Robert Baker Thomas -- Businessman

Robert Baker Thomas was a Confederate Civil War veteran and a successful whiskey
merchant of Louisville, Kentucky.  He owned his own railroad car, which he used to make trips
from Louisville to visit his sister in Comanche, Texas.  Made a "Kentucky Colonel" in 1879 by
Governor Luke P. Blackburn, Robert was also an avid hunter and fisherman, and spent many
winters fishing off the east coast of Florida.  In March, 1903, he wrote the following description
of some birds native to the Miami area:
"It is a common thing to see buzzards on the roofs of houses at Miami and in the
streets.  The crows light in the streets and yards and feed with the chickens like our tame
pigeon, in fact are tamer.  These birds are great scavengers, and they are not allowed to be
killed.  The jackdaw, which is exactly like our largest black bird that we have in the spring,
mingle with the crow, and the only way you can tell them apart is in size.  It is one of the
finest and sweetest songsters I ever heard.  They are as great or greater singers than the
mocking bird, which are also very numerous.  We see down here around us every winter
people in boats sent from New York and other eastern cities killing these beautiful birds for
their plumage to trim and ornament ladies' hats, bonnets and dresses.  It is a shame, and I
believe if many of the ladies who used such ornaments could see these pretty birds in all
their glory, beauty and innocence, and how much they add as their part to the beauties of
nature, they would quit the use of their plumage as ornaments and join the Audubon
Society."
The following is from Robert Baker Thomas' obituary in the Cadiz Record:
.
Robert Baker Thomas died at his apartments at the home of Mrs. Addie Gunn in this
city last Monday morning at seven o'clock (May 12, 1913).  For ten days past his condition had
rapidly grown worse and for several days before the end came his death had been expected.
Mr. Thomas was born in Cadiz on the 4th day of May, 1845, and was the eldest son
of Col. Stanley Thomas, deceased, who was one of the most prominent men of the county,
having been Sheriff and held other positions of honor and trust in business and official life.
The mother of Col. R. B. Thomas was before her marriage Miss Sarah Thompson, a sister
of Messrs. Moses and J. E. Thompson and a half-sister of Messrs. Robert and Alexander
Baker.  Col. Thomas grew to manhood in Cadiz and for a number of years was engaged in
business here.  In 1874 he moved to Louisville and engaged in the wholesale business, the
firm being Thomas, Price & Major.  Later the firm was Thomas & Lindsay and afterward
Col. Thomas bought out the entire business and ran it for years under the name of R. B.
Thomas.  He was quite successful, and amassed a considerable fortune.  Col. Thomas
retired from business in 1900 and about eleven years ago moved back to Cadiz, the home
of his boyhood, and had since lived in specially prepared apartments at the home of Mrs.
Gunn in this city.
For twenty-five years Col. Thomas had been a sufferer from locomotar axia, and his
hearing had not been the best.  He was able to go about, however, and always enjoyed
outdoor sports, and until three or four years ago spent much of his leisure time during the
hunting season with dog and gun in the field.  He was also a great fisherman, and belonged
to several clubs in Louisville and always joined them on their annual trips to the lakes of
Canada in summer and the warmer climate along the coast in winter.  His afflictions had
made this impossible for the past four years.
Out of his large estate he had always been a liberal contributor to charitable and
church purposes, and in his will leaves his property to his sister, Mrs. Sallie Moore, and her
children, and to his sister-in-law [the widow of Henry Thomas], who has lived in California
for a number of years.
Funeral services were held at the home of Mrs. Gunn on East Main street Tuesday
afternoon at 3:30 o'clock.  A large crowd of relatives and friends were present to pay a last
tribute of respect to the deceased.  The pall bearers were his two nephews, Messrs. Robert
and Henry Moore, and Messrs. Percy Preston, Ben T. and Stanley White.  The remains
were buried in the family lot in East End Cemetery in Cadiz, Kentucky..      THE LINEAGE: (Robert Baker Thomas was the first son of Stanley and Sarah Thompson Rothrock Thomas and the grandson of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)