STORY OF S. A. THOMAS; AMUSING EXPERIENCES
Saw  First  Railroad West of Allegheny—His Service in the Navy —An  Early Trip to Iowa
(By Merze Marvin.)

Twenty-five years ago this fall the editor of the Sentinel came to Shenandoah and began to set up his old Washington handpress and handful of equipment in a dingy back room over the Webster drug store. While he was thus engaged, S. A. Thomas heard of the new venture and with optimistic faith in the Sentinel's future came up to the office, introduced himself to the new editor and paid a dollar for a year's subscription to the Sentinel. He was the first subscriber. That dollar looked as big as a platter and ever since that day the Sentinel editor and the Sentinel force have had a warm spot in their hearts for S. A. Thomas. That act was characteristic of our friend Thomas. He is always ready to boost a worthy cause and he doesn't wait to see what his neighbor is going to do about it either. If there is a good thing to be done, a good cause to be supported, he goes right ahead and does it, regardless of what the other fellows have to say.   And that is but natural for Mr Thomas numbers among his ancestors some of the brave, courageous patriots of Revolutionary times.
The paternal ancestors of S. A. Thomas were Quakers, who came to this country with William Penn. They were of Welch descent. His great grandfater was a gunsmith and helped to make flintlock muskets at Valley Forge for the Revolutionary soldiers. Thomas' maternal ancestors came from Holland Switzerland. Aug. 21, 1750, the good ship Anderson landed at Philadelphia with eighty-six passengers, among whom was Gotlib Nauman. He settled in Pennsylvania and had two sons, Thomas and John Christian. Thomas was the great grandfather of our subject and from him was derived the family name, Thomas.     This great grandfather was one of the "Indians" in the historic Boston tea party. The Naumans emigrated to the Shenandoah valley, Virginia. The grandfather settled in Ohio, near Springfield, in 1809.

S. A. Thomas himself was born in Clarke county, Ohio, northwest of Springfield, in 1842. When he was a tiny lad of three years old he went with his parents to see the first train on the first railroad west of the Allegheny mountains. It was called the Little Miama and ran from Cincinnati. Ohio, to Springfield, about 85 miles. Thomas' uncle, Thomas Krizer, was one of the surveyors who helped to locate the road. The road was built with wooden rails sawed out of wood. They were about eight by ten inches and had a strip of iron about two and a half inches wide and between one-half and three-fourths inch thick spiked on top of the wooden rails. About every fourth tie had notches blocked out to receive the wooden rail. These notches were about two and one-half inches deep and about that much wider than the rail. This was to keep the track from spreading. A tapering wedge some two feet long was driven in the notch beside the rail to keep it in place. The engines and cars, looked quite different from those of today. They burned wood in the engines. The smoke stack had the large end up and was nearly four feet across the top.
Shortly after that Mr. Thomas saw the soldiers enlist for the Mexican war. A company went from Springfield under the leadership of Captain Drum. When Gen. Scott's army was entering the gates of the city of Mexico a cannon hall from one of the last shots fired struck Capt. Drum near the center of his body, almost cutting him in two. Years afterward, when Gen. Scott ran for president, he made a speech in Springfield and remembering the sad fate of his brave captain, asked to be introduced to Capt. Drum's wife.
Thomas went to school only fourteen days after he was eighteen years of age. With his cousin he journeyed to Whittenburg college the last of May in 1862 but found that 60 of the students had enlisted in the army. They also joined, the ranks, went to Camp Chase and were mustered into Company B, Eighty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry. In about two weeks the company landed at Clarksburg, W. Va., the home of Stonewall Jackson. Gen. Kelley was in command. Aug. 20th they started to Stanton, Old Virginia, but at Huttonsville the order was countermanded and they returned to Beverly to prevent Jenkins and Imboden's advansing into Pennsylvania. Beverly is situated in a beautiful little valley between Cheat and Rich mountains. The battle of Rich mountain was fought some ten miles from there. Here Thomas heard his first shell screech through the air.
In February, 1864, Thomas enlisted in the navy in Cincinnati, Ohio. He took the steamer Carrabasset down to the gulf squad, Admiral Farragut's fleet. There was a navy yard at Mound City, Ill., at that time. Here they took on coal and tons of ammunition. The captain addressed his crew and explained that they had scarcely men enough to keep the boat running night and day. He promised them five days liberty in New Orleans if they should keep the boat running steadily, to which agreement the crew readily assented. It was necessary then to man one of the guns for use in case of attack. The captain selected a gun crew and placed Thomas in charge. He was to be the "man behind the gun." The crew were put through the drill for a couple of hours, running the gun in and out and going through the performance of loading. The gun was a twenty-four pounder. Finally the captain announced, "We will load it this time with shrapnel." When the gun was loaded and run out the captain directed Thomas to aim the gun at a pile of driftwood a quarter of a mile away and when it came in line to pull the lanyard. The captain and the other boys went to the port holes to observe the results of the shot. The driftwood soon came into line and Thomas dutifully pulled the, lanyard. It looked to him as though the gun came back nearly as far as the shell went forward. There was a stove behind him. He did a backward flip-flop clear over the stove. The captain praised the shot. When Thomas dubiously inquired whether a gun always recoiled that way, he explained that it was a wonder the gun did not jump clear off the carriage, as the compressers had not been screwed down.

After the five days' liberty in New Orleans Thomas and his fellows were ordered aboard the gunboat St. Clare and later were transferred to the Kenwood, on which they traveled up the Red river with the fleet to Shreveport. There were 155 cannon aboard the fleet. Thomas reached home March 4, 1865. Being of thirfty disposition, young Thomas had saved his money. He also, increased his allowance some by sewing. During the time he was in the navy he made shirts for some of his fellows, which sold as high as eight dollars apiece.
On his return from the war Thomas farmed his father's land, receiving a third of the crop as his share. During the summer a school teacher named Troxell approached him with a proposition to sell 160 acres of land in Iowa. Thomas did not have the money to buy the land and told the teacher so. The latter persisted, however, and early in August asked Thomas to make an offer on the land. Thomas proposed to pay so much down and the balance in two notes at six per cent interest with a mortgage on the farm as security. Having ascertained that Thomas was of age, the offer was accepted without security. This land was part of the farm near Bingham which Mr. Thomas occupied and improved.
Thomas did not invest his hard earned money in a horse and buggy with which to take the girls riding, as did so many of the boys. But that does not mean that he did not like the girls. In fact, Thomas always has been a great admirer of pretty girls, and in those days sometimes walked four or five miles, to call on the fair maidens of his fancy. In November, 1865, he married Sarah B. Marshall, who lived near Urbana, O. She was "the girl I left behind me," said Mr. Thomas. They started in life poor, worked hard and kept their credit good. In two years the land was paid for. And talk about high living! At that time a sack of flour cost five dollars and everything else in proportion. Thomas paid $50 for his wedding suit and asserts that he can buy a better suit today for $25. His wedding boots cost $9 and they were not the highest grade either. Ordinary labor was worth one dollar per day. Harvest wages were two dollars per day. The money was worth about eighty cents on the dollar.
Thomas made his first trip to Iowa the last of February in 1871. When his train reached Creston they encountered one of the most terrific thunder and wind storms on record. The water poured down inside of the car. At Brooks the wind had blown a freight car off the switch, across the main track, The engine of the passenger train struck the car near the middle. The concussion threw the passengers to the floor. The freight car had been telescoped and the smoke stack of the engine was carried away with the debris. It was necessary to send to Red Oak for another engine. Thomas left the train at Villisca. He wanted to go to Clarinda but was informed that the hack would not run on account of the culverts being washed out the night before. Nothing daunted, Thomas started to walk. After five miles he encountered a man driving four mules hitched to a wagon of lumber. He was bound for Clarinda and invited Thomas to accompany him. One of the men would drive while the other walked ahead to see if the bridges were washed out. They reached Clarinda at 1 o'clock and Thomas, having eaten dinner at the hotel hastened to find the landlord or clerk so that he might pay for his dinner and proceed to the country with his companion of the morning. No landlord in sight. Thomas sought long and diligently and finally spied the man disappearing up the street. A hot chase ensued and after the cash had been transferred Thomas said he had missed a ride because he could not find anyone to accept the payment for his dinner. The landlord's reply was surprising: "Why in h—-—didn't you go on?  It would have been all right."
A few miles from Clarinda the houses dwindled farther and farther apart. Finally there was but one more in sight, the Isaac McVey house in Middle Tarkio. There he stopped to see about accommodations for the night, and though there were friends staying there and the house was full, Thomas was told he might stay if he could put up with accommodations. There was a meeting at the school house that evening, and the boys and girls invited Thomas to accompany them, but he, being tired, preferred to stay at home with the householder and his good wife. Next morning he heard the girls talking to each other. One of them said, "I am going to set my cap for that young fellow.'" At the breakfast table the housewife asked him if he were a man of family and when he answered in the affirmative he was amused to see the girls kicking each other under the table.
Tarkio township was settled pretty well. Two miles west was the last house for a long way. Lon Beach now owns the farm. The next house west was on Thomas Gunn's farm. The next was a little east of where the Wabash railroad crosses the Clarinda road. A Mr. Elrod lived there. He asked Mr. Thomas to attend church with him and the invitation was accepted. The service was held in the White Cloud school house. It was near where the present house stands. There was not a tree near. The wagons were driven close up around the building and a part of the teams were unhitched and tied to the standards. The room was filled and Thomas was given a place of honor beside the preacher.
From there it was five miles to Shenandoah. There was some breaking but no houses until the old Welty place was reached. This house was about six months old. It was Sunday, the first of March, when Thomas reached Shenandoah. "The country people for miles around must have gathered at the depot," said Mr. Thomas, "for there were several hundred people there. All were young. It was so for a long time. One seldem saw an old person. Having completed his trip, Mr, Thomas bought a ticket to Red Oak. It read "Fair Oaks to Red Oak." The name "Fair Oaks" was afterwards changed to Shenandoah.
S. A. Thomas moved with his family, to Page county in 1878 and settled on and improved the farm near Bingham. His first new buggy and carriage still stand in his barn and are in good condition yet. Said Mr Thomas: "When I started in life, for a young man to start with a horse and buggy, was a good deal like eating the pie first. If I had eaten the pie first, it would be doubtful if I would now have the red automobile.''
And speaking of automobiles reminds us that Mr. Thomas is one of the most generous men in all the land to give other people rides in his car.     Times without number he gathers up a car load of old ladies in Farragut or vicinity and brings them to Shenandoah or takes them for a ride through the country just for their pleasure. He gets enjoyment in giving pleasure to others. And sometimes the car is literally loaded down with fifteen to twenty little girls all laughing and screaming with delight while Thomas' smiling countenance looms up above the curls and ribbons of the youngsters as he pilots the car carefully from place to place just for the delight of pleasing those children. Mr. Thomas is always ready to do a kind deed or to accommodate anyone, whether stranger or not, and this propensity occasionally gets him into laughable predicaments, as for instance once, when he hurried out of a car to give a lady her umbrella which she had forgotten and then after it was too late discovered that the owner the umbrella was still on the train. But Thomas was game and bought her a fine new umbrella. He is also one of the luckiest of men. Once in Columbus, Ohio, he picked up a fat wallet in a street car, well loaded, with bills, and after considerable advertising found the owner and started an interesting correspondence.
Mr. Thomas lived for many years near Bingham and then sold out and bought a large farm near Farragut which he has improved and it is worth now several times as much as he paid for it. Recently he invested in a small farm on the Texas coast and he takes trips to Texas frequently just for the fun of going and showing the other snowdiggers around in that semi-tropical region. A much prized Mexican kodak picture shows S. A. Thomas in the streets of Matamoras holding a little Mexican baby in his arms.
All in all, S. A. Thomas is just, about the kindest hearted and most public spirited citizen we know—a
real, genuine christian in many ways, only he does not know it, for he makes no profession.