Person:Joseph Thomas (32)

Finding the parents of John M. Thomas and Priscilla Whitlow is proving to be quite elusive. There is a John Thomas that shows up on Hardin Co. KY tax lists from 1794 through 1805, along with Hardin, James and Joseph Thomas. These men are perhaps from a different line of Thomas', and it is tempting to think that one of them might be the father of my Joseph Thomas, grandfather to John M. Thomas. The 1815 tax list for Hardin County shows two Joseph Thomas' at that point, and a third Joseph appears in the 1820 Hardin Co., KY Census.

There were eleven different men with the surname of Thomas in Hardin Co., Kentucky in the census year after John M. was born (1820). In the 1820 census, only the head of household was named, and then only the approximate ages of family members were listed. Of the eleven heads of household listed in Hardin County with the surname 'Thomas', those with male children under ten years of age (John M. would have been one year old) were as follows: three different Josephs, Hardin, Isaac, Robert, Samuel, Moses, and Thomas Thomas. The Joseph Thomas listed next to Samual Thomas in the census appears to be 'my' Joseph, as his age is listed as 16-26, and the other two Josephs in Hardin Co. appear to be too old (both are 26-45) according to the DOB I have for my Joseph.

In the 1830 and1840 census' for Meade County, Kentucky, 'my' Joseph Thomas is listed. In the 1830 version he is listed as being 30-40 years old, with 4 sons and 3 daughters, and a wife of 30-40 years old also. In the 1840 version he appears as being 40-50 years old, with his wife still listed as 30-40 years, and two sons and three daughters. None of the neighbors names remained the same from 1830 to 1840 leading one to believe that Joseph and his family changed location within Meade County, or I have the wrong family in one or more of the census'. Meade County was formed from Hardin County in 1823, so it is not known if Joseph moved locations or if the county name changed to Meade where he lived.

Joseph Thomas is ALSO listed in the 1840 census for Siloma, Green Co., Kentucky. This Joseph may be the correct father of John M., due to the fact that he is listed on the census page directly above James Whitlow, Priscilla Whitlow's father. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that there are no children listed for Joseph Thomas - there are only two females in the household of his same age range (20-30). Another possibility is that this Joseph is Joseph II, and is the brother of John M. Thomas.

Joseph's son, John M. Thomas, would have been 21 years old in 1840 and may have already been out on his own, as none of the children listed in the1840 census are of his age. The 1830 census however shows one son of Joseph's was 10-15 years old, which is the correct age range for John.

One strong clue suggesting that one of the Josephs was John M's father is in the 1860 census in Catalfia, Hart Co., Kentucky. In that 1860 census (Series M653, Roll 372) on the exact same census page (Page 373) John M. and Priscilla Thomas are listed along with five children (James, Mary, Eliza, Elias, and Nancy) at the top of the page, and Joseph Thomas and his family AND James Whitlow (Priscilla Thomas' maiden name was Whitlow) and his family are listed at the bottom of the page. Both Joseph Thomas and James Whitlow were of an age where it is entirely possible they are John M. Thomas and Priscilla Whitlow's parents.

Assuming that the Joseph Thomas listed in the 1860 census was the correct Joseph, and further assuming that this Joseph remained in Hardin County the year after John M. Thomas' birth (1820), further investigation of the 1820 census shows that only one of the three Josephs listed in Hardin County were of an age to be John M. Thomas' father. This Joseph is listed on Series M33, Roll 23, page 17 and he himself is listed as being under 26 years of age, he has two male children under ten years of age, one female child under ten years of age, and his wife (Nancy O.) is also under 26 years of age. The 'Little York' area of Hardin County was located on Doe Run Creek, and this area became the County Seat of Meade County, when it was formed from Hardin County in 1823. Thomas Lincoln, future father of President Abraham Lincoln, was a stone mason in Elizabethtown in about 1800, and worked on the Doe Run Mill Building, which today functions as the Doe Run Inn, the oldest bulding in the County.

There is one other Joseph Thomas worth mentioning in the 1880 census for the 1rst voting district, Hodginville, LaRue County, Kentucky (Series T-9, Roll 427, page 132). This Joseph is 50 years old, no wife listed, with a daughter named Nancy Ann (age 21), and other children Betsy Ann (age 3), Willma (?) Harriet (7 mos), and Mahala Ellen (age 8). This Joseph is a long shot, but is worth mentioning.

1. ↑ 1860 U.S. Census, Hart Co., Catalfa, Kentucky. (Series M653, Roll 372, Page 817)
   pg 817.
2. ↑ 1860 U.S. Census, Hart Co., Catalfa, Kentucky. (Series M653, Roll 372, Page 817)
   pg 817.
3. ↑ 1900 U.S. Census, Green Co., Greensburg, Kentucky.

   pg. 251

4. ↑ 1870 U.S. Census, Meade Co., Garnettsville, Kentucky.
5. ↑ 1820 U.S. Census, Hardin Co., Little York, Kentucky
   pg. 17.
6. ↑ 1830 U.S. Census, Meade Co., Kentucky. (Heritagequest online)
   pg 282.
7. ↑ 1840 U.S. Census, Meade Co., Kentucky. (Heritagequest online)
   pg. 120.
8. ↑ 1850 U.S. Census, Hart Co., Kentucky. (Series M432, Roll 204)
   Pg. 197.
9. ↑ 1860 U.S. Census, Hart Co., Catalfa, Kentucky. (Series M653, Roll 372, Page 817)
   pg. 817.
10. ↑ 1860 U.S. Census, Hart Co., Catalfa, Kentucky. (Series M653, Roll 372, Page 817)
    pg. 817.
11. ↑ 1870 U.S. Census, Meade Co., Garnettsville, Kentucky
    pg. 372.