Monday Is for Mothers: Ashtabula Lyle Thomas (1857 - 1937)

Courtesy of VickieHill56 here are three more pictures of Ashtabula, first as a young girl:

[Ashtabula Lyle Thomas - Probably taken in the mid 1870's.

from the collection of VickieHill56]

And after her marriage:

[Ashtabula Lyle Thomas - from the collection of VickieHill56]

Finally, as an old woman, probably in the 1930s:

[Ashtabula Lyle Thomas - in front of her house in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio -from the collection of VickieHill56]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: George Henry Thomas (1887 - 1970) Soldier

George Henry Thomas is the oldest son of Ashtabula (Lyle) and Seth P. Thomas, which makes him one of my third cousins, twice removed. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on August 2, 1918, as a private.* He rose rapidly to private, first class in early December, was named a corporal several weeks later, raised to a sergeant in January, 1919, ending as a sergeant 1st class in March and being honorably discharged on April 2, 1919. I haven't been able to learn if he was ever sent to Europe.

[George H. Thomas in suit, tie & jacket, undated; posted by VickieHill56 on an Ancestry.com tree.]

[Registration State: Ohio; Registration County: Gallia; Roll: 1832199. Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.]

[Ancestry.com. Ohio Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the World War, 1917-18. Columbus, OH, USA: The F.J. Heer Printing Co., 1926.]

[George H. Thomas in uniform; posted by VickieHill56 on an Ancestry.com tree.]

[George H. Thomas & friends in uniform; posted by VickieHill56 on an Ancestry.com tree.]

[George H. Thomas (top left) with Barracks buddies; posted by VickieHill56 on an Ancestry.com tree. ]

[George H. Thomas (front center) with WWI buddies, packed and ready to go; posted by VickieHill56 on an Ancestry.com tree. ]

*It appears that he joined a regiment of engineers but I haven't been able to find out more about his service.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Mary Elizabeth Thomas - "Sis & Beauty" - 1919

Here's another picture of this maternal fourth cousin, once removed, that was taken on her grandparents' farm in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio. 

[Photo posted on her Ancestry.com family tree by VickieHill56

(who doesn't appear on my DNA match list).]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Seth & Ashtabula (Lyle) Thomas at Home

Another great family photo shared on Ancestry.com by VickieHill56, this one shows Seth and Ashtabula with two of their children, Jason Milton Thomas (1889-1981) and Faye Elizabeth Thomas (1894-1954).

[Left to right: Son Jason with horses, Seth, daughter Faye, and Ashtabula - about 1920. Cheshire, Gallia, Ohio, USA]

Jason and Fay never married and after their parents' died we find them living together on the farm in Cheshire according to the 1940 U.S. Census.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: George Wesley Thomas on His Horse - 1934

George, the grandson of Ashtabula Lyle Thomas, is one of my maternal fourth cousins, once removed. The notes tell us that this was taken outside their house in N.E. Washington D.C. in about 1934.

[Found on VickieHill56's Ancestry.com family]

I've really been enjoying the family photos posted to her Ancestry.com family tree by VickieHill56 (who is not on my DNA match list, although I'm sure we're related somehow).

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio - About 1918

These two people are Mary Elizabeth Thomas, one of my maternal fourth cousins, once removed,* and her mother Fredah Irene (Jacobs) Thomas. The snapshot was taken during a visit to Fridah's parents whose farm was located in Cheshire Township in Gallia County, Ohio.

["Freda and daughter Mary E at Grandparents Jacobs farm." Photo posted on her Ancestry.com family tree by VickieHill56

(who doesn't appear on my DNA match list).]

I wonder what's in the trailer?

*As you can see, Mary Elizabeth is one of Ashtabula Lyle's granddaughters.

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Ashtabula Lyle (1857 - 1937) & Her Husband Seth P. Thomas (1853 - 1940)

I don't know why this second cousin, three times removed*, was named Ashtabula, the name of a city and county located on Lake Erie, far to the north of her birthplace in downstate in Meigs County, Ohio. Perhaps her parents just liked how this Native-American-derived word sounded.**

Ashtabula and Seth were married in Gallia County, Ohio, in 1885 and seem to have lived in that county for their entire lives. They had four children.

[Ancestry.com. Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Marriage Records. Ohio Marriages. Various Ohio County Courthouses.]

Both of these portraits were found on the Ancestry.com family tree of VickieHill56 who doesn't appear to be a DNA match of mine.


*This is how we're related through my Webb lineage:

[Ancestry.com]

**Here's how Wikipedia translates it: The name Ashtabula is derived from ashtepihəle, which means 'always enough fish to be shared around' in the Lenape language

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.