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    GEO. F. THOMAS, a prominent citizen of this county, and now residing in Wapello, was one of the first settlers of this county. He came here in 1838. He was born on the 1st day of August, 1816, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of eleven children, whose parents were Isaac L. Thomas and Mary Ann Fink. His parents were the descendants of the earliest settlers of Pennsylvania, and his grandfather, Michael Fink, was one of the chosen sixty who accompanied General Washington in all his battles, from the initiation to the termination of the revolutionary struggle. The parents of George were people of intelligence and piety, and were farmers by occupation. His father lived in Pennsylvania till his death, dying in Mercer County in that state about the year 1867. His mother about the year 1858.

    At the age of nineteen Mr. Thomas, with an ordinary education, obtained by his own exertions, began life in Huntington County, Pennsylvania, as a merchant tailor. This occupation he followed assiduously till about the year 1854, when, on account of the inroads that his sedentary occupation was making on his health, he renounced it forever. In Athens, Ohio, on the 8th day of June 1837, he was united in marriage to Elizabeth R. Minton, a native of Ohio, and the daughter of Jacob Minton, who was one of the earliest settlers of this county, and who represented this county in the Legislature in the year 1839. Mr. Thomas lost his first wife on the 27th of March, 1865, leaving five children, who are all living. On the 14th day of August he was united in marriage to Mrs. M. M. Jefferis, a native of Ohio, and a sister of Bishop Merrill, of the M. E. Church. In 1838 Mr. Thomas left Athens, Ohio, and came to this county settling in Wapello, where he has since resided, and where in all probability he will pass the balance of his days. Since he renounced tailoring as an avocation his time and energies have been employed in various pursuits.

    In 1839 he was elected Treasurer of the county, and was re-elected six times, going out of office in 1846. The office of Justice of the Peace he held from 1867 till 1873. In 1862 he was appointed Postmaster of Wapello by President Lincoln, and has faithfully and satisfactorily discharged the duties of that office ever since. Politically he is a strong republican, and has always been remarkable for the zeal with which he has supported the correct tenets of the great Republican Party.

    In religion he is a member of the Methodist Church—joined this great church when quite young, and ever since his coming to Wapello has taken a great interest in the cause of religion and the prosperity and advancement of his church. He has been class-leader and superintendent of the Sabbath-school of this denomination of Christians more or less since he embraced the cause of Christ. Socially, Mr. Thomas is very pleasant and affable—is a man devoid of anything like ostentation in manners, and passes through life respected by all. Although his constitution has been subjected to the vicissitudes and labors of an unusually active life, it is yet in a healthy condition.