Thomas Clark Thomas, Sr
Birth: 1802 South Carolina, USA
Death: 1860 (aged 57–58) Delaware County, Oklahoma, USA
Burial: Ward Cemetery, Jay, Delaware County, Oklahoma, USA
Memorial #: 136041646
Bio: Thomas Clark Thomas, of unknown parentage, was b. circa 1802-1803 at South Carolina. He died testate betw. March 26, 1860, the date of his will, and May 4, 1860, when his will was recorded for probate at Benton County, AR. Four deeds recorded at Benton County betw. 1853 and 1858, indicate Thomas died in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation, now Delaware County, OK. In a 1858 deed from himself and 2nd wife Elizabeth he reserved a 3 acre parcel in Benton County abutting the Cherokee Nation boundary that extended from the SE corner of his field in the Cherokee Nation. Thomas was not, as some would claim, interred at the Word Cemetery in Benton County as that cemetery was not founded until after the Civil War. It is more probable he was interred in an unmarked grave at Joe Ward Cemetery on the Oklahoma (Cherokee Indian Territory) side of the border.On Feb. 21, 1828 of record at Rhea County, TN, Thomas m. 1) Jane A. Marr of unconfirmed parents. They had at least eleven children, the youngest, Jesse Adams Thomas, was b. May 18, 1852. Jane d. following the birth of son Jesse. For the same reasons as her husband, Jane is likely interred in an unmarked grave at Joe Ward Cemetery in present-day Oklahoma. The children of Thomas Clark Thomas and Jane A. Marr are:• i. Mary Ann Thomas, b. 1828-29 at Tennessee, d. betw. 1864-65 likely in the Chickasaw Indian Territory, now Oklahoma; m. circa 1849, George William Hastings, s. of William T. and Delilah Hastings, b. 1824-25 at Tennessee. He died circa 1863 at Benton County, AR. Nine children of the family.• ii. Warren Tolliver "Toll" Thomas, b. 1831-32 at Tennessee, d. bef. 1865 in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation, now Delaware County, OK; m. as her third husband, his mixed-blood Cherokee step-sister Martha Copeland, dau. of Austin Copeland and Elizabeth Wilson, b. Mar. 15, 1836 in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Terr. She d. Nov. 9, 1902. Three children of the family.• iii. Eliza Jane Thomas, b. 1833-34 at Tennessee; m. an unidentified Cherokee named Tiger and was residing in the Tahlequah District of the Cherokee Nation in June 1860, but there is no further confirmed record of her.• iv. Robert A. Thomas, b. 1837-37 at Tennessee; in June 1860 he was living with three of his siblings in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation, but there is no further confirmed record of him.• v. Johnson Foreman Thomas, b. 1837-8 in Benton County, AR, d. Nov. 7, 1873 in the Cooweescoowee District of the Cherokee Nation, being that part now Vinita, Craig County, OK; m. circa 1867 in the Cherokee Nation, Paralee J. Williams, the mixed-blood Cherokee dau. of John Williams and Jane "Jennie" Hildebrand. She was b. July 24, 1846 in the Cherokee Nation, Ind. Terr. and d. Apr. 13, 1875 at present-day Vinita, Craig County, OK. Two children of the family.• vi. Elizabeth F. Thomas, b. 1839-40 in Benton County, AR; is believed to be the "E.A. Downing, age 20" wife of W. M. Downing, age 27, residing in June 1860 in the Tahlequah District of the Cherokee Nation accompanied by her brother Johnson Foreman Thomas, age 22, in the same household. But, there is no further confirmed record of her.• vii. Permelia Catherine Thomas, b. 1840-41 in Benton County, AR, d. circa 1865 in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation; m. as his second wife, her mixed-blood Cherokee step-brother, Alexander Copeland, s. of Austin Copeland and Elizabeth Wilson. One known child of the marriage.• viii. Thomas Clark Thomas, Jr., b. 1843-44 int Benton County, AR, d. Jan. 20, 1876 at Pickens County in the Chickasaw Indian Territory, now Love County, OK; m. 1) Nov. 3, 1864 in the Chickasaw Indian Terr., Susan Love, the mixed-blood Chickasaw dau. of Overton Love and Elizabeth Ann Guest. One child of the marriage. He m. 2) circa 1871, Martha Jones, a non-Indian, by whom he had two more children.• ix. Lukitsa Casandra Thomas, b. 1845-46, was living in March 1860 when included in her father's will, but there is no further record of her.• x. Margaret Josephine Thomas, b. abt. June 1850; she was residing with her sister Eliza J. (Thomas) Tiger in the June 1860 census of the Tahlequah District of the Cherokee Nation, but there is no further confirmed record of her.• xi. Jesse Adams Thomas, b. May 18, 1852 in Benton County, AR, d. Feb. 2, 1933 in Vinita, OK; m. Sept. 6, 1874 in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Terr., the mixed-blood Cherokee Johanna Williams, sister of his brother Johnson F. Thomas' wife Paralee Williams. She d. July 27, 1906 in Vinita, OK. Twelve children of the family.Thomas Clark Thomas m. 2) by early 1853 Elizabeth Wilson, the mixed-blood Cherokee dau. of George and Ruth Wilson, and widow of Austin Copeland. They had at least the following three children: • xii. Arch Wilson Thomas, b. Dec. 1853, d. aft. Sept. 12, 1918; m. the non-Cherokee Mary Jane Rippetoe, dau. of William Preston Rippetoe and Sarah Ruth Keith, b. Jan. 1851 near Maysville, Benton County, AR. She presumably also d. aft. Feb. 12, 1918. Four children of the family. Mary Jane's younger sister, Sarah Margaret, was the wife of Thomas Clark Thomas, s. of Warren Tolliver "Toll" Thomas and Martha Copeland (see no. ii. above)• xiii. William Wirt Thomas, b. abt. 1855; he is included in his father's will of March 1860 as "W.W." Thomas, but there is no further confirmable record for him.• xiv. Charles Delano Thomas, b. abt. 1857; he is included in his father's will of March 1860 as "C.D." Thomas, but there is no further confirmable record for him.Elizabeth (Wilson) Thomas had eight children by first husband Austin Copeland: Mary, Martha, George, Alexander, Jerusha, Austin, Permelia, and Rebecca Louise, the latter b. Sept. 20, 1849 in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation. In his History of the Cherokee Indians, Dr. Emmett Starr claimed Thomas Clark Thomas' son Arch Wilson Thomas by 2nd wife Elizabeth Wilson was b. circa 1845, which would explicitly mean Thomas had two simultaneous wives. This estimate by Dr. Starr relied on the rolls of enrolled Cherokee citizens under the Dawes Commission, which misstated Arch's age at 57 when he applied in February 1900 at Vinita for enrollment of himself, his wife and his then three living children. Two subsequent testimonies were taken from Arch, the first in late February 1900 in which he stated he was then 47 years old, and the second in October 1900 in which he stated he was 48 years old. In the June 1900 federal census of the Cherokee Nation, Arch claimed he was b. in December 1853. Thus, Thomas Clark Thomas' two wives were one after the other vs. as inferred by Dr. Starr.Revised 9/19/2014; Edited 7/5/2016
Family Members
Spouses
Jane A. Marr Thomas 1814-1852
Elizabeth Wilson Hawkins 1818-1874
Children
Mary Ann Thomas Hastings 1828-1864
Warren Tolliver Thomas 1832-1861
Johnson Foreman Thomas 1837-1873
Thomas Clark Thomas 1843-1876
Jesse Adams Thomas 1852-1933
Arch Wilson Thomas 1853-Unknown
Created by: Don Blauvelt (46932939)
Added: 17 Sep 2014
URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136041646/thomas-clark-thomas
Citation: Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 01 April 2019), memorial page for Thomas Clark Thomas, Sr (1802–1860), Find A Grave Memorial no. 136041646, citing Ward Cemetery, Jay, Delaware County, Oklahoma, USA ; Maintained by Don Blauvelt (contributor 46932939) .
