Thomas Family

The Thomas Family Papers include letters and documents from three generations of the Philip Thomas family of Cecil County, Maryland. The Thomas family was originally from Wales and traces its lineage in Maryland back to Philip and Sarah Harrison Thomas, who arrived in the colony from Bristol, England, in 1651. Three of the couple's children were born in England, and two others arrived after their settlement in Maryland. The Thomas family settled in Anne Arundel County, where Philip Thomas was granted a tract of five hundred acres of land called Beakely or Beckly in April 1651. His will, probated in 1675, lists several tracts of land in Anne Arundel County and homes in Bristol as part of his estate. Initially a leader of the Puritan party within the colony of Maryland, Thomas later became a Quaker. His wife Sarah was also an active member of the Society of Friends.

Their son Samuel Thomas was born in Maryland in 1655 and married Mary Hutchins in a Quaker ceremony in 1688. Samuel and Mary had eight children together, one of whom was born in 1694 and named Philip Thomas. This Philip Thomas married twice, secondly to Anne Chew in 1724. Philip sired at least seven children with his two wives, and one of his sons was also named Philip Thomas. The younger Philip was born sometime in the 1720s, married Anne Harris Galloway in 1754, and sired one child, a son named Philip. He inherited one-half of his father's estate, "Mount Ararat," at the Susquehanna Ferry in Cecil County. At least some members of the Thomas family had remained in Anne Arundel County since the arrival of the first Philip Thomas in 1651. It is possible that the Philip Thomas born in 1694 moved his family to the northeastern section of Maryland, near the Susquehanna River. Another son of Philip and Anne Chew Thomas named Samuel lived at Perry Point on the Susquehanna River across from Havre de Grace; Samuel owned the ferry rights to both sides of the river.

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