Biography

James Thomas II has Welsh ancestors.

James was born in 1762. James Thomas ... He passed away in 1832.^[1]Mary Mollie was born in 1762. Mary Mollie Standley Stanley ... She passed away in 1825.^[2]

"James Thomas II was born in 1762 in Bertie County, North Carolina."

"When James Thomas I died in 1870.....James II....and his mother, Sarah (Barnes) Thomas, inherited the (family) plantation."

In the summer of 1790, after the death of his mother Sarah, James married Mary Standley (born 1762) on September 6, 1790.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR SERVICE:

James "enlisted May 2, 1781 and served under the overall command of General Nathaniel Greene. He was assigned to the 10th Regiment, Captain Thomas Donoho's Company, Col. Abraham Shepherd Commanding."

"He spent his time in service General Green's army in skirmishes against the British, mostly in South Carolina."

He separated from military service on May 2, 1872 after which he returned to farm the family plantation in North Carolina.

"It was 18 years after he had returned home from serving in the Revolution before James Thomas expressed a serious interest in going to Kentucky..........Prior to the establishment of Kentucky as a state, Virginia had reserved for her soldiers all lands in Kentucky south of the Green River and until 1797 no person could enter a survey in this area unless he had been a Virginia soldier."

James II, Mary, and their six children left the North Carolina plantation and traveled by wagon train & likely flatboat to settle in the Donaldson Creek area of what is now Trigg County, Kentucky. Mary was expecting their seventh child, Stanley Thomas, at that time. They arrived in Kentucky in July, 1806 where James II farmed the land grant property.

"Eventually a large part of the land in the Donaldson Creek Valley and surrounding hills was acquired by descendants of James Thomas II" with his five sons acquiring almost 4,000 acres.

James II died September 9, 1832 in what is now Trigg County, Kentucky. His wife Mary preceded him in death on April 12, 1825, also in Trigg County, Kentucky.

See information on the James Thomas II DAR Chapter and his second marriage in the biography below.

On July 19, 2014, during the annual 3 day Thomas-Bridges reunion, a commemorative marker was placed at his grave site by the Stephen Trigg Chapter of the SAR. See pictures of the ceremony at the following link:

http://wkdzradio.com/James-Thomas-Marker-Dedication/19457660?&imageGalleryXRefId=3581641#imgXR

Sources

• Nancy Stanley, firsthand knowledge. See theChanges page for the details of edits by Nancy and others.

Direct quotations from pages 13, 14, 16, 17, 22 and 24 of "The Thomas and Bridges Story" by Edison H. Thomas, 1972, with corrections published in November, 1984; T & E publishers.

1. ↑ Entered by Nancy Stanley, Jul 2, 2011
2. ↑ Entered by Nancy Stanley, Jul 2, 2011

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