Thomas Cemetery
Athens, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located in a pasture across a creek on top of a hill, this historic cemetery is on land from the Alexander de la Garza survey. Jacob Thomas (1800-1880) was a planter from North Carolina who moved to Georgia where he married Hannah Stubbs in 1823. They had two children, Elizabeth “Eveline” Thomas and Alfred “Sylvester” Thomas. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Alabama. When Jacob’s wife, Hannah, died, he married Lucindy Knight in 1839. Jacob’s second wife, Lucindy passed on and he and his son, Sylvester, moved to Arkansas. Between 1850 and 1855, Jacob and Sylvester moved to Erath County, Texas. Sylvester married Araminta Benge and they had three daughters, Mary, Sarah and Adeline. Very soon after 1860, the Jacob Thomas family moved to Henderson County. Sylvester volunteered as a Confederate Soldier but died from the flu during training. Jacob continued to care for his daughter-in-law and her children. Not only was he farming but also raised cattle. In 1875, Sylvester’s eldest daughter, Mary, married J.M. Hall. In 1877, Mary died, most likely during childbirth, and was buried on the family farm, the site that would become Thomas Cemetery. In 1880, Jacob Thomas died and was buried in the family cemetery. Descendants of Jacob Thomas that lived on this land are buried here, including Araminta Benge Thomas, Adeline Thomas and her husband, Abel “Matthew” Edwards, and several young children. This small family cemetery is a reminder of pioneer families and the struggles they faced.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This small family cemetery began with the 1877 burial of Mary Thomas Hall, who died young, likely in childbirth, on the family farm. Its patriarch, Jacob Thomas, was a planter born in North Carolina in 1800 who moved through Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas before reaching Henderson County, Texas, by 1860. His son Sylvester volunteered for the Confederacy but died of influenza in training, leaving Jacob to raise his grandchildren. Generations of the family lie buried here on the hilltop above the creek.
Why it matters
The cemetery distills the restless westward migration of a Southern farming family across five states, and the toll the Civil War took even on those who never reached the battlefield.
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Related people
- · Jacob Thomas
- · Hannah Stubbs
- · Alfred Sylvester Thomas
- · Araminta Benge Thomas
- · Mary Thomas Hall
Themes & tags
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