Nicholas THOMAS Peter THOMAS Catherine THOMAS Laura Margaret THOMAS Thomas Louis TERRY Anna M THOMAS Lewis N THOMAS J THOMAS Joseph THOMAS Mary Ann KIEFER Mini tree diagram

Mary Elizabeth THOMAS2,3,4,5,1

Feb 18552,3,4,5 - 14th May 19206,1

Life History

Feb 1855

Born in Benham, Texas.2,3,4,5

8th Jan 1871

Married Thomas Louis TERRY in Texas.7,2,4

14th May 1920

Died in San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas.6,1

after 14th May 1920

Buried in Fairmont Cemetery, San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas.1

Notes

  • I got some clues on the origins of Mary Elizabeth Terry when I received an email from a great niece of hers in September 2008.  This message informed me that M E's maiden name was Thomas.  I knew her parents were both born in Germany from census reports in 1900 and 1920.  Thomas was an odd last name for a Germany family.  Perhaps the family originated from England or Ireland.

    I finally found Mary Elizabeth in her widowed mother's home in 1870, listed with only the initial E.  Her mother M A (Mary Ann Kiefer) Thomas was reported as born in Prussia, a dominant German state at the time.  They are first recorded in the 1860 census, which I found shortly after.  Mary Elizabeth was the third child born in Texas, in about 1855.  The first child born in Texas was Catherine, about 1852.

    The 1860 census below gives us the children's names and approximate birth dates.  The second son Joseph was 10 years old in 1860, meaning he was born in about 1850.  From shipping information found by Donna Thomas Mondier, a descendant of this Thomas line, we learn that Nic and Mary Ann sailed out of Bremen, Germany, 19 September 1850 and landed in Galveston, Texas, in November 1850.

    This would mean that Joseph was born between January and June 1850 (to be 10 before the July census date).

    1860 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas, 23 July, PO Wheelock, page 75, Hse/Fam #544
    Nicholas Thomas 47 M Farmer $1216 Real Estate $112 Personal b Prusia [sic]  [b Abt. 1813]
    Mary A Thomas  38 F Housewife b Prusia [b Abt. 1822]
    Peter Thomas 12 M Prussia Joseph Thomas 10 M b Prussia
    Thomas, Cathrine 8 F b Texas Thomas, Laurie  6 F b Texas
    Thomas, Elizabeth  5 F b Texas Thomas, Anna M 3 F b Texas

    Nicholas died before the 1870 census.

    1870 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas, 16 June, PO Bryan, page 2, Hse/Fam #11
    Thomas, M A  49 F W Keeping House $3000 Real Estate value $240 Personal b Prussia
    Thomas, P  22 M W Farmer $0 Real Estate value $100 Personal b Prussia
    Thomas, J  21 M W Farmer $0 Real Estate value $100 Personal b Prussia
    Thomas, E  15 F W At Home $0 Real Estate value $100 Personal b Texas
    Thomas, L  10 M W At Home $0 Real Estate value $100 Personal b Texas
    Thomas, J  7 M W $0 Real Estate value $100 b Texas

    There is a Laborer in their household, a J Morris, age 50, but I cannot tell what the state or country of birth is.

    In 1880, we find Thomas and Mary Elizabeth not far away in Milam County, Texas with Thomas' brother William living with them.

    1880 Federal Census, Milam County, Texas, 24 June, District 103, District 103, page 46, Hse/Family #233
    Terry, Thomas L W M 33    Merchant  GA SC SC (b abt 1847)
    Terry, Mary E  W F 26 Wife Kpg Hse TX -- --  (b abt 1854)
    Terry, William W W M 19 Brother Clerk in Store  GA SC SC

Sources

  • 1. Email Sources
  • 2. 1900 Federal Census, Tom Green County, Texas
    • 14 June, San Angelo, District 156, page 14B, Hse #268, Fam #276
  • 3. 1870 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
    • 16 June, PO Bryan, page 2, Hse/Fam #11
  • 4. 1880 Federal Census, Milam County, Texas
    • 24 June, District 103, District 103, page 46, Hse/Family #233
  • 5. 1860 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
    • 23 July, PO Wheelock, page 75, Hse/Fam #544
  • 6. Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000
    • Mary E Terry
  • 7. Jacque Watkins, email correspondence to Orville Boyd Jenkins, September 2008

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