Among many other papers I inherited from my grandfather, Roy Whitman McLeland (1894-1977) is a typescript of an early version of the “Whitman Family History as of Sept 2, 1983” 1 published by his Whitman cousin Harry Whitman. According to Harry’s title page the sources for the final brochure were the James E. Whitman Bible, the memories of Nellie Valentine Whitman (my great grandmother) and her sister Lottie Whitman in 1942-3, the “Mormon Church Archive Records” and research in the National Archives. (I’m not sure what the Mormon Church Archive Records means – perhaps the Family History Library? And the only National Archive record they appear to have consulted was the Federal Census.)
The earlier typescript (which looks from internal evidence like it was created before 1970) has a section on the Thomas Family – Nellie Valentine Whitman’s mother was Phoebe Elizabeth Thomas. And a section on the family of Elizabeth Jones, mother of Phoebe Elizabeth Thomas. Neither section made it into the final brochure of 1983.
The typescript has mostly the same information as the Find a Grave memorial for Elizabeth Jones Thomas2 And this information and reconstructed family is repeated on many Ancestry Trees, although again there are no specific sources for the parentage of Elizabeth Jones Thomas on these trees (primarily they reference each other….sigh.)
BUT….Neither Nellie or Lottie knew these people well, if at all. Nellie would have been about 4 the last time she saw her grandparents in Iowa before moving to Kansas and Lottie hadn’t been born yet. James E. Whitman’s bible would have nothing on this family, whom he never met. The maiden name of Elizabeth Jones’ mother wouldn’t have come from federal census records. And there are immediately other noticeable problems.
George Washington Thomas, Elizabeth Jones and both of their families were living in the Morgantown area of Monongalia County, Virginia in 18403 not in Pennsylvania, not even particularly close to the Pennsylvania state line. It seems likely that they married about 1842 since their first child was born in 1843 and this is before Pennsylvania kept marriage records. Virginia did record marriages at this time. But, Monongalia County has some record loss and there appear to be very few marriages recorded in the 1840s.4 Census ages consistently indicate that Elizabeth was about a year younger than George W., born about 1822-35 not about 1828 as the typescript’s age at marriage would indicate. And this typescript leaves out an entire second marriage and additional child for George W. Thomas.
So what do we really know? George W. Thomas had a wife named Elizabeth and they married, probably in Monongalia County, Virginia before 1843 (birth of oldest known child.) They moved to Appanoose County, Iowa between 1850 and 1856. This wife, Elizabeth, died between 1863 (birth of youngest known child) and 1865 when George W. Thomas remarried. Family “lore” indicates that Elizabeth’s surname was Jones. And that’s actually all we have documentary evidence for at this time. However, there is DNA evidence to consider as well.
Elizabeth (Jones?) Thomas is my 3rd great-grandmother. Her parents are my 4thd great grandparents. That is getting near the edge of atDNA’s useful inheritance pattern but it is still a viable research tool. atDNA tests of my sister and I provide a cluster of 36 matches at the appropriate centimorgan range for 4th and 5th cousins and descending from a least 6 different documented children of a man named David Jones. His wife’s name is under discussion but it seems likely that it is Phoebe Masters of Morgantown, Virginia (possibly daughter of Henry Masters and Barbara Kenner) not Phoebe Krieger of Pennsylvania. There are 2 or 3 probable matches on Ancestry at the 5th cousin level that connect to potential siblings of Phoebe Masters. There is a long race still to be run. Keeping up with the Jones, factually, is a challenge. Its a challenging surname to research, especially in the panhandle of West Virginia where many Welsh settled, miners and farmers and their families. But new tools are helping us sort this out.
- Harry Whitman and Nell Whitman, Whitman Family History as of Sept 2, 1983 (Merriman, Kansas: self-published, 1983.) ↩
- Find a Grave, memorial page for Elizabeth Jones (Jun 1825–1863), Find a Grave Memorial ID 177896801, accessed 15 April 2022; Maintained by Shirley Honaker (contributor 46874464) “Burial Details Unknown, who reports probably in Concord Cemetery, Appanoose Co., IA.” ↩
- 1840 U.S. census, Monongalia, Virginia, West Monongalia, p. 130, line (line 10), William Thomas; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M704, roll 567; David Jones family appears on page 127. There are many members of the Thomas/Jones F.A.N. club surrounding and between both families. ↩
- “West Virginia, County Marriage Records, 1776-1971”, Database. FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org : 9 November 2021. ↩
- 1850 U.S. census, Monongalia, Virginia, population schedule, 37th District, p. 348A, dwelling 808, family 809, George W. Thomas; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 961; George age 28; Elizabeth age 27, oldest child William G. age 7. 1860 U.S. census, Appanoose, Iowa, population schedule, Independence, p. 483, dwelling 700, family 667, G. W. Thomas; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 311; George age 38, Elizabeth age 37. 1856 Iowa State Census, Appanoose, Iowa, population schedule, Independence, p. 998, dwelling 61, family 61, George W. Thomas; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2022); George age 34 Elizabeth age 35. In all census where George and Elizabeth appear together the children are spaced the typical 2 years apart and age appropriately. ↩