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Note: HI6051
Note: (Research):Listed in the Index to Florida Militia Muster Rolls, Seminole Indian Wars: Surnames T-Z
Thomas, Jesse Pvt, 08:005-6, 08:007-8, 10:019-20, 09:027-28 Thomas, Jessee Pvt, 09:025-26 Date of death reportedly comes from LDS Indian War Records, not verified. **************************************************** According to an ARMED OCCUPATION ACT LAND PERMITS, DM ID: 149432, Doc. Date: 07/24/1843, Legacy Doc. Locator: AOP3772 Jesse E. Thomas came to Florida in November 1833.
**************************************************** THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS, Thursday, January 22, 1981 Page Two
THE WAY IT WAS - Gene Barber The Militia of 1837 Columbia County, of which Baker County was a part until 1858, girded itself in early 1836 for battle with the Seminoles and their allies during the Second Seminole War. Since most of that County's earliest records have been lost, muster rolls of militia men such as this one have to be discovered in the hands of private collectors and descendants of some of the men who foresaw the value of documents of their times.
This particular list is owned by Eldridge Collins of Columbia County, and because of the goose quill writing, some of it is open to interpretation. We present the list with our own edition and added notes.
William Cason, William Ammons, Charles Branch (lived not far from the northern line between present Baker and Columbia Counties), Fisher Ghaskins (Gaskins; lived for a while in the present Union County area), James Goodbread, Allen Hazell (or Hazen), indecipherable, Cornelius Barber (later moved to Putnam County), Thomas Gaskins, Jacob Holbrook, William Barber (listed on the Saint Mary's River at Trail Ridge.
William T. Holbrook (all the Holbrook entries were spelled "Holbrooks"), John Cason, Ransom Cason, R.B. Buffam (?), Jesse A. Thomas, - Joiner, Cader Hancock (lived on the present Baker-Union line near Lulu), Giles W. Ellis (there is a story among his descendants that he fired the first shot of the war in Columbia County), David Gillet, Daniel Cason, John B. Casan, Samuel Joiner, Joseph Joiner, John Moody, E.M. Moody.
I.J. (?) Carter, Elisha Carter (lived for a long time in the present Union County before moving to near Long Branch in northwest Clay County), Dennis Cason, Green (?) B. Cason, - Cason, Cader Hancock, Littleton Hancock (lived in the present Union County and then moved into Lake City), John Gaines, Uriah Joiner, James Hancock, John H. Joiner (?), James Munden, Thomas M. Moody, John Matthews.
Enock Moody, Henry Moore (also a resident of the present Union County), James Munden, William Munden, Nathaniel Moody, John B. Moody, W.T. Tucker, William A. Tucker, Lewis M. Tucker (all three Tuckers later moved to the Clay-east Bradford section), and Isiah Thomas.
Some might wonder why so few Baker County men if we were a part of Columbia at that time. Among several reasons for the lack of east Columbia residents on the roll are (1) there were very few people living there to offer men for the militia and (2) it was more convenient and efficient for most of the men to join militia units in Camden County (present Charlton), Georgia, and the neighboring counties of Duval and Nassau.
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1848, Administrator for the estate of Nicholas Thomas in Alachua County, Florida.
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Participated in the First Statewide (Florida) Election May 26, 1845. He voted at the Ft. Call Precinct. Name recorded is Thomas, Jesse E. Source: p. 36, Florida Voters in Their First Statewide Election, May 26, 1845, by Brian E. Michaels, The Florida State Genealogical Society, 1987.
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Purchased land in Alachua County, Florida in 1859.
Patentee: JESSE E THOMAS State: FLORIDA Acres: 39.97 Metes/Bounds: No Issue Date: 12/7/1859 Land Office: Newnansville Cancelled: No Mineral Reservations: No Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566) Document Nr.: 4113 Accession/Serial Nr.: FL0410__.439 BLM Serial Nr.: FL NO S/N
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Listed on the 1860 Agricultural Census for New River County, Florida. 1. Name of Owner: Jessee E. Thomas 2. Acres of Improved Land: 50 3. Acres of Unimproved Land: 80 4. Cash Value of the Farm: 1600 5. Value of Farm Implements and Machinery: 20 13. Value of Livestock: 205
**************************************************** While I'm writing, I will also say that I dug through my records on Roland Thomas and Jesse E. Thomas. It appears from their own testimony, that each served in a home guard cavalry unit during the Civil War. And while one would assume that after resigning his commission due to hepatitis that Roland would not serve, it appears he did. The same is true for his brother Jesse. Jesse E. was denied a pension for his service in the Mexican War because while he received a discharge due to a debilitating case of rheumatoid arthritis during that conflict, during the Civil War he served in a home guard cavalry unit. Apparently the pension board thought if you could ride a horse you couldn't be that disabled. Jesse E. vehemently denied any allegiance to the Confederacy during the war, and testified that he only served because he was a conscript that was made to serve. And while Roland doesn't mention being a conscript, he may have been as well.
All of this plays into a family story I heard as a child about a member of the Thomas family deserting and being hid by slaves. My sister Debbie and I believe there may be several instances where members of the family avoided the Civil War except when it came to serving on Florida soil. Of the three Thomas' I have records for, there was only one who appears to have actually left Florida during the war, but he was sent home pretty early for an injury and served out his time in Florida. But ironically, when it came time for a pension, they had no problem applying. Source: e-mail, Richard Thomas, pepperhead1@msn.com, 28 February 2005
Notes for Jesse E. THOMAS: No place of burial has ever been located for Jesse E. Thomas or his wife Eliza M. Scott. The daughter, Rofila M.W. Nettles is buried at Fort Call Cemetery. In 1997 the grave of their son George W.S.Thomas and William Scott thought to be Eliza's father was located in Union County in the southeastquarter of S24, T6S, R18E. The cemetery is not marked and is on the northern edge of the right-of-way of a gas pipeline. Carl Mobley told me in 2005 in an email that the cemetery is called the Pinkston Cemetery. Source: Richard Thomas
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