Dan and Maggie Thomas (parents of Wilford and also my great-grandparents)
Wilford Myrle THOMAS was born 20 May 1891, the second child of Jeremiah Daniel THOMAS (1858-1946) and Margaret Ann GRANT THOMAS (1870-1948). Wilford was the older brother of my grandmother, Florrie Jane THOMAS MARTIN, making him my grand uncle.
Wilford was born in Chesterfield County, South Carolina as were all his siblings. His father was a turpentine distiller who owned his own farm free and clear in 1900, according to the census taken in July of that year. His mother was a busy farm wife and mother to their growing family. On the 1900 census, five children are listed.
Sadly, just two months later on 14 September 1900, Wilford died. He was 11 years old. I don’t know if there was an accident or if he was ill. I can’t find any newspaper clippings about it, and death certificates were not required in 1900 in South Carolina.
Wilford is buried at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church Cemetery in Chesterfield County, along with his parents, his stillborn brother and many of his mother’s people.
Front of envelope, in the hand of Florrie Thomas Martin, my grandmother
Back of envelope, in the hand of Florrie Thomas Martin, my grandmother
Wilford’s blond curl…from 115 years ago.
There are no photographs of Wilford, but I can tell you one thing for sure about him: he had dirty blonde hair. In my grandmother’s belongings I came across a small envelope that contained a curl from Wilford. My grandmother wrote on the e
nvelope.
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[…] Florrie (my grandmother), Aggie, Daniel, and Griffin. Wilford, Daniel, and Griffin died as children. I wrote about Wilford here. The unnamed son was likely […]