Cornelius Thomas, born 1736, Northampton, VA. His parents were Lucy Thomas and James Neville. He served in the Virginia Colonial Militia from Albemarle County in 1758 at the rank of Lieutenant. He was know in later life as Captian. After the war, he was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1761 representing Amherst County. He served in the House of Burgesses until 1771. As warden of the Amherst Parish, in September 1762, Cornelius and William Cabell, Jr. bought 204 acres from Aaron Higginbotham to be used as the Parish Glebe. The Glebe House still stands today North of Amherst. Cornelius owned large tracts of land in what is today's Amherst and Nelson counties. He operated a mill and ferry landing in Amherst County. The Thomas ferry pre-dates the Waugh Ferry. The site is where the Thomas Mill Creek flows into the James River. The ferry connected to the land of Nicholas Davis in Bedford County and to that of Cornelius in Amherst County. In 1783 Amherst County petitioned to establish Waugh's Ferry at the site of the old Thomas ferry. Cornelius was married twice, first to Sarah Henderson and then to Hannah Scott. Where an how he died is unknown, we thank he was killed in present day Nelson County close to Glade Rd where he owned 2000 + acres.
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/11312002/person/681233153
