Thomas Lacy Jones -- Prominent Farmer

 

T. Lacy and Mary Thomas Jones

Thomas Lacy “T. Lacy” Jones was born on June 2, 1911 in Trigg County, Kentucky.  He was the son of Charles Henry Jones and Annie Pearl Alexander Jones.  Charles Henry was a farmer and a native of Christian County, Kentucky.  Annie was a housewife and a native of Trigg County. Lacy’s siblings were H. B. Jones, Clyde Jones and Louise Jones, who married William Street Thomas.

T. Lacy grew up in Trigg County and attended the local schools, graduating from Cadiz High School in 1929.  He went on the attend Bethel College in Russellville, Kentucky.

After getting out of school it was very difficult for T. Lacy to get a job as it was the middle of the Great Depression.  With the help of a relative, he found a job with the Raleigh-Wyoming Coal Company in Glen Rogers, West Virginia, a mine that had so many fatalities that it was nicknamed “The Widow Maker.”.  He also worked in the Texas oil fields but couldn’t find steady work there.  He ended up hitchhiking from Tyler, Texas back to Louisville. In 1933 he returned to Cadiz and worked in Cunningham’s Café and Saloon.  When the saloon was closed by a local option election, he returned to Louisville to find work.

T. Lacy returned to Cadiz where on February 21, 1941, he married Mary Agnes Thomas.  Mary was born on July 24, 1912 in Trigg County, Kentucky, the daughter of Wiliam Robert “Willie” Thomas and Emma Rogers Thomas.  Mary had five siblings, Milton Ward “Chuck” Thomas, William Howell Thomas, Eunice Grace Thomas, John Robert Thomas and Cecil Wayne Thomas and one half-brother, Harlan Truman Thomas.  Mary was a descendant of Starkie Thomas.

After their marriage, T. Lacy and Mary lived in Louisville a short time, but later returned to Trigg County where T. Lacy began his career as a farmer when he entered into a partnership with his brother-in-law, Chuck Thomas, farming what was known as the “Old Tanyard Farm.”  This farm was one of the first farms settled in Trigg County A tannery had been established next to the Big Spring on the property by one of the county’s early settlers, Levi Harlan. The property had been acquired by Chuck Thomas in 1943.  T. Lacy was involved in producing high quality livestock and served as the President of the Trigg County Livestock Improvement Association.  He helped to eradicate brucellosis, a contagious disease affecting cattle, from the county.  He was also a founding director of the Bank of Cadiz and Trust Company and served on their Board of Directors for over 20 years.

Mary obtained her L.P.N. license and worked as a nurse for the Drs Futrell clinic in Cadiz as well as working on their private duty cases.  Her last eight years of employment was with the Pennyroyal Mental Health Center in Hopkinsville.  

T. Lacy and Mary were the parents of one child, a daughter, Mary Louise Jones, born in 1945 who married William Daniel Lavery, Jr.

T. Lacy died on April 29, 1996 at the age of 84 at his home in Cadiz. He was buried in the Bethel Cemetery in Trigg County.  Mary died on June 23, 1999 at the age of 86 in Collingswood, New Jersey.  She was buried next to her husband in the Bethel Cemetery.

 T. Lacy and Mary's tombstone

LINEAGE: (Thomas Lacy Jones was the husband of Mary Agnes Thomas Jones. Mary was the daughter of William Robert “Willie” and Emma Rogers Thomas and the granddaughter of Robert Allison and Emma Nora Cunningham Thomas.  Robert was the fifth child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)