I don’t know if my Thomas ancestors lived near the most relatives of any of my family lines or not.  However, according to reports my 3g-grandfather Henry Thomas  (shown above) claimed the family left North Carolina because they were related to too many people there!

History

It is believed that our Thomas family line descended from Josiah and Ruth (Mitchell) Thomas, although this is not 100% proven.  Henry identified some of his siblings in his Bible.  Dr. Iva Noel Gibbons published a copy of the Bible pages in her book “Cousins by the Dozens.”  Unfortunately, the image is small and difficult to read.  Yet, she had gleaned information from it

From data about the family and their movement to Missouri during the 1830s, it is determined that the following are likely siblings of Henry.

• George
• Andrew
• William
• James
• Joseph
• Frances

Dr. Gibbons believed Thomas Thomas, who arrived in the area around 1829, might be a brother.  It is unclear what happened to Thomas Thomas.  By 1850, the first year with more detailed census records, he is nowhere to be found in the area when the Thomas families initially settled. Thus, I have not been able to tie him to the family.

In addition, Dr. Gibbons believed there was a younger sister Nancy.  However, I have not identified Nancy’s family.

Missouri

Records for potential family members begin showing up in a cluster of counties in eastern Missouri in the 1830s.  The chart shows where each of the families are found up through 1870.  The question remains, “Are they the right Thomases?”

The question is answered in part by looking at the trees of DNA matches.  I have matches to people who claim to descend from each of these people except George.  Although it is possible that I have identified the wrong George, it seems unlikely as this George lived in the general area as most of the others in the family.  It is possible with addition work with DNA matches, a match to George’s family may be found.

Problem Solved?

Moving to Missouri may have temporarily solved the problem of being related to everyone. In the community.  However, the problem quickly recreated itself.  The siblings had 54 children between them.

The following generation consisted of over 200 new Thomas relatives (not including those that married into the family).  As you can see, they were quickly creating a new colony of Thomas relatives.    Now, some of them spread out beyond Missouri’s borders.  However, many of them remained in Missouri. And, a few of them started marrying cousins.

Henry’s solution . . .  Move again.  This time to the western side of the state.  His children primarily stayed in Missouri.  However, three of them ventured out of state with George (my gg-grandfather) going to southeastern Kansas and two of his siblings also venturing beyond Missouri’s borders.

My look at this family was relatively quick and I learned that I have a lot more work to do on this family line. I am sure there are lots of unknown facts to uncover.