My Genealogy Hound

ALFRED E. THOMAS first saw the light of day at Hicksville, Ohio, February 28, 1848. He is a son of James and Eunice (Strong) Thomas, both of whom were natives of Ohio. Young Thomas volunteered his services to his country when not seventeen years of age, enlisting October 29, 1864, but the war was drawing to a close and he was not assigned to active duty. Returning to his home he engaged in farming in Defiance county, Ohio, but he was not altogether satisfied with farming among the stumps in Ohio, and determined to emigrate westward. The year 1866 found him in the State of Missouri, where he remained for about seven years. In 1873, after a wearisome journey of twenty-one days in a “prairie schooner,” he located in Buffalo county, Nebr. It was early in the spring, and the first thing he did was to look for a house to shelter his family until he could select a claim and provide a home of his own. He finally succeeded in finding a newly built sod house on the shore of the Wood river, almost directly north of Kearney. About the time he got his family comfortably housed there came up suddenly a terrible blizzard, April 14th and 15th of the same year. The wind blew so fiercely that it removed the roof from the house, leaving the occupants without shelter. It was in the night-time when the storm commenced, and Mr. Thomas and family, including his sister and brother-in-law and three young men stopping at the house at the time, sought shelter in their beds for two days and two nights. The snow was very deep, when Mr. Thomas, with his wife and child, started for a neighbor’s through the terrible storm. It was intensely cold, and Mrs. Thomas was almost chilled through before they started, but to remain there was certain death. On the way Mrs. Thomas became exhausted, and had their cries for help not been heard by the neighbors, whose house they were endeavoring to reach, they doubtless would have perished. The storm lasted three days and was the most severe in the history of the country. There was great suffering among the settlers, and hundreds of cattle were frozen to death.

Mr. Thomas has always taken great pleasure in hunting, and during his early settlement in this country wild game was plenty, and the time was when the rafters of his sod house hung full of smoked venison of the choicest kind. He killed plenty of deer, antelope, and some elk. During the summer of 1874, Mr. Thomas, in company with two companions, set out on a hunting expedition in the Loup river country. On their return, one bright moonlight night, they passed by a herd of Texas cattle, numbering several thousand. Their wagon was filled with venison and antelope, and the cattle smelling the fresh meat started to follow. Mr. Thomas and his companions, knowing as they did the viciousness of Texas cattle, became alarmed at the terrible noise made by them and at once started their horses on the run. For a time it seemed that the cattle would stampede them, but fortunately they succeeded in making their escape, after being chased by the cattle for several miles. Mr. Thomas never experienced any trouble with the cowboys, always treating them courteously and frequently welcoming them to his home for a meal.

Alfred E. Thomas was married January 3, 1871, to Miss Isabelle Lewis, who was born December 16, 1852, and whose parents were Milton and Sarah (Clark) Lewis. Milton Lewis was a native of Pennsylvania, but was reared in Richmond county, Ohio. In 1866 he emigrated to Missouri and in 1881 to South Dakota, where he now resides. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas five children as follows — Lewis J., born in Grundy county, Mo., March 6, 1872; Clarence B., born May 10, 1874; Ella M., born March 4, 1878; Zenoa C., born January 25, 1880, and Oscar V., born January 26, 1886.