Thomas Family History

GENERATION #1

Samuel Thomas was born on August 16, 1800 in Ross County, Ohio. He married Asenath Odle in 1821 in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, the daughter of Richard Odle and Elizabeth Dawson. Asenath was born January 13, 1800 in Ohio.

In 1828 or 1829 they moved to Pine Village, Warren Co. Indiana. They purchased a new farm in Adams Township, being among the early settlers in the county, and after having made some improvements upon the land and lived upon it for a time, they removed to the town of Independence, where Samuel followed his trade until his death. It isn't known if they came overland or down the Ohio river and then up the Wabash to Warren Co.

Samuel was said to be a shoemaker. We do know that he was a Cooper, a maker of barrels. He had a shop in Independence, Indiana, where they also had a home at number 6, and was one of the first to settle there.

Samuel and Asenath helped to start the first U.B. Methodist church in Independence, Indiana. Their home being a stopping place for the itinerant ministers for many years.

On January 3, 1831 Samuel purchased 80 acres of land in Warren County, Indiana.

Samuel died February 8, 1843 and all of the property and household goods had to be sold to pay the bills owed. Asenath's spinning wheel was valued at 37 1/2 cents where the beds were $15.00 each. Asenath had to go live with her parents in Pine Village until she remarried in October that same year to Fredrick Waymire.

She was again widowed in a few years and the lived with her children on a rented farm. She and James were with John and Elizabeth and children in the 1860 census records.

Asenath passed away on September 26, 1873 in Pine Village, Warren County, Indiana. She is buried beside Samuel at the Union Cemetery in Warren County.

To this union nine known children were born: Elizabeth 1821-?, William 1823-?, James 1826-?, Richard 1828-1834, *John 1829-1904, David 1832-?, Samuel M. 1834-1905, Sarah Jane 1838-1883, and Edward 1840-?.

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GENERATION #2

*John Thomas was born on Christmas day in 1829 in Pine Village, Indiana. John Thomas and Elizabeth Ann Taylor, the daughter of Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Watkins, were married at Pine Village February 15, 1855. Elizabeth "Eliza" was born March 24, 1833 in Dover, Sussex County, Delaware. A few years after Eliza's birth, her parents moved to Ohio, and subsuquently to Indiana.

In Indiana, ten children were born to John and Eliza. And one was buried.

John and Elizabeth (Eliza) moved to Onaga, Pottawatomie County, Kansas in March of 1875. Here three more children were born and four were buried.

On the 24th of April 1875, John bought 80 acres of land in Mill Creek Township from Glendore DeGraw for $1,000. He later purchased another 80 acres. John did general farming and stock-raising in Pottawatomie County, Kansas. The farm was well watered by good springs and was a fertile and productive tract of land.

In Eastern Kansas they raised the rest of their children.

Eliza died on May 16, 1897 and John August 4, 1904. They died on their farm and are buried in the Onaga cemetery.

John and Eliza were blessed with these children:
Mary Alice 1855-1921, Sarah Elizabeth "Lizza" 1857-1858, Elizabeth "Eliza" Jane 1859-1935, Charles Edward 1860-?, *David "Dave" Samuel 1863-1939, John H. 1865-?, William "Will" E. 1867-1919, Albert Clarence 1870-1934, Frances A. 1871-1881, Emma Arvilla 1873-1935, James M. 1876-1876, Hattie A. 1878-1901, and Robert Arthur 1882-1884.

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GENERATION #3

*David "Dave" Samuel Thomas was born on February 13, 1863 in Pine Village, Warren County, Indiana. He lived in Kansas from 1875 until 1887, when he homesteaded in Dry Willow, Arapahoe County, Colorado.

In 1892, Dave purchased 160 acres of land in Yuma County, Colorado.

On May 7, 1893, Dave married Clara LeVesta Smith, the daughter of Allen Spencer and Sarah Caroline Workman Smith. Clara was born on July 31, 1874 in Fillmore County, Nebraska.

Clara left this world on January 4, 1916 and was buried in the Grandview Cemetery, Wray, Yuma County, Colorado. After her death, Dave moved to Wray in 1919. He lived there until his death March 20, 1939. Dave was laid to rest beside his beloved Clara.

Dave and Clara had one daughter:
*Bertha Mae 1900-1957

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GENERATION #4

*Bertha Mae Thomas was born in Vernon, Colorado on September 30, 1900. On November 8, 1918 in Wray, Yuma County, Colorado, she married Chase William Pevler. Chase was born to Oscar S. and Corilla Pevler on September 15, 1900 in LeRoy, McLean County, Illinois.

Bertha had a very hard life. She lost her mother at the young age of 15 and that was just the beginning. Her story must be told though. When she was 25 years old, Bertha found herself with two young daughters ages 5 and 2. She was basically raising them by herself, as her husband rarely came home. Chase ran around on her and she knew it. From what I have been told about her actions from Bertha's oldest daughter, she must have been in a very deep depression. Sometimes for days at a time, she was unable to get out of bed. Her daughter, Velma at age 5, would crawl up on a chair and get leftover biscuits off of the old cookstove, for her and her younger sister to eat, when her Mama couldn't get out of bed.

In 1925, she was placed in the State Hospital at Pueblo, Colorado. For the most part, she lived there the rest of her life, until she died on September 28, 1957. After Velma was married, she tried to have her Mama live with her. Being only 16 and having a young baby, she was unable to take care of both and had to put Bertha back in the hospital. Velma was tormented over this for years.

Bertha is buried at the Blakesburg Cemetery in Blakesburg, Iowa. Chase died on August 30, 1977 and is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

Chase and Bertha had two daughters:
*Velma Leona 1920-1988, Beulah Viola 1923-?

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GENERATION #5

*Velma Leona Pevler, was born on March 27, 1920 in Vernon, Colorao. She was raised by her Pevler grandparents from the age of 5. On January 8, 1936 at the age of 15, she married Everett Earl Harr, at Ogallala, Keith County, Nebraska. Everett 'Pete' was born on July 18, 1912 to Frank Carver and Helen Dorothy Olive Shoppe Hoar/Harr, in Yuma, Colorado.

Velma and Pete farmed in Colorado and Iowa. Pete was diagnosed with arthritis of the spine in 1963 and had to retire from farming. When he retired, they moved to Peoria County, Illinois. In 1967, they moved to Tazewell County, Illinois.

In 1974, after 38 years of marriage, Pete and Velma divorced. Pete remarried to Leola Burrows, a long time family friend. Velma never remarried, but had a companion, Clarence 'Buddy' Burke.

Velma died on January 20, 1988 and is buried at Blakesburg, Iowa. Pete died on November 21, 1989 and is buried at Roberts Cemetery, in East Peoria, Illinois.

Pete and Velma had five sons and three daughters.