Zebul Mead Thomas

Ben M. Angel notes: Zebul seemed to travel pretty far for his day:

• 1809, Nov. 28: Born somewhere in New York state. Zebul Thomas may be listed in the 1810 and 1820 census as living in Hopkinton, St. Lawrence County. (There were plenty of members of the Mead family that lived in this location in the decades following the Revolutionary War.)
• 1836, Jul. 17: Married Chloe Howe in Washtenaw County at a "Universalistic Church"
• 1836, October: Chloe becomes pregnant with first child after three months of marriage.
• 1837, July 10: Chloe gives birth to Anson Thomas. He dies in infancy.
• 1839, March: Buys land in Cohoctah Township of Livingston County to the north. Sells it sometime over the next year (land speculation?). Chloe is already five months pregnant at time of purchase.
• 1839, August 7: Chloe gives birth to second child, Elisha M. The girl is not listed in the 1850 Census, indicating she probably did not survive to that date.
• 1840, August: Chloe becomes pregnant with first child to survive to adulthood.
• 1841, May 30: Daughter Theresa A. was born in Washtenaw County (probably Ann Arbor). It will be a few years before the next child is born.
• 1845, September, Chloe becomes pregnant with their eldest daughter to survive to adulthood.
• 1846, June 2: Daughter Celia Adelaide was born in Ann Arbor.
• 1846, November: Chloe becomes pregnant for the last time.
• 1847, August 17: Chloe gives birth to an infant son somewhere in Washtenaw County. The boy's name does not survive to this day.
• 1847, September: Chloe M. Thomas (died Sept. 8) and youngest child (died Sept. 9) buried in Ann Arbor.
• 1848, Aug. 12: Buys land in Howell Township in Livingston County to the north, probably during courtship with Curance Ann Richmond.
• 1848, Sept 20: Married Curance Ann Richmond in Washtenaw County
• 1850, Aug 17: Census finds them in Flushing Township, Genessee County, Michigan (Zebul calls himself Mead, Curance misspelled as Current, Theresa A., age 9, mistaken as "Lucretia", and Celia, age 4, is correctly spelled - Mariah Hand lives with the family). Zebul is listed as a weaver.
• 1851: Sells off the land in Howell Township in Livingston County, Michigan.
• 1856, September: Curance Ann is pregnant with first surviving child after 8 years of marriage.
• 1857, June 17: Curance Ann gives birth to their first child, Martha Asenath, likely while still living in Flushing. Not long after, the family moves across the state line to Jamestown Township in Steuben County, Indiana (formed a generation earlier from lands of the Potawatomi tribe, long since evicted).
• 1860, June: Curance Ann becomes pregnant with her second surviving child.
• 1860, Aug. 16: Robert Patterson enumerates in this year's census the Thomas family (Page 236, Dwelling 1728, Family 1762), who lives in Jamestown Township in Steuben County, Indiana (Crooked Creek Post Office). The family includes: Z. M. Thomas (age 57, Woolen manufacturer, born in New York, 50 dollars in personal estate), Curance A. (misspelled Currents, age 38, housework, born in New Hampshire), Theresa (age 19, housework), Ceclia (age 14, in school), and Martha (age 3).
• 1861, March 1: John Zebul Thomas was born in Indiana, apparently in Jamestown Township in Steuben County (based on the 1860 census and 1865 birth of his younger brother).
• 1864, August: Curance Ann becomes pregnant with her third surviving child. At this point, Zebul is about 55 years old and may not have served in the military during the Civil War (he probably was a wool manufacturer through the war).
• 1865, May 25: Heman Mead Thomas, youngest child, was born in Jamestown Township in Steuben County, Indiana, shortly after the end of the American Civil War.
• 1870, July 12: The Census finds Zebul's family in Yellow Creek Township of Linn County, Missouri. Neither of the girls from the first marriage are counted as living at the house at the time. The census is misnumbered, so Heman Mead, listed as Meade (age 5), appears at the start of the count for the next household. Toddler Hiram Smith (age 2, from Missouri) should actually be listed with the previous household. The household is listed as having both Zebul and Curance (age 44) living with Martha (age 12) and John (age 9), and Meade (Heman Mead). Zebul is listed as a laborer (at age 61).
• 1872, October 20: Celia Adelaide is married to Horace Stocking in Coldwater, Branch County, Michigan.
• 1873, June 22: Martha Asenath, age 15, marries Charles H. Waite in Linn County, Missouri.
• 1880: In the Census for Jackson, Linn County, Missouri, there is an H. M. Thomas listed, who was born in 1865, works on a farm, and whose parents came from "New York," but this person is listed as female. However, also, the information lists H.M. as step sister to the head of household, which seems fairly impossible for a "15 year old" since the two others living at the same address include 74-year-old N. Dunn (head of household, farmer), and 58-year-old C.A. Dunn. If this is in fact a clerical error, then likely the Dunns had raised Heman Mead to adulthood following the death of his parents in the past decade. (What is particularly interesting is that C.A. Dunn is not far from the age of Curence Ann Thomas in the previous census - she is listed as having been born in New York, while N. Dunn is said to have been born in Kentucky.)

Marriages, according to Washtenaw County documents:

• THOMAS, Z M THOMAS
• CARRANCE>CURANCE ANN RICHMOND
• 20 SEP 1848

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• ZEBUL M THOMAS
• CLOE - HOWE
• 17 JUL 1836

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Zebul's father is named John Thomas, and mother Asenath Mead (9/1780-1838, dau. Zebulon Mead 3/14/1753-2/27/1827 and Anna Wright 3/9/1761-1826), according to: "History and Genealogy of the Mead Family" by Spencer Mead. (Marriage was in 9/1799.)

(Thomas-Howe marriage family is detailed at: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/e/a/Blanche-A-Mead/ODT... )

Also, marriage information verifiable from Familysearch's archives of Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995: https://beta.familysearch.org/s/recordDetails/show?uri=http://pilot...

• Groom's Name: Z. M. Thomas
• Groom's Birth Date: 1809
• Groom's Age: 39
• Bride's Name: Curance Ann Richmond
• Bride's Birth Date: 1827
• Bride's Age: 21
• Marriage Date: 20 Sep 1848
• Marriage Place: Washtenaw, Michigan
• Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M51884-1
• System Origin: Michigan-ODM
• Source Film Number: 1019064

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From Land Owners and Settlers of Livingston County, Michigan 1828-1870s by Milton Charboneau:

http://www.memoriallibrary.com/MI/Livingston/Land/Tears.htm

Zebul M., wife Chloe, buy land in Sec. 29, Cohoctah, SWq, March, 1839, of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co., Mich.

Sell in 1839 & 1840, of same.

Also buys land in Sec. 10, Howell, East half of Section, Aug. 12, 1848, of Ann Arbor, Mich.

Sells in 1851, of ?.