THE THOMAS FAMILY

I, Christopher Thomas of Orpington, Kent, Yeoman...

~ from the will of Christopher Thomas

Landscape with View on the River Wye by Thomas Jones

credit where credit is due

Some seven or eight years ago when I began research on the Thomas family of Maryland and North Carolina, much of the information I found was both confusing and conflicting. Digging deeper, I found bits and pieces of a publication by Betty J. Carson and Howard S. Hazlewood called Ancestors and Descendants of Tristram Thomas of Maryland. The information was coherent and obviously well researched. The entire book was available for sale but, as it was early days in my family exploration, I made do with the bits and pieces.

Fast forward to 2020 and the entire book is now available to anyone online. In the introduction to the publication Betty and Howard write: "We give permission to copy any of this effort as long as this book is listed as a source." The story of our Thomas family in Maryland which follows is entirely due to Betty and Howard's tireless efforts to set the family record straight.

another rabble-rouser ancestor?

The Thomas family in England has been researched by Mary L. Pirie who hired genealogist S.G. Smith to do the legwork. Tristram Thomas (7GGF) is our immigrant ancestor who settled in Maryland. His father was Christopher Thomas (8GGF) and his mother Juliana Stacey (8GGM). Of interest is the Stacey family that lived in Westerham for over two centuries. Juliana's father was Thomas Stacey (9GGF), a tanner. S.G. Smith found the wills of Staceys in Westerham going back to 1494. Even more interesting is a list he found of men pardoned by King Henry VI in 1450.

Jack Cade's Rebellion in 1450 stemmed from "local grievances regarding the corruption, maladministration, and abuse of power of the king's closest advisors and local officials..." On the list of those pardoned for their involvment in the rebellion is "Thomas Stacey de Westram, tanner." Chances are very good that Thomas Stacey was one of the first of our relatives with a revolutionary spirit.

On the map below, Westerham where the Staceys lived, is shown with the red marker. Chevining, home of the Thomas family is indicated with the blue marker. The two towns are about five miles apart and about 23 miles from London.

Note: On the far right of the map are Margate and Dover where our Eaton family in New England hail from.

Christopher, Sr.

The history of our Thomas family begins with Christopher Thomas (8GGF), baptized 5 Apr 1579 in Chevening Parish, Kent, England. Christopher married Juliana Stacey and together they had seven children. Juliana died in 1632 and three years later Christopher followed. We learn the names of all their children from Christopher's will which begins "I Christopher Thomas of Orpington, Kent, Yeoman..."

Note: Yeoman was a class distinction in early England. Yeomen owned their own property but worked the land themselves. The gentry, on the other hand, hired people to do their labor.

Christopher. Sr. left the bulk of his estate to his oldest son Christopher, Jr. (8U) who happened to be on his way to Virginia at the time of his father's death. In the event that Christopher, Jr. never returned to England (which appears to be the case) the estate went to the second son Edmund (8U).

The two middle boys, Stephen (8U), 16 and William (8U), 13 were to be taken care of "until they shall be fit to put out to be apprentices, or to service." At 23, they would each receive £200.

From the wording of the will, it doesn't appear that the the three youngest children had to wait so long for to receive their inheritance:

I give to Elizabeth (8A) and Julian (8A), my daughters and Tristram (8GGF), my son, 200 pounds each to be paid by my executors, one year after my decease, or to my. . . uncle Raph Stacey and my brother, William Stacey. . .until my 2 daughters and my son Tristram . . .be paid. . .my executors shall pay for my daughters and Tristram sufficient meat, drink, lodging, schooling and apparell. . .

Since Elizabeth, 10, Juliana, 8 and Tristram, 6 were quite young when their parents died, chances are that their inheritance would have been eaten up with "sufficient meat, drink, lodging, schooling and apparell" when they reached adulthood.

But, as we will see, providence shined its light on all three of our Thomas emigrants to Maryland, Christopher, Juliana and Tristram.

Christopher, Jr.

Our first Thomas relative to hit the shores of Maryland was our uncle Christopher Thomas though that wasn't his first destination. In Emigrants to America 1600-1700 by John Camden Hotten, Christopher Thomas, age 21 is listed on the ship "George" sailing from Gravesend, England to Virginia on 21 Aug 1635. Gravesend on the River Thames is about 22 miles from Chevening, so it makes sense that our Christopher Thomas would set sail from that location. He left the family a month or so before his father died, arriving in Virginia in late 1635 or early 1636.

Virginia land records do not list any patents for Christopher Thomas. Since he left England before he could claim his inheritance, it's probable he had indentured himself to make the voyage to Virginia. It's also possible that the man who paid his passage to Virginia is the same man who transported him to Maryland in ca 1638. In 1639, Thomas Butler claimed 600 acres of land in Kent County, Maryland for transporting, among others, Christopher Thomas, servant.

Note: Thomas Butler was brother-in-law to William Claiborne, discussed in our "Early Maryland" post. Claiborne was the man who set up a trading post on Kent's Island and battled with Lord Baltimore over possession of that land. By the time Butler and Christopher made their appearance on Kent Island, Claiborne had been effectively kicked out.

If Christopher had indeed been indentured, he was completely free of his servitude by 1639. That year, Christopher Thomas was listed by the Provincial Assembly as a freeman. Not only that but, at the 1639 Assembly, Thomas was elected one of two delegates to serve in the coming 1640 Assembly. One of the men who signed the certificate to elect Christopher was John Russell, future husband of Christopher's sister Juliana.

Christopher's name is on the tax rolls for Kent County, Maryland in 1641 but he disappeared completely from Maryland records after that. We don't hear of him again until 1663 when records show five acres of land purchased by Christopher Thomas on the Isle of Barbados. So what had he been doing in the meantime? Given the size of his "plantation" in Barbados, a mere five acres, it's doubtful that he went back to England to claim his inheritance. The most likely scenario is that he had been working on one of the sugar plantations on the Isle of Barbados for twenty years and finally scraped up enough money to buy his small piece of land. But, as luck, or a shrewdly calculated move, would have it, Christopher's small piece of land just happened to lay adjacent to the far more substantial Higgins plantation. The owner, Theopolis Higgins had died in 1661.

Red = Maryland Blue = Barbados

The Next thing we know, Christopher has married the widow next door! Ready to seek his fame and fortune elsewhere with his new wife, Elizabeth Higgins, her two daughters and three servants, Christopher set sail back to Maryland where he had lived briefly in his youth. From Maryland Court records on 4 Sep 1665:

350 acres granted to Christopher Thomas for transporting himself, wife Elizabeth, Susan and Katherine Higgins, his children, John Edes, William Ladds and Jane Ladds his wife - Barbados Hall - Talbot County, on south side of chester River and on south of Corsica Creek --Thomas Cove.

At the time of his patent, Christopher's land was part of Talbot County. Now it lies in Queen Anne's County which was created in 1706. Christopher had no children of his own and when he died in 1670, his property went to his wife, Elizabeth. In 1679, she sold Barbados Hall to Christopher's brother, our grandfather Tristram Thomas, for 1,900 pounds of tobacco. We'll discuss the ins and outs of that transaction later.

Note: The Thomas family settled further North than our Tilghman Island and Tuckahoe families. The Covingtons also settled north in what was to become Queen Anne's County but would intermarry extensively with members of the Thomas family.

Red = Christopher Thomas' Barbados Hall Blue = Tuckahoe Creek Orange = Tilghman Island

Juliana

Juliana Thomas (8A), sister to Christopher and Tristram, was born in Chevening in 1627. She may have moved to London because her first and second marriages are recorded there. In 1648, she married her first husband John Beedle. John probably died shortly after their marriage because only one child is recorded from that marriage, son Henry Beedle (1C9X).

Juliana's second husband, John Russell, had emigrated to Virginia as a boy and became embroiled in the affairs of William Claiborne of Kent Island fame. We know that Juliana's brother Christopher was well acquainted with John Russell in Maryland and it's entirely possible that he arranged the marriage between Russell and his sister. Russell sailed back to England to claim his bride. The marriage register for Saint Margaret Pattens Parish in London shows that "Julyan Beadle married John Russell" on 5 Sep 1659.

The happy couple sailed for Maryland with Juliana's son Henry. Their wedded bliss, however, was short lived. John died within a year of the marriage. With no children born to the two of them, Juliana inherited both tracts of land that her husband had acquired, Great Thicket (100 acres) and Russendale (250 acres).

Juliana's inheritance must have looked pretty attractive to Mr. William Coursey who was unmarried and living with his brother John. With the dirt barely settled on John Russell's grave, Juliana and William were married. As it turned out, an even bigger bonus awaited William with his marriage to Juliana. John Russell had never claimed headrights for the the ten people he transported when he and Juliana came to Maryland from England after their wedding. William Coursey was able to claim rights for 500 acres, making a grand total of 850 acres.

William made good on his newfound wealth and helped his wife's family to boot. In 1665 he received headrights for transporting a whopping 41 persons to Virginia. Among them were "Tristram Thomas (7GGF), Anne Thomas (7GGM), his wife, Thomas Thomas (6U), Chrisopher Thomas (6U), Trustram Thomas (6U), his children." Since it took about a year for the rights to be processed, it appears that our grandfather Tristram was in Maryland by 1664.

Tristram

Our grandfather Tristram was the youngest of Christopher Thomas, Sr.'s seven children. He was born in Chevening in 1629. When the call came from his new brother-in-law, William Coursey, Tristram was thirty-three years old and married with three children. he probably didn't have much going for him in England so he, the wife and the kiddies packed up and sailed for a new life Maryland.

There is no record of any land transactions for Tristram prior to 1670 but, that year, William Coursey gave to Tristram Thomas "for natural love and affection" a 400 acre tract of land called "Trustrum." That was the push-start Tristram needed. He was able, over the years, to acquire over 1,000 additional acres.

One tract of land that Tristram acquired was his deceased brother Christopher's "Barbados Hall." A close look into that transaction reveals a wee bit of a shady deal. The case of "Barbados Hall" sheds light on inheritance laws in Maryland and Virginia at the time.

When Christopher Thomas purchased the land he called "Barbados Hall," he did so with a quit claim deed. That meant that after his death, there was no clear title to the land. Since Christopher died intestate, his widow Elizabeth did what she needed to do to protect her property. Since Christopher had many brothers still living at the time of his death, under Maryland inheritance laws, two-thirds of his property would have gone to one of them. To circumvent this problem, Elizabeth simply failed to probate the estate and continued living on the property.

In 1679, with legal problems facing her if she tried to sell the land to just anyone, Elizabeth turned to a fairly popular solution for the time. She wanted to work out a deal with a close relative of the deceased. Christopher's brother, Tristram, seemed to be her most likely candidate. So, for 1,900 pounds of tobacco, title to "Barbados Hall" was handily transferred to Tristram.

Only about seven miles separated Tristram's land from the property he bought from his brother's wife.

(Red) Barbados Hall (Green) Tristram's land (Blue) Tuckahoe Creek (Orange) Tilghman Island

In the records of Maryland county, there are a few mentions of our grandather Tristram. Some of the records have no dates, only pages listed. Three were law suits in which Tristram was the defendant twice. He also served on juries twice. There were also Court records pertaining to some of his servants:

Henry Clarke servant to Mr. Trustrum Thomas brought to Court to be judged; the court judged him to bee sixteens yeares old and to serve according to act of assembly.

Sissly Rogers orderd to serve Mr. Trustrum Thomas one year for having a bastard child.

Know all men by these presents that whereas I, Trustrum Thomas. . .planter have taken Thomas Passman of the County of Worster in the Kingdome of England to my apprentice to serve the term of three years. . .the which apprentice during the terms I the above said Thomas doth obledge myselfe to dind him meate drink and apparell and likewise that the said apprentice shall do nothing nor no theor works butt folllow the trade of a cord winder and at the end of said terms to give the said apprentice two suits of apparrell and three Barrills of corne and then to sett him free . . .

In 1683, an act "for the advancement of trade was passed and the following gentlemen of Talbot County were duly appointed Commissioners: Col. Henry Coursey, Col, Vincent Lowe, Maj. William Coursey, Mr. Tristram Thomas." And so Grandpa Tristram took his small place among the mover and shakers of early Maryland.

Tristram and Ann had eight children. Tristram died in sometime before 22 May 1686 when his will was probated. He was 57 years of age. After Tristram's death, Ann Thomas married William Turlow, date unknown, and she died ca 1710.

Tristram named his wife Ann executrix of his will. She received the home plantation with 300 acres of land. He left between 233 and 300 acres to all five of his sons. Thomas Thomas, his eldest son, received "all the rights of Tristram Thomas for the plantation on Chester River ("Barbados Hall"). This wording indicates that ownership of the plantation was still cloudy. Tristam left each of his four daughters 10,000 pounds of tobacco payable at marriage. Our grandfather Tristram, Jr. received 233 acres on the Madbury branch of the Wye River.

Tristram's benefactor and brother-in-law, William Coursey, appraised the estate.