George Franklin Thomas, M.D.
George Franklin Thomas, M. D., was born January 23, 1857, at Steam Furnace. Meigs Township, Adams County, Ohio, and was reared on the farm where he was born. He attended the District school in the Winter and worked on the farm in Summer. During the Civil War, he, with his older brothers, had the entire management of the farm while their father was in the army. At the age of seventeen, he had acquired sufficient education to become a teacher of common schools. His career as teacher began in 1875 and ended 1885, with marked success. While a teacher he took an active part in educational affiairs, serving one term as School Examiner in his county. Shortly after he began teaching, he invested in a farm adjoining his father's, which required several years of hard work to pay for.
In 1883, he was married to Miss Sallie Graham, a most popular and loveable woman, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Graham, of near Dunkinsville. This happy marriage was not to continue long for she died on May 12, 1884. In the following year Mr. Thomas began the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. J. M. Wittenmyer, of Peebles, and on March 9, 1888, he received the degree of M. D. from the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati After his graduation he located at Otway, where he remained for four years in the practice of his profession. He then removed to Peebles, where he has since resided, practicing medicine in partnership with Dr. J. S. Berry. In the Winter of 1898 and 1899, he took a post-graduate course at New York. In the year 1894, he was married to Miss Agnes Revnolds, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Reynolds, who resided one mile north of Peebles.
The Doctor and his wife have an elegant home in Peebles. Mrs Thomas is a charming and accomplished woman. She has had a most complete education and has fine literary taste. The Doctor has been remarkably successful in his profession. He might be called a natural born physician. His power to diagnose seems to be intuitive, rather than acquired, and his judgment is unerring.
His prominent characteristics are sterling honesty, fearlessness and frankness. The deception so often found in men in public positions is a trait that never entered his moral composition. In his dealings he knows no equivocation or compromise. He is loyal to his friends and quick to resent an injury or redress a wrong. In politics, he is a dyed-in-wool Jacksonian Democrat. He has taken much interest in his party's welfare, believing that in the Democratic party are to be found the principles that are nearest to the interests of the great mass of the people. In religion he is liberal. He believes that the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule are comprehensive enough to enable everybody to live a correct life. He is a member of several secret societies.
By economical habits and good management he has accumulated considerable property and is in easy circumstances financially. He conserves all his forces moral and physical. As a man and as a physician he is surely obtaining the very highest standing in the community where he resides.
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