbert (b. 1/22/1862); George Arthur (1/2/1864); Theodore Elmer (b. 1/9/1868); and their second child:

• Charles Melvin Thomas (b. August 23, 1851; d. May 5, 1904, PA); lumberman
Wife - Ida Rebecca Kitchin (b. December 8, 1859; d. February 19, 1935); married North Bend, PA, April 25, 1878 (see page on the Kitchin family)
Parents of: Harry Melvin, Nellie Blanche, Harold Clyde and their oldest child:

• Maude Luella Thomas German (b. June 12, 1880; d. March 29, 1967)
Husband - Harry Grim German (see separate page on the German family); (b. February 2, 1884; d. February 9, 1949)
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BRADLEY
A marriage was recorded between John Bradley and Mary Heath. And so the following is presented merely as legend and — although it is a wonderful tale — totally unverifiable!
“John Bradley, only son of a widow and a regular giant in size and strength, lived in Vermont and, with the Green Mountain Boys, joined the Continental Army at the time of the Revolution. He went with Benedict Arnold as a scout and guide through the Maine woods to Quebec. At some point he had a disagreement with Arnold and left him. Near the head of the Dead River, he was captured by the St. Francis Indians (Western Abenaki) and taken to an Indian village near where Washburn now stands.

The chief promised him his life if he could prove himself of greater strength than any man in the village. After he had outjumped and bested all the strongest of the braves, Chief War Knife adopted him and gave him his only daughter for a wife. The old chief was a hunchback and, also, a very intelligent temperance crank who drilled temperance in the daughters of his tribe.” (Note: from Boston Library resource)

Some reconds indicate the name of Bradley's wife as Mary Heath, and her father as Chief Crooked Knife. No matter who was married to John Bradley, his daughter, Sarah Hannah Bradley, married Jonathan Parks on July 17, 1783 in the Woodstock Anglican Church, Carleton, New Brunswick, Canada (see Parks).
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PARKS
Jonathan Parks married Sarah Hannah Bradley, daughter of John Bradley (see Bradley) and (as far as we know) Mary Heath, on July 17, 1783 in the Woodstock Anglican Church, Carleton, New Brunswick, Canada. Their daughter, Sarah A. Parks, was born ca. January 1, 1803, and married Isaac Thomas on July 7, 1821 (see Thomas).
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SOMES
Capt. Abraham Somes (b. March 17, 1732 in Gloucester MA; d. September 7, 1819 on Mt. Desert ME; he is buried in the Brookside Cemetery in present day Somesville, Mt. Desert Island, ME; see photo); 4th in descent from Morris Somes (b.1614) and his wife, Margere, who were among the first settlers of Gloucester MA.

Graves of Abraham Somes and Hannah Herrick Somes; click to see a larger version.

Wife - Hannah Herrick (b. October 6, 1735 in Gloucester, MA; d. March 16, 1790 on Mt. Desert Island, ME; she is buried in the Brookside Cemetery in present day Somesville, Mt. Desert Island, ME; see photo); daughter of Samuel Herrick); married December 25, 1753 in Gloucester MA
Parents of: Hannah (b. 9/16/1754); Patty (b. 12/24/1756); Prudence (b. 5/4/1761); Abraham (b. 12/19/1763); Mercy (b. 12/11/1765); John (b. 12/13/1767); Daniel (b. 2/5/1770); Lois (b. 3/25/1772); James (b. 3/26/1774); Betty (b. 1/31/1779); Isaac (b. 2/5/1781); Jacob (b. 1/21/1777); and their third child:

• Lucy Somes Thomas (b. May 4, 1759 in Gloucester, MA; married Nicholas Thomas on February 22, 1779 in Somesville, ME (see Thomas)

• Note: Abraham Somes settled on what is known as George Somes Point in 1762 and was one of the First Board of Selectmen of the town of Mt. Desert. During the Revolutionary War, he appears listed as 1st Lieutenant with Ezra Young's 7 Co., 6 Lincoln Co., regiment of MA Militia; commissioned July 11, 1776; also with Capt. Daniel Sullivan's Co. of Volunteers from July 28, 1779-September 28, 1779 — “2 months expedition against Majorbagaduce.”
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