William Henry Thomas
William Henry Thomas was born on March 9, 1853 in the Oak Grove community of Trigg County, Kentucky. He was the third of eleven children born to Stanley Thomas and Emily Ann Light Thomas. HIs parents were both natives of Trigg County and Stanley was a prominent farmer in the Oak Grove community and was a son of Starkie Thomas.
William Henry’s siblings were Sarah Adeline Thomas, born in 1850 and married Samuel Freeman Baker; Mary E. Thomas, born in 1851 and died in 1852; Margaret Jane Thomas, born in 1855 and married William Allen Lawrence; Robert Allison Thomas, born in 1856 and married Emma Nora Cunningham; Wesley Gunn Thomas, born in 1859 and married Eliza L. Henderson; Emeline Catherine Thomas, born in 1861 and married John J. Light; Lucy Thomas, born in 1863 and married James Henry Lawrence II; Stanley Thomas, Jr., born in 1865 and married Callie May Bennett; Annie Evelyn Thomas, born in 1867 and married George Wilkins; and Nancy Peachie Thomas, born in 1869 and married Robert Clements Wilkins.
Will married Sidney Dyer on December 18, 1873 when he was 21 years old. Sidney was born on April 4,1857, the daughter of John J. Dyer and Maria A. Haydon Dyer. Both of her parents were natives of Trigg County. Will and Sidney built a small house on land owned by his father in the Warrenton community near Blue Spring Road. He later purchased the land from his father. As the land was mostly timberland, he cleared the trees and firewood and sold them to those who lived in Cadiz. After the land was cleared he was able to begin his career as a farmer.
Will and Sidney were the parents of seven children, Stanley Dyer Thomas, born in 1875 and married Willie Ethel Hite; Lilburn Clinton Thomas, born in 1878 and married Verna Mae Herndon; Johnnie Vara Thomas, born in 1880 and married Thomas Green Williams; Rufus Kenneth Thomas, born in 1882 and married Tina Avery Wood; Arvin Henry Thomas, born in 1885; Sallie Roberta Thomas, born in 1887 and married Lamont Benton Futrell; and William Cyrus Thomas, born in 1889 died at the age of four.
On May 28, 1890, Sidney died at the young age of 33. She was buried in the Starkie Thomas Cemetery in the Oak Grove community. Will married his second wife, Ophelia Estelle Tinsley, on May 20, 1891. Ophelia was born on January 28, 1870, the daughter of William Scott Tinsley and Elizabeth J. Carr Tinsley. Both of her parents were natives of Trigg County.
After Will and Ophelia were married, he sold his farm in the Warrenton community and purchased another farm in the Oak Grove community. It was while they were living on this farm in 1889 that Will lost his youngest son, William Cyrus, who drowned in a fall into a cistern.
Will and Ophelia had one child, Conrad Tinsley Thomas, born in 1892 and married Nola Lorraine Sholar.
Ophelia died on May 7, 1895 at the age of 25. She was buried in the Starkie Thomas Cemetery.
Following Ophelia’s death, Will married his third wife, Martha Ellen “Mattie” Tinsley, on September 9, 1896. Mattie was born on April 1, 1867 in Trigg County and was a sister to Ophelia.
Will and Mattie were the parents of six children, Marcellus Jagoe Thomas, born in 1897 and married Minnie Olive Leitch and later married Augusta Evelyn Jennings; Ophelia Angela Thomas, born in 1899 and married Lester Perry Ellis; Raymond Redmon Thomas, born in 1901 and married Bertha Violet Stewart; William Street Thomas, born in 1903 and married Louise Jones; Herschel Dunning Thomas, born in 1907 and married Mary Lou Wolfe; and Norbert Hilton Thomas, born in 1910 and died at the age of 2.
Around 1900, Will sold his farm in Oak Grove and purchased a farm in the Lafayette community of Christian County. But he never lived on this farm, but rather settled on a farm in the Dry Creek community which he had acquired from his wife’s Tinsley heirs. In 1925 he retired from farming and moved to Cadiz where he and Mattie could enjoy the modern conveniences. After a few years, they returned to their home in the Dry Creek community where they lived until their deaths.
William was a very valued citizen of his community. Being a farmer who owned more than 500 acres at the time of his death, he was very sympathetic to all farm problems and constantly worked to find new farming methods. In 1916. He was one of the first to buy an automobile in southern Trigg County and in 1918 he installed one of the first carbide lighting systems in his home.
Mattie died on May 9, 1938 at the age of 71 at her home in Dry Creek. She was buried in the Starkie Thomas cemetery. William Henry Thomas died on May 31, 1942 at the age of 89 at his home in the Dry Creek community. He was buried in the Starkie Thomas cemetery along with his three wives.
Sidney Dyer Thomas
Sidney Thomas tombstone
Mattie Tinsley Thomas
William and Mattie Thomas
LINEAGE: (William Henry Thomas was the son of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas and the grandson of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas. Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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