Robert Henry “Bob” Thomas was born on February 19, 1867, on Donaldson Creek in Trigg County, Kentucky. He was third of eight children born to Carroll Thomas and Margaret Jane Reid Thomas. Carroll was the son of James Thomas, Jr. and Margaret Ethridge Thomas and Margaret Jane was the daughter of Matthew Reid and Martha Vinson Reid.
On December 20, 1888, Bob married Lille Belle Thomas of Trigg County, who was the daughter of Peyton Thomas and Sallie Ethridge Thomas. Her exact birth date has not been found in any of the family records. However, an old Upper Donaldson School record dated 1888, lists her name as Lille Belle Thomas, age 20, which make her birth year as 1868.
After his marriage, Bob built a log cabin on property that he had acquired from his father. In this log cabin he began a milling operation along with housekeeping with his new wife. This log structure stood until 1978 when it was destroyed by a tornado. Today a highway commemorative marker indicates the location of the cabin site.
Bob and Lille had only one child, Robert Peyton Thomas who was born on November 12, 1889. He married Birdie Lee Gordon of the Dry Creek Community of Trigg County. Lille Belle died on December 4, 1899 when Robert Peyton was only twelve years old. She was buried in the Peyton Thomas Cemetery in Trigg County.
After the death of his first wife, Robert Henry married Ora Agnes Bridges on April 7, 1901. Ora Agnes was the daughter of Cullen T. Bridges and Virginia Thomas Bridges. Ora Agnes was a direct descendant of Drury and Charity Calhoun Bridges. After he remarried, Bob built a new home about 100 yards east of his original log cabin. In this home he raised his second family.
Bob and Ora Thomas had three children, Ruby Virginia, born on May 11, 1902, Henry Cullen, born November 24, 1903 and Edison Hugh, born on June 5, 1912. Edison Hugh was the author of the family history, The Thomas and Bridges Story 1540-1840.
Bob was a capable farmer, a carpenter of considerable skill as well as operating a grist mill for many years, all trades of which he used to make a living for his family. He helped to organize and was a stockholder in the first community telephone system on Donaldson Creek. This system was connected with several systems in surrounding communities and for many years, the party line switchboard was operated out of his home.
Bob was a musician of considerable talent. He loved to play the violin or fiddle and often got together with his brothers, Bud, Edd and Charlie, to form a “string band” for the entertainment of family, friends and neighbors.
Except for a short period of time when his family lived in Paducah, Kentucky, Bob and Ora lived their entire life at their home on Donaldson Creek. They were members of the Donaldson Creek Baptist Church. Bob was active in political affairs and always voted at election time, usually for the Democratic Party. When the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 permitting women to vote, Ora was one of the first in her precinct to do so.
Robert Henry Thomas died of Pneumonia on January 27, 1948 at the age of 81 in the Western State Hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He was buried next to his first wife, Lillie, in the Peyton Thomas Cemetery. Ora had died on October 28, 1933 and was buried in the Drury Bridges Cemetery.
Tombstone of Robert H. and Lillie Belle Thomas
Tombstone of Ora Bridges Thomas
LINEAGE: (Robert Henry Thomas was the son of Carroll Thomas and the grandson of James Thomas, Jr. James, Jr. was the sixth child of James Thomas and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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