Untitled - citizen hylbom blog

900 SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Thomas passed away ia Canada, June 2, 1776.
The father and grandfather of General
Thomas before him had resided in Marshfield,
where they were substantial farmers and leading
men. The son John received a medical
education at Medford, studying under Cotton
Tufts, and commenced practice in his native
town, but soon removed to Kingston, where he
was a skillful and very successful physician.
He became a prominent man in the affairs of
the town; was chosen clerk for 1764, 1765 and
1766, and was one of the selectmen from 1763
to 1775. In March, 1746, Dr. Thomas was
commissioned as second surgeon in a body of
troops raised to be stationed at Annapolis
Eoyal. In 1755 he was appointed surgeon's
mate in Shirley's regiment, but soon left the
medical staff, and was appointed a lieutenant
in the same regiment. He was appointed a
colonel in 1759, and reappointed in 1760, and
commanded his regiment part of both these
years in Nova Scotia. This latter year he
joined the army at Crown Point, commanded
by Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the commander-inchief
of the North American forces.
At the close of this French war Colonel
Thomas continued in his profession at home
until 1775, when the war of the Revolution
began. He recruited a regiment of volunteers
and on Feb. 9, 1775, was made a brigadier
general by the Provincial Congress. His name
not appearing in the first list of generals created
by the Continental Congress, he withdrew
from the service, but was induced by Washington
to return, and during the siege of Boston,
as commander of a brigade, rendered notable
service to the patriot cause. On the night
of March 4, 1776, with 3,000 men, he captured
Dorchester Heights, and threw iip entrenchments,
which compelled the British to
abandon Boston three days later. On March
6, 1776, he was made major general by Congress,
and after the death of General Montgomery
was assigned to the command of the
patriot forces operating in Canada. He arrived
at Quebec May 1st, and finding that his
command was seriously depleted by disease
and death, and that the term of enlistment of
300 of the soldiers had expired, he at once ordered
a retreat. During the march toward the
frontier he was attacked by smallpox and died
at Chamblay, near Montreal, June 2, 1776.
(V) Col. John Thomas, 1805 Judith, widow of Joseph Sampson,
son of Gen. John,
born in 1766, married in 1791 Waity, daughter
of Waite Gray, who bore him children as follows:
Augustus, who married Sally Brewster;
Saba, born in 1792; William Appleton, born
in 1800; and John. He married (second) in
and
daughter of James Drew, and to this marriage
was born a daughter, Hannah, who married
Theodore Cunningham. He died Feb. 21,
1853, aged eighty-seven years.
During the siege of Boston, when but a lad,
Col. John ran away from home, got by the
sentries and reached liis father, then in command
at Dorchester Heights. This was an incident
of his boyhood he always recalled with
pleasure.
(VI) John Thomas, son of Col. John, was
born in Kingston, and was liberally educated.
He was prepared for the law, and before middle
life was located in the practice of his profession
at Plymouth, Mass., occupying an office
on Main street. In 1832 he was admitted to
the firm of I. L. & T. Hedge, men largely
engaged in the whale fishery. In 1833 he purcliased
the old Dr. James Thatcher estate,
called "Longwood," then altogether the most
aristocratic estate in Plymouth. In 1837 he
sold the place and moved to New York, where
he engaged successfully in the wholesale iron
business, and afccumulated a handsome property.
When retiring from business he bought
an estate at Irvington on the North river, and
built a house which he occupied until his
death. In 1823 he married Hannah, daughter
of Barnabas Hedge, of Plymouth, Mass., and
their children were: Eunice Burr, born in
1824, who married John Earl Williams; and
William Appleton, born in 1829. Mr. Thomas
was killed by lightning in the hayfield in July,
1855. The watch he wore at the time of his
death was that of his grandfather. General
Thomas, and, due no doubt to the electric current,
stopped at the minute Mr. Thomas met
his death. He was a member of the Unitarian
Church known as Dr. Bellows's Church. His
wife died in 1877, at Irvington, and both were
buried at Kingston.
(VII) WiLLi.\M Appleton Thomas, son of
John, born at Plymouth July 13, 1829, was
educated in the public schools and in New
York University. Preferring an outdoor life
to that of a business or professional career he
came to Kingston, and settled on the Thomas
estate, first owned by his great-grandfather.
General Thomas, becoming a gentleman farmer.
He made extensive improvements on the
property, and took great pride in its development,
using modern scientific metho