I lost some time over the past few days trying to read portions of an essay-in-progress written by my late sister, Bonnie Stevens, tracing the lives and descendants of my great-great-great-grandparents on my mother’s paternal side.

Her manuscript is formatted for printing complete with footnotes, but also contains editorial questions and notes which she obviously hoped to pursue later. It needs a good edit but is perfectly readable. I came across the document again while rummaging through the files I rescued from her laptop computer.

“Four Generations on the American Frontier: James Thomas Jr., Elizabeth Ann Fitzgerald, and their Descendants” was written back in 2005, more than a decade before Bonnie’s death.

These are family roots back into Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, and other parts south, with all that appears to go with that regional history. They lay out history through this one extended family.

I did quickly find some surprises that I don’t recall my mother ever mentioning.

Bonnie reports that “the Slave Schedule in the 1850 census reports four slaves (an adult woman and three children ages 10-16) belonging to James Thomas in Subdivision 23 of McMinn Co., Tennessee.” That’s James Thomas, my direct ancestor.

Here’s a long excerpt. There’s so much here. Slavery. Soldiering for the Confederacy. Death threats for participating on raids in Missouri where he was recognized. Moving his family and slaves to Texas as, Bonnie comments, did other slave owners. It’s all heavily documented and footnoted, although here and there familial connections are inferred from other evidence rather than directly proven by documents.

This is all news to me.

James Thomas Jr. sold all his property at McMinn Co., Tennessee, in 1852 and moved his family to Laclede Co., Missouri. His sister Nancy (Thomas) Fitzgerald, her husband Joseph B. Fitzgerald, and most of their children moved at the same time to the same area of Missouri. Eleanor says that they all traveled together, taking their slaves and traveling north through Ohio, camping along the way. Some researchers suggest that they could read the political trend in East Tennessee and moved to Missouri to protect their investment in the slave trade. In the spring of 1853, Eleanor accompaied her father on a trip to McDonald Co., Missouri where several members of her mother’s Bullard relatives lived. Eleanor says that they called on her Uncle Kitt Bullard’s widow, Jane. Her father made love with the widow, then proposed marriage. No record of the marriage has ever been found, but the 1860 census supports Eleanor’s claim. Although James in living in Laclede Co. and says he is a widower, Kitt Bullard’s children are living in McDonald Co. with Mrs. Jane Thomas. He and Tolbert H. Thomas appeared on the census of 14 June 1860 at Lebanon Post Office, Hooker Township, Laclede Co., Missouri. He began military service in January 1862 Eleanor Knowlton’s journal says that her father served as an officer for a Confederate cavalry unit during the Civil War and that he served with General Sterling Price on at least one of his Missouri campaigns. Confederate service for James’ son Daniel in the 4th Regiment, Missouri Infantry is documented. John is said to have been a prisoner at Alton, Illinois. Joseph F. and Daniel Thomas are listed with service in the 4th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry; confirmation that they are THIS family has not been made. Missouri Civil War service records are reported as very incomplete. The 4th Cavalry Regiment included many who has served in the Missouri Sate Gard. According to data on the Nation Park Service website for Civil War service, it particiated in Marmaduke’s expedition into Missouri, fought in various conflicts in Arkansas, and shared in Price’s Missouri operations. It is possible that James Thomas was a part of this unit, but either mustered out or deserted to Texas, possibly in late 1863. Eleanor’s statement that his Missouri neighbors threatened to kill him if he ever showed his face in Missouri again may be the clue to the catalyst for desertion.

Eleanor says that her father served as a Major in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. As such, he participated in one of General Stirling Price’s raids through Laclede County. James was recognized by his neighbors, and according to Eleanor was threatened that if he ever came back to Laclede Co. he would be killed. This threat prompted his move to Texas. It is known that many Missouri slave owners moved to with their slaves to Arkansas and Texas during the Civil War. In Texas James taught school and ran a small country store. He was known in the community as “Uncle Jimmy Thomas.” He and Daniel Robert Thomas appeared on the census of 1870 at Red River Co., Texas.

This is the family of my mother’s paternal grandmother, who in turn was the granddaughter of the James Thomas referred to in these excerpts. That is, if I have counted the generations properly.

I don’t know how my sister managed to wrap her brain around all these myriad dates and details. I boggles my mind.

So if you’re interested, you can check out the full text. When I converted it to a pdf, the numbers at the bottom of the pages got cut off, but otherwise it seems to look okay.