Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John W. THOMAS
John W. Thomas, son of John and Martha (Taylor) Thomas, was born November 11, 1816, in Philadelphia, and received his education in the schools of his native city. For many years he was one of Philadelphia's most prominent merchants. With various banks of his city Mr. Thomas was officially connected and he was one of the original members of the Chelten Hills Company. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican. He was for many years a member and warden of o!d St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia, and he took a very active interest in organizing St. Paul's Parish, Cheltenham, now Elkins Park, of which church he was a member and senior warden to the close of his life. He married Sophia Kezia Atkinson, born January 26, 1819, daughter of John and Mary (Bigelow) Atkinson, of Burlington, New Jersey. John Atkinson was judge of the Circuit Court of Burlington
County, and was a son of Joseph and Catherine (Vaughan) Atkinson. The Atkinson family came from Eastern Pennsylvania, being residents of a lower county which, it was said, formerly belonged to Maryland. The Maryland Atkinsons came with the colony of Lord Baltimore, and of this Maryland branch was the late Bishop Atkinson, of North Carolina. John W. and Sophia Kezia (Atkinson) Thomas were the parents of the following children: 1. George Clifford, mentioned below. 2. Ella, wife of George H. Leonard, of Boston, Massachusetts. 3. Richard Newton, deceased; clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia; married Clara Horstmann, daughter of William J. Horstmann, of Philadelphia, and their children are: i. Emma, wife of Norman Ellison, of Philadelphia, ii. Walter Horstmann, of Philadelphia.
4. Ida, deceased; she became the wife of Charles B. Newcomb, of Boston, Massachusetts, and their children are: i. E. Clifford Newcomb, of Boston, ii. Virginia Newcomb, of New York. iii. Marian, wife of Judge John V. McAvdy, Justice of the Supreme Court of New York.
5. Virginia, wife of James Day Rowland, of Philadelphia.
6. Laura Cooke, died in girlhood.
The death of John W. Thomas occurred March 18, 1882, at his home, Chelten Hills, Pennsylvania, where he had resided since 1854, and his wife died July 5, 1895. At the time of Mr. Thomas's death a Philadelphia paper said: "He was a Christian gentleman of the highest and purest type, and as such will be remembered by all who knew him."
He was one of the founders, in 1861, of St. Paul's Episcopalian Church in Cheltenham, and a Vestryman and Warden
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