James Thomas (d. 1866), lawyer and judge, was probably born in 1799. He was a native of Hancock County, Georgia and attended the local schools. He taught briefly, then studied law and was admitted to the bar there. From the county seat of Sparta he conducted a successful law practice. In 1820 Thomas married Emmeline Gonder of Hancock County. They had two daughters: Acquila, who died in infancy, and Emmeline, who first married George Bell. In 1852, after Bell's death, Emmeline married Linton Stephens (1823-1872), who moved from Crawfordville to Sparta to form a law partnership with Richard Malcolm Johnston (1822-1898). After the death of Emmeline Stephens in 1857, Thomas maintained close ties with his son-in-law and his half-brother Alexander Hamilton Stephens (1812-1883). Between 1857 and 1859 [?] Thomas served as Superior Court Judge for the Northern Circuit, which included Hancock County. Then he retired from the active practice of law and spent much of his time at his country home in Lancaster, about seven miles from Sparta. In 1860 he was one of the delegates from Georgia who did not bolt from the Democratic Convention in Charleston. Later that year he was a member of Georgia's non-secessionist delegation which failed to win admission into the Democratic Convention in Baltimore. Thomas spent his last years as a planter in Hancock County, where he had considerable property holdings.
From the description of James Thomas correspondence, 1862-1864. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79226865
