My Genealogy Hound

A. C. Thomas, New Harmony. Perhaps no other man in Posey county is more entitled to the substantial success that he has made of his efforts and opportunities than the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. His early advantages for an education were limited to what was known as the Bayou school in Bethel township, Posey county, but he continued to be a student of books as well as of men and affairs, so far, throughout a career of advancement and accomplishment. He is a native son of Posey county, born in Bethel township, November 28, 1857. His parents were Shelby H. and Sarah (Williams) Thomas. The father was a native of Kentucky and the mother of Indiana. The Thomas family consisted of three brothers, and one sister who died in childhood. A. C. remained at home and worked on the farm until he reached majority, when he went to Kansas to join a brother, who had preceded him a short time. He located in Cloud county, between the towns of Minneapolis and Concordia. This section of Kansas was well on the frontier in those early days. He bought land and remained there two years, during 1879 and 1880. These two years of pioneer life on the great plains of the West gave the young man an insight into the development of the country, which, no doubt, was a valuable asset to his business career. In 1880 he returned to Posey county and engaged in farming until 1885. About this time the Corbin Milling Company was organized. Mr. Thomas took stock and became secretary and treasurer of the company. He later took more stock, and in 1906 became the active manager of the company. His management of this extensive milling and grain business was characterized with the same energy and keen business insight typical of the man. In 1913 he retired as the active business head of this institution in order that he might be able to devote more attention to his other investments and extensive real estate holdings. Mr. Thomas was united in marriage October 16, 1881, to Miss Ella C. Bailey, a refined daughter of William and Elizabeth Bailey, prominent pioneers of Posey county. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been born four children: Clauda B., who died in childhood; William H., a resident of Los Angeles, Cal.; Jessie M., who married Robert Ribeyre, of New Harmony; and Helen C., a student at a young ladies’ school at Oxford, Ohio. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, a director of the New Harmony Banking Company, and has been a member of the Working Men’s Institute twenty years. He has been a Democrat all his life, casting his first Presidential vote for Cleveland in 1884, and the last one to date for Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have one of the finest residences in Posey county and their genial hospitality is highly prized and much appreciated by their many friends.