WILLIAM A. THOMAS

William A. Thomas, busily employed with the duties and labor of the farm, his attention being concentrated upon the further improvement of a tract of land of one hundred and twenty acres, constituting a good farm about a mile and a half from Mechanicsville, on section 20, Fremont township, was born in Clinton county, Iowa, November 30, 1857. His father, J. W. Thomas, was a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, born August 9, 1827. There he was reared upon a farm and after arriving at years of maturity wedded Rebecca Tedrick, also a native of that county. He made farming his life work and engaged in tilling the soil in Ohio until after the birth of two of their children. In 1856 he came to Iowa and settled near DeWitt, in Clinton county, where he opened up a farm which he continued to cultivate for nine years. When he took up his abode there the Northwestern railroad had not crossed the Mississippi river and there were various evidences of frontier life. At length Mr. Thomas sold his property inClinton county and in 1865 removed to Cedar county, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land. With characteristic energy he began to develop that property and, finding that prosperity attended his labors here, he added to his holdings until the boundaries of his farm enclosed two hundred and forty acres, all in one body. He planted maple seeds here and now has anice grove of large trees covering more than five acres. This constitutes a splendid wind break on the west and north of the buildings besides making amost attractive and cheerful farm. Upon this place Mr. Thomas reared his family and spent his last years, his life’s labors being ended in death on the 10th of April, 1909. He had for anumber of years survived his wife, who died April 12, 1892.

William A. Thomas was one of two sons of the family who reached adult age, his brother being H. P. Thomas, now a resident of Cedar Rapids. A sister, Mary E., is living in Mechanicsville, while another sister, Abigail J., is the wife of J. E. Arthur, of Wellsville, Ohio.

William A. Thomas was reared upon the home farm and his early education, acquired in the district schools, was supplemented by study in the high school of Mechanicsville. Throughout the period of his boyhood and youth he assisted his father more and more largely in the work of the farm and when his father removed to Mechanicsville Mr. Thomas took charge of the farm and business and has since been active in the management of his individual interests. He is diligent and persevering and his energy and labor constitute salient forces for success.

On the 12th of January, 1887, Mr. Thomas was married in Guernsey county, Ohio, to Miss Fannie Hawthorne. That county was her birthplace and there she was reared and educated, her parents being John and Jane Hawthorne, well known and worthy settlers of that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas began their domestic life on the farm which has since been their home. He has erected a large two-story residence, has also built a double crib, has fenced his fields and altogether has carried the work of improvement along progressive lines, making his farm one of the attractive and valuable properties of the district. He is also engaged in raising and feeding hogs, fattening about one hundred head annually. He also engages to some extent in the dairy business and supplements his income thereby. Aside from his farming and stock-raising interests he is a stockholder in the Mechanicsville Telephone Company. His life is one of thrift and industry. What he undertakes he accomplishes by reason of his perseverance, his determination and his unfaltering labor.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been born four children: Merrill H., Elizabeth M., Jonathan Paul and William Gerald. The parents are members of the Presbyterian church, in the work of which they take an active and helpful interest. Mr. Thomas is serving as one of the elders of the church of Mechanicsville and Mrs. Thomas is also active in the work of the church and Sunday school. In 1909 he was a delegate to the Presbyterian church assembly at Denver, Colorado, and two years before his father was selected as a delegate but was unable to attend on account of sickness. The son was sent as a delegate to the general assembly by the church as a token of appreciation for the father’s active church work and in honor of the father’s memory. In his political views Mr. Thomas is a republican but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him. His life has ever been straightforward and honorable and his many good qualities have gained for him the warm regard and kindly feeling of all with whom he has been brought in contact. Much of his life has been spent in Cedar county although he was for two years a resident of Kansas, whither he went in 1881. He believes that few localities, however, can offer equal advantages, especially along agricultural lines, and his labors therefore have been directed here in the field of general agricultural pursuits with a result that his efforts have been crowned with a gratifying prosperity.