Starkie Thomas, the fourth of seven children of James and Mary Standley Thomas, was born in Bertie County, North Carolina on June 29, 1799. His family lineage goes back from Bertie County to Nansemond County, Virginia and eventually back to Wales where the surname first appeared in the 1400s.
In the spring of 1806, six-year-old Starkie left North Carolina with his parents and five brothers and sisters to travel to western Kentucky in search of land and greater opportunity. The children were Cullen, Temperance, Perry, Mary and James, Jr. A sixth child, Stanley was born after the family settled in that part of Christian County which would later become Trigg County in 1820.
His father, James acquired two grants in Kentucky: a 200-acre tract on Donaldson Creek where he built his cabin, and a 400-acre tract near the headwaters of Birds Creek just to the north near what is today known as Trigg County's Oak Grove community. Growing up on the family farm, Starkie eventually acquired farms of his own. Most of this land was around Oak Grove. At one point, he owned more than 4,000 acres which would have made him one of Trigg County's larger landowners of that day. In time, he eventually gave each of his seven children a farm. Although he was a slave owner, he was well respected and also gave each slave family a farm "free and clear" when the slaves were freed. Those farms were located between the Old Dover Road (KY 1175) and the South Road (KY 139) in an area known as "Free State." Many of the descendants of those slaves still live and own property in this area.
On March 5, 1825 Starkie married Mary Bridges, daughter of Drewry and Charity Cohoon Bridges, who settled in the Maple Grove community on Beechy Fork Creek, south and west of Oak Grove. Starkie and Mary were the parents of eleven children: William Bridges, Stanley, Adeline, James Jasper, Alfred Marshall, Peachie, Francis Marion, Bluford Mills, Perry, Starkie Armistead and Mary Jane.
In 1842, Starkie "professed religion" and joined Donaldson Creek Baptist Church where he remained a faithful member for the rest of his life. Starkie has been described as "taciturn and very business-like when contrasted with his brothers. It was said that he was rarely idle and always found time to help neighbors in distress, and did many acts of kindness to persons who were unaware from whence or from the favor came."
Starkie died on September 14, 1881 and his wife, Mary Bridges Thomas died October 7, 1890. They were buried in the Starkie Thomas Cemetery on the farm he had established.
(Biographical material from Volume Two, Trigg County Kentucky: The Past 100 Years 1885-1985--article by Freida B. Sumner and Louise S. Thomas)
THE LINEAGE:
(Starkie Thomas was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas)
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