George Andrew Thomas
George Andrew Thomas was born November 25, 1832, at Jacksonville, Ohio. He is the son of William and Margaret Mitchell Thomas. His grandfather. William Thomas, was a native of Pennsylvania. His wife was a Miss Randolph. He settled in Adams County in 1707- He located land where Jacksonville now stands and laid out the town. He was a great admirer of General Jackson and named the town for him. He afterward entertained General Jackson over one Sunday on his way to Washington. When the public highway was laid out on Todd's Trace, he assisted in opening and clearing that part of it between Brush Creek and Locust Grove. The stage route established on this road, about 1820, was continued until 1842. William Thomas. Senior, removed to Marion County, Ohio, where he died. His children were Isaac, Phillip, Samuel, who died of the cholera in 1849, William. George W., and John. The children of William Thomas, father of our subject were John, George A., Susan, who married William Green; Mary, married to N. McKinney; Nancy, died m womanhood; Margaret, married John McMillen; Samuel married Sarah McCoy, and Josephine. William, father of our subject, was born February, 1803, at Jacksonville, Ohio, and died there in 1894.
George A., our subject, married Sarah Jane Wittenmeyer, March 27, 1863, the daughter of Isaac and Eliza (Thoroman) Wittenmeyer. Their children are Isaac W., married to Levica C. Thoroman ; George F., a physician at Peebles, married to Agnes Reynolds; John R., married to Ellen Mathias; Daniel B., a farmer residing on the home farm, and married to Ida Jackman; Perry Odle, residing in California, who was a soldier in the Philippines in the late Spanish War, and who married Lucy Hildebrand; Stephen S., a teacher at Bloomfield, Mo., married to Christina Chloe; Tilla B., residing at home, and James S., a lawyer in Portsmouth, Ohio.
George A. Thomas enlisted in Company I, 182d Ohio Volunteer infantry, on September 28, 1864. and served until July 7, 1865 He took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee.
Mr. Thomas is a successful farmer. He owns four hundred acres of land at Old Steam Furnace. He is noted for his sterling honesty and integrity. He has reared seven sons, all of whom are active factors in the world and doing well for themselves. They are all men of the highest integrity.
.Mr. Thomas has always adhered to the Democratic party and has taken quite an interest in political affiairs, though he has never held office. He has acquired a comptence, and as the burden of years are falling on him, he is taking things easy. He is a thorough patriot, and during the war did all he could for his country, both at home and at the front. He is a member of Frazer Post, G. A. R., near his home, and a charter member of the Lodge of Odd Fellows at Jacksonville. He is a useful and valuable citizen. He has been able to hold his own all his life, and has beside accumulated considerable property. He has always aimed to do the best he could for himself and those dependent on him, at all times, and has succeded far better than most men in the race of life. He has been ambitious for his sons. He educated them to the best of his ability and is proud of their careers. The writer, who has known him all his life, believes that George A. Thomas has accomplished much more than the average citizen and that he is a credit and honor to his community. If all our people were as patriotic and as faithful to their duties as he has been and is, we would have a republic, the model for the whole earth.
From "History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time" - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900