David Thomas (Texas politician)
Encyclopedia
David Thomas was a signatory of the Texas Declaration of Independence
and the first Attorney General
(ad interim) and acting Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas
.
David Thomas's father, William Thomas, was from the area of Statesville, North Carolina
, then Tennessee. His three brothers, Henry, James, and John, were also soldiers in the Revolutionary War. William's father was Jacob Thomas of Rowan County, North Carolina
, also a Revolutionary War soldier, who married Margaret Brevard.
David Thomas's mother Elizabeth was the daughter of American Revolutionary War
soldier John Purviance of Rowan County, who married Mary Jane Wasson. One of Elizabeth's brothers was David Purviance
, who is listed as a co-founder with Barton Stone of the Christian Church-Church of Christ which originated at the Cane Ridge Meeting House in Bourbon County, Kentucky
, outside Paris, Kentucky
, circa 1804. David Purviance served in the Kentucky and Ohio legislatures, where he continually advocated abolitionism
, and was an early trustee of Miami University
, serving often as the board's president pro tempore. Levi Purviance wrote a biography of the father David Purviance.
A birth quilt made by his family is crafted "D.O. Thomas", but his middle name is unknown and it is possible that the intent was "DP" for "David Purviance Thomas", reflecting his mother's maiden name.
David Thomas later became a lawyer
. It is known that Sam Houston
read law at Maryville College
in eastern Tennessee, but is not yet known where his friend and colleague David Thomas read law, whether with a preceptor or at college. Also, it is known that David Thomas's first cousin-once removed, James Houston Thomas (18-8-1876) was the Attorney General of Tennessee 1836-1842, at roughly the same time David Thomas was attorney general ad interim of the Republic of Texas. Political Graveyard "James Houston Thomas (1808-1876) of Tennessee." Born in Iredell Co., NC, Sept. 22, 1808. Democrat. U.S. Representative from Tennessee 6th District, 1847–51, 1859–61; Delegate from Tennessee to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62. Died near Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tenn., August 4, 1876. Interment at St. John's Cemetery.
alongside that of Sam Houston, each from Refugio
on March 2, 1836. His writings in the Texas State Archives as Secretary of War reveal, by the degree of shakiness of handwriting, the relative proximity to the Texans of Santa Anna's troops heading toward San Jacinto
.
On 3 March 1836, David Thomas was amongst those appointed to the Constitutional Committee for the nascent Republic of Texas and is thought to have been a principal drafter of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas
: on the committee were, inter alia, David Thomas and Sam Houston
of Refugio, Texas, and Robert Hamilton of Red River and James Collinsworth of Brazoria.
An extant letter sent from Groce's Plantation, some 12 miles below Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas
to his brother, Hiram Jacob Thomas, M.D., dated just before David Thomas's death in 1836 states unequivocally, "I am attorney general of Texas." He reports that their fellow Tennessean Colonel David Crockett has been killed at the Alamo
. By 1836, his brother Dr. Hiram Jacob Thomas had removed from Tennessee to Vernon in Jasper County, Mississippi
. The letter, in the University of Texas libraries, is handstamped "Nashville T," where evidently the recipient paid for and picked up the letter, in a time before the government issued stamps and when the addressee had to pay to receive mail:
David Thomas's land grant
from the State of Texas was posthumously claimed by his nephew in West Tennessee John Edwin McCorkle (1839–1924), Tennessee state legislator and son of Jane Maxwell Thomas (Mrs. Edwin Alexander McCorkle), on behalf of all the nieces and nephews of David Thomas. One of them was David E. Thomas, by then an attorney in Austin, Texas, who responded to an inquiry from McCorkle that the land grant was not worth claiming, for it was subject to Indian depredations and back taxes amounting to more than its fair market value. Nevertheless, McCorkle claimed the land for the heirs of the decedent David Thomas.
This is what the land-grant document says:
"No. 525—IN THE NAME of the STATE OF TEXAS: To all to whom these Presents shall come, know ye: I, :F.R. Lubbock, Governor of the State aforesaid by virtue of the power vested in me by Law and in accordance with the Laws of said state in such case made and provided by these presents GRANT to the Heirs of David Thomas, deceased, their heirs and assigns forever, One Third of a League of Land, situated and described as follows: In Callahan County, Survey No. 801, on the waters of Pecan Bayou, a tributary of the Colorado River and between the East and West Caddo Peaks, by virtue of Headright Certificate No. 165, issued by the Board of Land Commissioners for Bastrop County, on the 2'd day of November A.D. 1838. ...*********** In Testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be affixed, as well as the SEAL of the General Land Office. Done at the City of Austin on the Twenty Fifth day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and Sixty Two [1862] .....[signed] F.R. Lubbock, Governor...."
Texas Declaration of Independence
The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and formally signed the following day after errors were noted in the...
and the first Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
(ad interim) and acting Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
.
Early life and family
David Thomas was the third of six children of William and Elizabeth (Purviance) Thomas of Wilson County, Tennessee. He was born on 10 December 1795 (State of Texas records say 1801), presumably in Wilson County, Tennessee. His parents removed from Middle Tennessee to Dyer County in the newly opened Western District of Tennessee.David Thomas's father, William Thomas, was from the area of Statesville, North Carolina
Statesville, North Carolina
Statesville is a city located in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States and was named an All-America City in 1997 and 2009. The population was 24,633 at the 2010 census...
, then Tennessee. His three brothers, Henry, James, and John, were also soldiers in the Revolutionary War. William's father was Jacob Thomas of Rowan County, North Carolina
Rowan County, North Carolina
-Demographics and economics:As of the census of 2010, there were 138,428 people, 53,140 households, and 37,058 families residing in the county. The population density was 270.7 people per square mile . There were 60,211 housing units at an average density of 117.7 per square mile...
, also a Revolutionary War soldier, who married Margaret Brevard.
David Thomas's mother Elizabeth was the daughter of American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
soldier John Purviance of Rowan County, who married Mary Jane Wasson. One of Elizabeth's brothers was David Purviance
David Purviance
David Purviance, 1766–1847, was a member of the Kentucky legislature, a member of the Ohio legislature, and an important early leader in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. He was also founder of Miami University of Oxford, Ohio and often served as its president pro tempore.-Role in the...
, who is listed as a co-founder with Barton Stone of the Christian Church-Church of Christ which originated at the Cane Ridge Meeting House in Bourbon County, Kentucky
Bourbon County, Kentucky
Bourbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the remnant of what was previously a much larger Bourbon County, established as part of Virginia in 1785, and comprising what are now thirty-four modern Kentucky counties...
, outside Paris, Kentucky
Paris, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,183 people, 3,857 households, and 2,487 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 4,222 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.23% White, 12.71% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.16%...
, circa 1804. David Purviance served in the Kentucky and Ohio legislatures, where he continually advocated abolitionism
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, and was an early trustee of Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
, serving often as the board's president pro tempore. Levi Purviance wrote a biography of the father David Purviance.
A birth quilt made by his family is crafted "D.O. Thomas", but his middle name is unknown and it is possible that the intent was "DP" for "David Purviance Thomas", reflecting his mother's maiden name.
David Thomas later became a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. It is known that Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
read law at Maryville College
Maryville College
Maryville College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee, near Knoxville. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The College is one of the fifty oldest colleges in the...
in eastern Tennessee, but is not yet known where his friend and colleague David Thomas read law, whether with a preceptor or at college. Also, it is known that David Thomas's first cousin-once removed, James Houston Thomas (18-8-1876) was the Attorney General of Tennessee 1836-1842, at roughly the same time David Thomas was attorney general ad interim of the Republic of Texas. Political Graveyard "James Houston Thomas (1808-1876) of Tennessee." Born in Iredell Co., NC, Sept. 22, 1808. Democrat. U.S. Representative from Tennessee 6th District, 1847–51, 1859–61; Delegate from Tennessee to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62. Died near Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tenn., August 4, 1876. Interment at St. John's Cemetery.
The independence of Texas
David Thomas affixed his signature to the Texas Declaration of IndependenceTexas Declaration of Independence
The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and formally signed the following day after errors were noted in the...
alongside that of Sam Houston, each from Refugio
Refugio, Texas
Refugio is a town in Refugio County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,941 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Refugio County. Although the town's name is derived from Spanish, a vast majority of the town's residents pronounce it re-fury-oh. The Spanish pronunciation is...
on March 2, 1836. His writings in the Texas State Archives as Secretary of War reveal, by the degree of shakiness of handwriting, the relative proximity to the Texans of Santa Anna's troops heading toward San Jacinto
San Jacinto
San Jacinto is Spanish for Saint Hyacinth; as a place name, it may refer to:* San Jacinto, Bolívar, Colombia* San Jacinto, Chiquimula, Guatemala* San Jacinto, Comondú, Mexico* San Jacinto, Lerdo, Mexico* San Jacinto, Ancash Region, Peru...
.
On 3 March 1836, David Thomas was amongst those appointed to the Constitutional Committee for the nascent Republic of Texas and is thought to have been a principal drafter of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas
Constitution of the Republic of Texas
The Constitution of the Republic of Texas was written in 1836 between the fall of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio and Sam Houston's stunning victory at San Jacinto. The constitution was written quickly and while on the run from Santa Anna....
: on the committee were, inter alia, David Thomas and Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
of Refugio, Texas, and Robert Hamilton of Red River and James Collinsworth of Brazoria.
Death and legacy
Thomas died 1836 after suffering an accidental mortal wound from a musket ball in the leg on the steamship Cayuga when fleeing troops of Santa Anna (Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna) with the new government of the Republic of Texas as part of the Runaway Scrape. David Thomas is buried in a hero's grave in the de Zavala Cemetery in the San Jacinto battlefield state shrine near Houston.An extant letter sent from Groce's Plantation, some 12 miles below Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas
Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas
Washington-on-the-Brazos is an unincorporated area along the Brazos River in Washington County, Texas, United States. It was founded when Texas was still a part of Mexico, and the settlement became the site of the Convention of 1836 and the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence...
to his brother, Hiram Jacob Thomas, M.D., dated just before David Thomas's death in 1836 states unequivocally, "I am attorney general of Texas." He reports that their fellow Tennessean Colonel David Crockett has been killed at the Alamo
Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a battle fought during the Texas Revolution.Alamo may also refer to:-Places:*Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas*Alamo, California*Alamo, Georgia*Alamo Township, Michigan*Alamo, Nevada*Alamo, New Mexico...
. By 1836, his brother Dr. Hiram Jacob Thomas had removed from Tennessee to Vernon in Jasper County, Mississippi
Jasper County, Mississippi
-History:Jasper County was formed in 1833 from the middle section of what been Jones County. It was named for Sgt. William Jasper who first distinguished himself in the defense of Fort Moultrie in 1776. When a shell from a British warship shot away the flagstaff, he recovered the flag, raised it on...
. The letter, in the University of Texas libraries, is handstamped "Nashville T," where evidently the recipient paid for and picked up the letter, in a time before the government issued stamps and when the addressee had to pay to receive mail:
Großes Pass [Groce's Plantation]
March 20th 1836
13 miles below Washington [-on-the-Brazos]
Dear Brother
I have only time to write you a few words Major Green has just arrived and tells me that he saw you lately at New Orleans, afterwards at Vernon [Mißißippi].
The convention has adjourned, and after a declaration of Independence and adoption of a constitution and electing a President -- one Presidente [sic], Secretary [sic] of State of War of the Navy of The Treasury, and attorney general all forming the 3 cabinets--I have not time to write to you in detail. I am the attorney General of Texas.
You will I have no doubt see from the papers a full account of the proceedings of Texas. The President & his cabinet will find their residence at Harrisburgh on the Waters of the Trinity on [or?] Galveston Bay where you will be good enough to direct your letterξ ---------
I have not speculated any as yet - times are a little difficult at this time. Santa Anna is in the country--San Antonia [sic] was stormed on the 8th day of this month, not a man escaped to tell the news, about one hundred & eighty Americans were butchered col Croket amongst them and I expect Major Autry of Jackson [Tennessee? Mississippi?] It is said that there was between two & three Thousand Mexicans who made the attack. There was according to their own account upwards of five hundred killed and as many wounded
Gen. Houston is in the field with 800 men in the Colorado his force increasing dayly [sic]. Col Fannin is at Goliad with five or six hundred men, all volunteers from the United States they have fortifyed [sic] and have, I have no doubt, been attacked before this time. I am anxious to hear from there All my acquaintances are there that belong to the army.
I have very little doubt but Santa Anna will attempt to storm that force, if he should succeed they will suffer the fate of those in the Alamo. But I feel confident this place will be able to sustain itself.
I will write to you again soon
Yourξ &c. [et cetera]
David Thomaξ
Dr. H.J. Thomaξ " [End of Letter]
[Envelope handstamped as received at "Nashville T."]
Dr. H.J. Thomaξ
Vernon
Mißißippi
U.S.
David Thomas's land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
from the State of Texas was posthumously claimed by his nephew in West Tennessee John Edwin McCorkle (1839–1924), Tennessee state legislator and son of Jane Maxwell Thomas (Mrs. Edwin Alexander McCorkle), on behalf of all the nieces and nephews of David Thomas. One of them was David E. Thomas, by then an attorney in Austin, Texas, who responded to an inquiry from McCorkle that the land grant was not worth claiming, for it was subject to Indian depredations and back taxes amounting to more than its fair market value. Nevertheless, McCorkle claimed the land for the heirs of the decedent David Thomas.
This is what the land-grant document says:
"No. 525—IN THE NAME of the STATE OF TEXAS: To all to whom these Presents shall come, know ye: I, :F.R. Lubbock, Governor of the State aforesaid by virtue of the power vested in me by Law and in accordance with the Laws of said state in such case made and provided by these presents GRANT to the Heirs of David Thomas, deceased, their heirs and assigns forever, One Third of a League of Land, situated and described as follows: In Callahan County, Survey No. 801, on the waters of Pecan Bayou, a tributary of the Colorado River and between the East and West Caddo Peaks, by virtue of Headright Certificate No. 165, issued by the Board of Land Commissioners for Bastrop County, on the 2'd day of November A.D. 1838. ...*********** In Testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be affixed, as well as the SEAL of the General Land Office. Done at the City of Austin on the Twenty Fifth day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and Sixty Two [1862] .....[signed] F.R. Lubbock, Governor...."
Sources
- See for the presidents of the Republic of Texas: David G. Burnet, Sam Houston, Mirabeau B. Lamar, and Anson JonesAnson JonesAnson Jones was a doctor, businessman, congressman, the fourth and last President of the Republic of Texas, sometimes called the "Architect of Annexation."- Early life :...
. - The Texas Declaration of Independence online: www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/odeclar-10.html
- Comptroller's Office, Austin, Texas, Certificate of Redemption No. 675 P. A., April 16, 1880: "Whereas, At a sale of Lands for Taxes for the year 1877 the following described Real Estate was sold for the taxes of said year and costs of sale, and the same was bid off to the State: Original Grantee: David Thomas; No. of Acres: 99; Brown County; Unrendered: This is to certify that John Edwin McCorkle [nephew, 1839–1924, representing the heirs of David Thomas] has exhibited at this office satisfactory evidence that he has paid...taxes for which said property was sold...amounting to $4.18 in accordance with 'An act for the relief of all persons whose lands have been sold for taxes and bought in by the State, approved March 22, 1879.'"
- Stuart Hoyle Purvines, PURVIANCE FAMILY (privately published 1986).
- 1836 letter from David Thomas to his brother Hiram Jacob Thomas, M.D., in University of Texas library for American History, donated by Evelyn d'Arcy Cushman, wife of Alfred Cushman, a descentant of David Thomas' other brother John Purviance Thomas, born Middle Tennessee (Sumner County) 22 Feb. 1792, died 1857 Mississippi (and wife Catherine Espy Thomas). John Purviance Thomas' children were American J. Thomas (Mrs. Milton Hue Johnson), c.1817-1860, of Gibson County, West Tennessee, mother of Sarah Jane Johnson McGee, 1845–1892, grandmother of Henry Johnson McGee, 1869-Memphis 1919, great-grandmother of Lucille McGee Cushman, born in Gibson Co, Tenn., to Houston, Texas, and gg-grandmother of James Alfred Cushman IV whose wife Evelyn donated the 1836 letter to the University of Texas libraries; David E. Thomas, 1822–1887, attorney in Austin, Texas, m. Olivia Tulley; Albert H. Thomas, 1825–1884, Methodist minister in Memphis who m. a daughter of Judge Greer; and Melvina E. Thomas Riley. Attorney General & Acting Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas, David Thomas had a sister Jane McCorkle, who was the great-great grandmother of Sophie Huie Cashdollar and Marsha Cope Huie, the latter of whom added family documents to this information, including the Secretary's letter from Gross's Pass, Texas, above, dated 1836.
- Family photograph of Dr. Hiram Jacob Thomas, brother of David Thomas; and papers concerning John Edwin McCorkle's redemption of land grant to David Thomas for back taxes, both in the hands of Marsha Cope Huie.
- Purviance-Thomas-McCorkle-Huie Family Records of Dyer County in West Tennessee, possessed by Marsha Cope Huie.
- The Handbook of Texas vol. II (1952), ed. Walter Prescott Webb (Austin: Tex. State Historical Assn.). (David Thomas "came to Texas in 1835 and joined the U.S. Independent Volunteers Cavalry Co. organized at Nacogdoches on Dec. 10, 1835. At the request of Francis W Johnson, the Military Affairs Committee of the General Council recommended a volunteer expedition against Matamoros in Jan. 1836 and David Thomas was commissioned 1st lieutenant for the expedition. [para.] Thomas was one of the four representatives from the municipality of Refugio to the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos and there signed the Declaration of Independence. On March 17, the Convention elected Thomas, who was evidently a lawyer, the ad interim attorney general of the Republic. When Thomas J. Rusk, secretary of war, left the cabinet to join the army, Thomas was made acting secretary of war, thus holding two positions at the same time.")