Ancestry and Descendants of Griffith Thomas

146 Pages·2014·12.73 MB·English

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OUR
KINSMEN
A
Record of the Ancestry and
Descendants of
THOMAS
GRIFFITH
A
Pioneer Resident of
Orange County, North Carolina
BY
GRACE HARPER WINGERT
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2014
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https://archive.org/details/ourkinsmenrecordOOwing
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Foreword
This modest and unpretentious volume is the
result of four years work by an 'amateur in genealogy
with only a limited means of research.
In the compiling of the record of our Thomas family,
much of the material had to be gathered from incomplete
family records and from the memory of those now living.
There has been a diligent endeavor to include some-
thing of interest and personal value to all who care to
read, but with the lack of vital records in the early days
of our country and the yet unawakened interest in
genealogy among many members of the family, it has
been impossible to accomplish all that was desired. So
few records have been kept and there is yet such a, lack
of regard for family history that one can not hope to
have a full and complete "mosaic of the long-forgotten
past.'
The genealogy of our Thomas family affords no
occasion for vain intoxication on wine of ancestor wor-
ship, but there is a certainty that the character and
worth of the family has been found to be up to the level
of the average man and woman.
It is reasonable to suppose that the pioneers of our
Thomas family possessed the essential attributes neces-
sary to endow their posterity with the strength to build
ourselves out of the material of this world by esteeming
what is right, perpetuating what is beautiful and
exalting what is good.
Our courageous forbears should receive from us our
most profound admiration and respect. Those staunch
and sturdy men and women who braved the perils of
mountains and rivers to establish homes in a wilderness,
who dared all things, whose courage was invincible and
whose valiant hope and endeavor gave us a name and
home, are too fine to be forgotten. The vibrations of
their energy should still cause us to tingle with desire to
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accomplish. Our heritage is richer by the knowledge of
their endurance and achievements.
There has been, of necessity, a burden placed upon
various members of the family who have been called
upon for assistance regarding lateral lines. Their efforts
and interest are deeply appreciated, but where so many
are concerned space does not permit personal miention.
There is, however, special acknowledgement due our
kinsman, Fred Thomas of Monon, Indiana, since he has
in truth made this history possible by his outstanding
services. Whatever degree of success this record may
merit is mainly due to his unlimited generosity, and his
willingness to give of his valuable time. His tireless
efforts to obtain information and his enthusiasm and
faith in the venture have been most important factors
in bringing this work to what the author hopes is a
reasonably successful conclusion.
GRACE HARPER WIXGERT,
Springfield, Ohio.
September, 1938.
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ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF THOMAS
The name of Thomas ranks seventh in the sixty most
common of Welsh and English names and is of great
antiquity in Wales, the family claiming descent from
the Ancient Kings of Britain. Its authentic history be-
gins with Uryan or Urien Rheged, a British Prince who
lived in the sixth century after Christ. Urien is said
to have been the son of Cynvarch Oer ap Meirchion Gul,
a Prince of North Britain, who was expelled from his
principality by the Saxons and took refuge in Wales.
Urien drove the Gwyddelians or Irish Scots from
Rheged, a district lying between the Towy and Tawe
rivers in Carmarthen, and was granted the sovereignty'
of that principality as a reward. He married Margaret
La Fay, daughter of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and had
two sons, Owain and Pasgen. Through the latter the
line descends to Sir Rhys', a, grandson, whose son Thomas
was the father of Gruffyd.
As a means of designation, men began at that time
to use the word "ap," meaning "son of" or "descended
from.' Prior to that, men had borne but a single name.
'
It was at this period that we first find the name of
Gruffyd ap Thomas which in time came to be Griffith
Thomas.
iSir Rhys ap Thomas, who lived in the reign of
Henry VII and Henry VIII of England, according to
Welsh historians, had an extant pedigree going back to
Adam. Sir Rhys was a Knight of the Most Noble Order
of the Garter. His name was later spelled Rees and it is
both natural and reasonable to assume that his descend-
ant was one Rees Thomas who, as leader of the Welsh
people in Pennsylvania, founded in 1691 the Merion
Colony on the Schuylkill River in what is now Mont-
gomery County.
In 1750 there was a Griffith Thomas living in Ply-
mouth Township of this county. His will was proven
We
in 1751. are inclined to believe that this Griffith was
a son of Rees Thomas.
It is difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion owing
to the lack of authentic records, but the continuity of
these similar and unusual given names will lead one to
believe they were used by our family from generation to
generation.
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'
GRIFFITH THOMAS OF NORTH CAROLINA
Griffith Thomas, the common ancestor of all whose
names are contained in this record, was of Welsh parent-
age. It has long been believed by past generations of
our family that he was born in Wales and came to
America while he was a very young man. This, of
course, may be true, but the source of their information
has never been determined, and in the absence of more
authentic data, we have come to accept the statement
contained in the diary of the White Pilgrim that his
parents "were natives of Pennsylvania."
Griffith Thomas was married in Pennsylvania to
Charlotte Huffman or Hoffman,. We do not know just
when they left that state, but according to the Pilgrim,
it was "soon after theirbeing wedded together" that they
migrated to North Carolina. There is a record of Griffith
Thomas' having purchased three hundred acres of land
in Augusta County, Virginia in the year 1753. There is
also a record of his having served in the Fifth Company
of Augusta County Militia in the year 1742.
There is in the Pennsylvania Historical Society in
Philadelphia a will of one Griffith Thomas of Plymouth
Township, Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County,
written in 1750 in which he names his son, Griffith, as
chief beneficiary and executor.
From the diary of the Pilgrim, we learn that in 1791
Griffith Thomas lived near the village of Haw Eiver in
Orange (now Alamance) County, North Carolina. There
are records of two deeds dated 1794 and 1795 on record
in Hillsboro, North Carolina in which we learn that the
land (some three hundred and eighty-eight acres) had
been conveyed to Griffith Thomas by land grant from the
state in the year 1788, ' the tenth year of Independence.'
'
This land lies adjacent to Hawfields. In 1791, the year
of the Pilgrim's birth, the family consisted of nine living
children, seven sons and two daughters. At that time
most of them were grown men and women according to
the Pilgrim), who was the youngest child. The other
children were Mary, Moses, John, Noah, Griffith, Jacob,
Betsey, and James.
This family, being among the first to settle in that
part of the country, had by frugality and industry ob-
tained a considerable share of honest wealth. Then the
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