Some year ago, my uncle sent my family an article about General George Henry Thomas. He was a well known and well respected general for the North in the Civil War. Thus, my uncle really wanted him to be a member of our family. After all, the names George and Henry both show up in our ancestry.
North Or South
George was from Virginia. He had trained at West Point and was against slavery. When the Civil War was imminent, he decided that he would fight for the North. His family back in Virginia was very upset by this decision as they felt he was turning his back on his home state. Therefore, the article claimed that his family turned his photo to the wall. They continued to be upset with him after the war. When he died, it was said that a member of his family stated that he had died when he decided to fight for the North!
Relation or Not?
Although he was born only a few miles from the Virginia-North Carolina border, no evidence has been found tying the general to our Thomas family in North Carolina, . However, when we heard the story, we thought it was definitely possible that his family was related to us as our Thomas family was strong in their beliefs and they stuck together. We could see the Thomas family turning their back on someone that they thought had turned their back on them.