The letter I am posting below is one I have from my grandmother. This tells the history of where George Chester Thomas came from and how he cam to marry Sarah Eliza, (sister of Margaret). This letter is written by Rosa May's daughter to my Grandmother, who was the daughter of Charlotte Thomas, - the daughter of George and Sarah.
March 16, 1976
Dear Cousin Dorothy (Strong Collins Daughter of Paul and Charlotte Strong, Charlotte is the daughter of George Chester Thomas and Sarah Eliza Haines Thomas. Charlotte was the half-sister of Rosa May):
I note in your letter of Jan. 16 you had not become used to the New Year yet- I gave a start when I looked at the date, until I checked the post mark on the envelope, Jan. 17, 1976. But here I am after a couple of delays, to get you on the right path of your Thomas & Haines background.
Our grandpa was George Chester Thomas, and he was born April 16, 1844 in New York City, where his parents lived at 42 Clinton Street, Manhattan, New York City, until after 1850, when they moved to Mount Vernon, New York. Grandpa, George Chester Thomas ran away from home when he was about 12 years old. He had been fishing with some neighbors, and when they came back from fishing they took all the fish, and grandpa was afraid to go home, so he ran away.
However, all information on the following few years is lost to those left. He became homesick to see his mother, and went home to see her. He was heart broken when he arrived to learn she had died in child birth Oct. 18, 1857. The baby died also. She was only 38 years of age.
He left home again and eventually volunteered in the Union Army, Dec. 30, 1863 as a Private in Co. K, 12 Regiment Kentucky Cavalry for three years. He was discharged as a Sergeant at Camp Nelson, Ky. 13 Feb. 1865, by reason of "disability." When Grandpa Thomas joined the army, he was afraid his father would find him, so he gave his name as Charles Thomas and said he was born in Tennessee, which information he corrected when he applied for a pension. When he went into the army, he didn't know his father had died May 21, 1861, hence the incorrect data was unnecessary. Having worked on farms, he was used to horses, and eventually found himself in Wabash County, Indiana. This was in a Quaker community, and he became friends with the Levi and Charlotte (Green) Haines family. He fell in love with their daughter, Margaret Ann Haines, and they were married Dec. 25, 1869. The only child of record was Rosa May, born May 7, 1874; Margaret Ann died May 8, 1874, and her sister, Sarah Eliza took over the care of her one day old niece.
When Rosa May was nearly four years old, her father married Sarah Eliza (Haines) April 27, 1878. I don't know whether they got a license or not, for that was against the Quaker rules. He and Margaret Ann had previously purchased a license, and for that reason had to ask, in writing, for forgiveness for their wrong doing, before they could be received back into membership.
Sarah Eliza Haines and George Chester Thomas were married at Rose Hill monthly meeting, Sumner County, Kansas. The Thomas family had had four children, 2 sons dying in infancy, one daughter (your mother) Charlotte Evelyn Thomas was born, Sept. 5, 1882 in Sumner County, Kansas and one son named Fred some years after Charlotte.
Years later, George's sister Jane and her husband William Henry Williams, had come to Oregon, and settled out of Forest Grove, Oregon, on the Gales Creek Road, and urged George and Sarah to come there too.
So, our Grandparents, George Chester and Sarah Eliza (Haines) Thomas; accompanied by my parents, Rosa May, her husband, William Henry Ringle and your Mother Charlotte; relocated to Forest Grove, Oregon in 1890.
Sarah (Haines) Thomas died Oct. 21, 1912 - buried Forest View Cemetery, Forest Grove, Oregon. George Chester Thomas, died Sept. 30, 1921 - buried beside his wife Sarah.
The parents of George Chester Thomas . was Thomas Thomas and Jane Chester.
Thomas Thomas was born in Carmarthen, South Wales (bapt) May 20, 1808. Son of John and Emma Thomas. Died May 21, 1861, Mount Vernon, N.Y. He came to the U. S. on the ship Oxford from Liverpool, May 3, 1839. Occupation Painter. He was a land-scape artist. Also on the ship was a George Chester, age 25; occupation - Painter; also Fanny Chester age 3; Thomas Thomas age is given 32.
Jane Chester was baptized at Kidder-mister, Worcestershire, England Dec. 26, 1817; died Mount Vernon, N.Y. Oct. 18, 1857, daughter of Thomas and Hanna Chester. Thomas Chester was a game keeper, which means he would have been in charge of a park where game is kept for hunting. Thomas Thomas father, John Thomas, was a shoemaker in Carmarthen, Wales.
Mrs. Joseph Lepschat
Hillsboro, Orgon
Follow Us
Like Us
