The earliest Thomas ancestor in America whose connection can be confirmed by public records is one Nathan Thomas.
Unfortunately, little information is available regarding Nathan. Here is what is known:
- No record of his birth, death, or burial has been found to date.
- Record of his marriage to Hannah Renner on June 28, 1829 at Tohickon Union Church exists in the records of this church.
- His name appears in the 1850 Census but in no census thereafter.
- According to this census, Nathan was 42 years old in 1850, making his estimated year of birth 1808.
- He is also listed as residing in the Milford Township of Bucks County along with his wife and three children: Hannah, Lucinda, and Nathan. Little is known about these three children.
- Nathan’s eldest known child, Jeremiah, from whom we are also directly descended, was born in 1831 and, at the age of 19, was likely already living and/or working outside of his parents’ home – hence is absence from the 1850 census.
More information exists regarding Hannah, who was born to Adam (1780-1823) and Elizabeth (1775-1819) Renner and was one of at least ten children. Though she is listed along with her husband in the 1850 census, the 1860 census lists her living with her brother, John, and in 1870 living with her son, Jeremiah. Church records indicate that she is buried at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Ridge Valley with many of her children and grandchildren, though her tombstone has not been found.
So why is information about Nathan’s existence so elusive? Here are some speculations:
- Nathan may have been born out of wedlock. The couple who I have found to possibly be Nathan’s parents were married after Nathan’s estimated birthdate. Depending on the stringency of the church at the time, a person born prior to his parents’ marriage may not have been permitted to be baptized and thus may not have been permitted to have a proper funeral or be interred in holy ground. Or, if a “secret” baptism or funeral did take place, it may have gone unrecorded. I have asked some Lutheran pastors about the possibility of this. Though they were not sure and said that it would have been awfully strict of a church to deny a child baptism and, later on, burial rights, they did indicate that it could be possible.
- There is a legend of an escaped prisoner in the family. It is unclear if this gentleman was a prisoner of war or jailed for some other reason. The story goes that the convicted Thomas gentleman would, each day, challenge a prison guard to a race around a distance tree and back. Thinking this a harmless activity, the guard obliged. Harmless and innocent the pastime remained until Mr. Thomas pulled the wool over his guard’s eyes; after weeks of building up his strength and stamina with simple races around a tree, one day Thomas kept on running and was never caught. The legend continues that his family hid the convict in “Thomas Woods.” Could “Thomas Woods” be in Tylersport, where Nathan’s sons and grandsons lived and ran an inn? If Nathan were the escaped convict, it would explain his sudden disappearance from his family unit and the lack of record of his death or burial. Furthermore, it is unlikely that Nathan would have been a prisoner of war, as his disappearance prior to the 1860 census puts him off the map years before the Civil War.
Leaves on the Tree 