James Thomas, Sr. is the patriarch of the Thomas family of Trigg County, Kentucky, whose lineage extends back through North Carolina and Virginia to Wales where the surname originated in about 1400 A.D. His migrant ancestor, John Thomas, came to Virginia in about 1610 acquiring land near Williamsburg. One of John's descendants, Joseph Thomas, purchased land in Bertie County, North Carolina. It is through Joseph that James, Sr. and the Trigg County Thomas line descends. James grew up on his father's plantation on the Cashie River near Abemarle Sound on part of the land that his father purchased in 1729.
On May 12, 1781, James Thomas enlisted as a private with the North Carolina Line to fight the British in the Revolutionary War. He served with Captain Donoho's company of the 10th Regiment. Most of his one year of service was in skirmishes against the British in South Carolina under the overall command of General Nathaniel Greene. (James’ Revolutionary War experiences are covered in a “leaf” story published on October 23, 2020.)
On September 6, 1790, James married Mary Standley, who lived on a neighboring plantation. In the spring of 1806, he, his wife and family headed west for a new life in Kentucky. They traveled across North Carolina by covered wagon and in Tennessee, by flatboat down the Holston River to Knoxville, then again by covered wagon across that state to western Kentucky. He acquired two tracts of land in the part of Christian County, Kentucky that would later become Trigg County. One tract of 200 acres was adjacent to Donaldson Creek where today is the intersection of the Old Dover and Donaldson roads. A second tract of 400 acres was at the headwaters of Bird's Creek a few miles north.
Mary and James had seven children: Cullen, Temperance, Perry, Starkie, Mary , James, Jr. and Stanley. All of the children were born in North Carolina except Stanley. Mary died in July, 1826 and Stanley remarried. He and his second wife, Dilla Mitchell Farmer did not have any children. A number of James' children married into the family of Drury Bridges.
James Thomas died September 9, 1832 at the age of 70. He and Mary are buried in a cemetery about a half-mile south of his original home site.
Since the formation of Trigg County in 1820, James Thomas' descendants have been very involved in the county's public affairs. His son, Cullen served as a justice of the peace and was later appointed as one of the first sheriffs. In 1850, his son, Stanley became Trigg County's first elected sheriff. Another son, Perry served twenty-one years as county tax assessor. Later descendants have continued to serve the county in public office into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
In October, 1970 a Kentucky historical marker was erected on the site of James' home. In July, 2014 compatriots of the Colonel Stephen Trigg Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution procured and dedicated a veteran's grave marker honoring James Thomas' service in the American Revolution.
(biographical material from Trigg County, Kentucky: The Past 100 Years 1885-1985 and from Trigg County Veterans: Lest We Forget. Both publications by the Trigg County Historical and Preservation Society, Inc.)
LINEAGE: (James Thomas, Sr. is the trunk of this family tree.)
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