samson-monroe-thomas-cropped-photo

Thomas, Samson Monroe

Birth Name Thomas, Samson Monroe
Also Known As Thomas, Sampson
Gramps ID I0023
Gender male
Age at Death 77 years, 14 days

Events

Event Date Place Description
Sources Notes
Birth 1843-01-13 Tuscarawas Cty, Ohio, USA  
1a 2a
Occupation   Wells Cty, Indiana, USA Farmer, teacher
1a 3a 4a 5a 6a 7a
Census 1850 Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
8a
Census 1860 Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
3a
Military Service 1864-05-01   Civil War - 137th Light Infantry, Co. D
1a 9a 10a 11a 12a
Event Note

Served under Lt. Evans until Sept 21, 1864.

Census 1870 Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
4a
Census 1880 Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
5a
Census 1900 Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
6a
Census 1910 Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
7a
Death 1920-01-27 Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
2a
Burial   Hoverstock Cemetery, Zanesville, Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
 

Parents

Relation to main person Name Birth date Death date Relation within this family (if not by birth)
Father Thomas, David F. [I0039]1816-07-071903-05-08
Mother Weible, Anna [I0040]18171873-10-29
         Thomas, Samson Monroe [I0023] 1843-01-13 1920-01-27
    Sister     Thomas, Lydia [I0650] 1845-05-06 1895-06-27
    Brother     Thomas, Shalter [I0651] 1846 1926-08-29
    Sister     Thomas, Mary [I0652] 1848 1866
    Sister     Thomas, Sarah [I0663] 1850 1851
    Brother     Thomas, John [I0653] 1854 1872

Families

    Family of Thomas, Samson Monroe and Caley, Susanna Elizabeth [F0011]
Married Wife Caley, Susanna Elizabeth [I0024] ( * 1840-01-31 + 1908-12-30 )
   
Event Date Place Description
Sources Notes
Marriage 1866-04-03 Wells Cty, Indiana, USA  
13a 1a 14a
  Children
Name Birth Date Death Date
Thomas [I0972]1866-12-261866-12-26
Thomas, Lewis S. [I0767]1868-02-021947-01-27
Thomas, Dale Monroe [I0483]1870-03-151947-10-06
Thomas, James Allen Rinehart [I0484]1872-10-211888-02-02
Thomas, John Lucas Flack [I0971]1876-04-071879-10-21

Media

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samson-thomas-four-generation-photo-approx-1915

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samson-thomas-susanna-caley-grave-photo-19jul2014

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Narrative

[Article "Sampson Thomas Family" from the Wells County, Indiana Family History 1837-1992, p580.]

Sampson [sic] Thomas, oldest son of David F. and Anna Wieble Thomas, was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio in
1843. He came to Indiana at age four and settled with his family in the Zanesville area of Wells County. He went to school at Caley School and College Corners after it was built.

In May, 1864 he joined the 137th light infantry volunteer regiment for 100 days of service in the Civil War. He was in the Georgia campaign and then was released in December, 1864. He came home to farm with his father. In April, 1866, he married the widow of Simon Kohr, Susanne Caley Kohr. Susanne had two children, Jacob and Madgalene. They lived in a log cabin on fifty acres of land purchased by Simon from his father when he married.

Sampson and Susanne had five children. Two died in infancy. Allie, a victim of rheumatic fever, died in 1888 at the age of fifteen. Lewis, the oldest was born in 1868. Monroe was born in 1878. Lewis moved to Huntington County, Union Township when he married Rose Anna Smith in 1890. They had two children, Floyd and Merle. Floyd married Mary Alice Bayha, had five children, two of which survived. Merle married Charles Paul, had three children, two of which still survive.

Sampson built a new home for the family sometime in the early 1880's. He built the house himself with lumber from his land. He drilled a new well and improved living conditions for the family. The house was heated with a wood stove in the kitchen and a coal stove in the living room. It was a luxury after the log cabin. Lewis used to tell of shaking snow from the covers on winter mornings when he was young. In comparison to our heated homes of today, it was crude but a wonder to them.

Sampson taught in several of the schools close to him in the winter. There are records of his payments which were at most one dollar and twenty-five cents for a week's work. The school year was short, but conditions improved when, through efforts of early dedicated pioneer men and women who wanted better education for their children, time and money became available.

Sampson was a reader and spent hours with his Bible and other books. He taught Sunday School at both College Corners and Zanesville, was a lay minister and served the church in other ways. He was able to blow fire from burns and healed many bad burns according to some of the older people of the community who knew him. He was a water dozer, and many of the wells in the community were ones he helped doze. The well for the log cabin was some way from the house, but the new well was just outside the door.

Lewis told many stories of his early youth. He worked hard, but learned much of his spelling, and reading, not from school, but from the spelling bees, the Bible quizzes and games of Bible verses taught at school and church. They had husking bees, quilting bees for all the families, and barn raisings were a community affair for newcomers or for someone who had the misfortune of losing a barn through fire. Singing school was a part of church and school.

Sampson was five foot six inches according to his service records, with hazel eyes and dark complexion. His later pictures show him with a beautiful head of white hair and full beard. The horse he rode was not gentle. He used the buggy only to make long trips into Ohio to visit relatives after Susanne's death in 1908. Sampson died in 1920.

Susanne was a small, gentle woman, greatly loved by her son Lewis' children. They had many stories of delightful visits with her.

Sampson helped many people with financial aid with food and material goods. He along with his brother Shalter and son Lewis, never wanted thanks or notice of what they gave or did for others. It was done through real Christian brotherhood.

Narrative

[Obituary for Samson Thomas, from the Huntington Herald, 27 Jan 1920, p1.]

[headline] SAMSON THOMAS, 77, DIES FROM PARALYSIS
[2nd headline] Pioneer Resident of Union Township, Wells County, Is Called.
[3rd headline] Was Ill Only A Short Time

Samson Thomas, seventy-seven years old, who lived just over the county line in Wells county on the Union Center road, died at 5:30 o'clock Tuesday morning from paralysis, with which it is thought he was stricken some time Saturday.

Mr. Thomas was found early Sunday morning in his home by Carl Kohr, a neighbor's son who had been sent to investigate. He was conscious until about 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon when his condition became such that he did not recognize the people around him. His condition became steadily worse until Tuesday morning when he passed away. Sunday he tried extremely hard to tell the folks who gathered at his house about something, but he counld not make them understand.

Mr. Thomas was a pioneer resident of the vicinity in which his home is located, a Civil War veteran, and on January 13 celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday with his sons, grandchildren and great grand children present. He was especially well pleased with the celebration, telling all that it possibly was his last chance to have them all together , and it proved very true.

Surviving are two sons, Lewis S. Thomas of Union township, Huntington county, and Dale Monroe Thomas of Union township, Wells county. Other relatives are Faye, Lafe, Edna, Von, Keith, and Floyd Thomas, and Mrs. Charles M. Paul, all grandchildren, and a brother, Shalter Thomas, of this city. There are four great grandchildren.

Narrative

Note: The spelling of Samson's name

In many instances - on his military discharge certificate, some census records, and even in many of the family history writings by his great-granddaughter Jane Anne Thomas - his name was mispelled as "Sampson," a mistake I've attributed in its 19th-century occurences as due to a lower literacy rate, and in its later occurrences as simply due to momentum or the preponderance of the misspelling. (This particular misspelling, I'll add, is likely due to the phonetic spelling of his name's pronounciation in an Indiana accent, which tends to harden the consonant cluster in the middle of the word to add a "p" sound, though there is some quantity of scholarly text which indicates that the variant "p" spelling dates back to the translation from Greek.)

Despite so many records reporting his name as "Sampson" and later generations of his family perpetuating the error, it is my firm belief that his name was properly "Samson." Most of his contemporary family (notably his oldest son Lewis) spelled it "Samson," and given Samson's father, David, as a literate man and a minister of the United Brethren church, I would find it likely that David used the proper spelling. Lastly, his headstone (shared with his wife Susanna) gives the spelling as "Samson," and as his wife preceded him in death by more than a decade, I think it likely that he purchased the stone himself and would, of course, know the spelling of his own name.

Pedigree

  1. Thomas, David F. [I0039]
    1. Weible, Anna [I0040]
      1. Thomas, Samson Monroe
        1. Caley, Susanna Elizabeth [I0024]
          1. Thomas [I0972]
          2. Thomas, Lewis S. [I0767]
          3. Thomas, Dale Monroe [I0483]
          4. Thomas, James Allen Rinehart [I0484]
          5. Thomas, John Lucas Flack [I0971]
      2. Thomas, Lydia [I0650]
      3. Thomas, Shalter [I0651]
      4. Thomas, Mary [I0652]
      5. Thomas, Sarah [I0663]
      6. Thomas, John [I0653]

Ancestors

Source References

  1. Wells County, Indiana Family History 1837-1992 [S0034]
      • Page: p580
  2. Huntington Herald (Indiana) [S0014]
      • Date: 1920-01-27
      • Page: p1
      • Confidence: High
  3. US Census of 1860 [S0044]
      • Date: 1860-06-20
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1860," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M4N4-33M : accessed 04 Jul 2014), David F Thomas, Union Township, Wells, Indiana, United States; citing "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," Fold3.com; p. 53, household ID 358, NARA microfilm publication M653; FHL microfilm 803309.

        Event Year: 1860
        Event Place: Union Township, Wells, Indiana, United States
        David F Thomas M 43 Ohio
        Anne Thomas F 44 Pennsylvania
        Sampson Thomas M 17 Ohio
        Lydia Thomas F 15 Ohio
        Shalter Thomas M 13 Ohio
        Mary Thomas F 12 Indiana
        John Thomas M 6 Indiana

  4. US Census of 1870 [S0020]
      • Date: 1870-07-15
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX6L-ZPZ : 12 April 2016), Sampson Thomas, Indiana, United States; citing p. 14, family 104, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,871.

        Event Year: 1870
        Event Place: Union Township, Wells, Indiana, United States
        Sampson Thomas M 26 Ohio
        Susan E Thomas F 30 Ohio
        Shalter L D Thomas M 2 Indiana
        Monroe Thomas M 0 Indiana
        Sarah M Core F 8 Indiana
        Samuel J Core M 6 Indiana

  5. US Census of 1880 [S0045]
      • Date: 1880-06-04
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHST-12G : accessed 14 Nov 2014), Samson Thomas, Union, Wells, Indiana, United States; citing sheet 3A, NARA microfilm publication T9, NARA microfilm publication T9, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 1254323.

        Event Year: 1880
        Event Place: Union, Wells, Indiana, United States
        Samson Thomas Self M 38 Ohio
        Susan E Thomas Wife F 40 Indiana
        Sarah M Kore Stepdaughter F 18 Indiana
        David Thomas Son M 12 Indiana
        Dale M Thomas Son M 10 Indiana
        James A Thomas Son M 7 Indiana

  6. US Census of 1900 [S0039]
      • Date: 1900-06-25
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M99G-NPP : accessed 9 September 2017), Susana E Thommas in household of Sampson W Thommas, Union Township, Wells, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 155, sheet 14B, family 220, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,413.

        Event Year 1900
        Event Place Union Township, Wells, Indiana, United States
        Sampson W Thommas Head M 57 Ohio
        Susana E Thommas Wife F 60 Indiana

  7. US Census of 1910 [S0040]
      • Date: 1910-05-04
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MKRD-DW3 : accessed 14 Nov 2014), Samson M Thomas, Union, Wells, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 172, sheet 8B, family 175, NARA microfilm publication T624, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 1374401.

        Event Year: 1910
        Event Place: Union, Wells, Indiana, United States
        Samson M Thomas Head M 67 Ohio

  8. US Census of 1850 [S0046]
      • Date: 1850-09-02
      • Citation:

        "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHVX-CYX : 12 April 2016), David Thomas, Union, Wells, Indiana, United States; citing family 13, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

        Event Year: 1850
        Event Place: Union, Wells, Indiana, United States
        David Thomas M 33 Ohio
        Ann Thomas F 33 Ohio
        Sampson Thomas M 7 Ohio
        Lydia Thomas F 5 Ohio
        Shelton Thomas M 3 Ohio
        Mary Thomas F 2 Indiana
        Sarah Thomas F 0 Indiana

  9. Union Army Discharge Certificate for "Sampson" Thomas [S0328]
      • Date: 1864-09-21
      • Confidence: Very High
  10. United States General Index to Pension Files [S0319]
      • Date: 1889-10-19
      • Confidence: High
      • Citation:

        "United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDP-LTSC : accessed 3 November 2015), Samson Thomas, 1889.

  11. United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917 [S0329]
      • Date: 1889-10-19
      • Confidence: High
      • Citation:

        "United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NH8R-RYW : accessed 3 November 2015), Samson Thomas, 19 Oct 1889; from "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); company D, regiment 137, Indiana, NARA microfilm publication T289.

  12. United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865 [S0330]
      • Confidence: High
      • Citation:

        "United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F954-DZD : accessed 3 November 2015), Sampson Thomas, Private, Company D, 137th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Union; citing NARA microfilm publication M540 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 77; FHL microfilm 881,798.

  13. Wells County, Indiana Marriage Records, 1837-1900 [S0032]
      • Page: p98
      • Confidence: High
      • Citation:

        From the "Descendants of George L. Cailey, Sr." as prepared by Matthew Caley.

  14. Indiana, Marriages, 1811-2007 [S0302]
      • Confidence: High
      • Citation:

        "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVM1-P2WT : accessed 28 October 2015), Sampson Thomas and Susan Kohr, 1866.