Chauncey Thomas, was one of eleven children born to mill owner and entrepreneur Moses Thomas and his wife, Rebecca Monington. On his father's side of the family, his grandfather Moses Thomas had been killed by Indians near Narrowsburg during the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

. On his maternal side, the Monington family of Philadelphia had come to the Delaware valley from Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in the early 18th century. He is probably best known as the owner of the four of erstwhile Barryville–Shohola Bridges, and as the father of Rear Admiral and Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Chauncey Thomas, Jr.

Chauncey Thomas, Jr.

Chauncey Thomas, Jr. was a rear admiral of the United States Navy. The son of Chauncey Thomas, a farmer and entrepreneur, who built four bridges across the Delaware River at Shihola Glen, Pennsylvania, Thomas Jr., graduated from the United States Naval Academy third in the class of 1871...

, USN.