Life History

Notes

• The birth and death dates for Peter and Lucy Thomas are on the listing of the Cottonwood Cemetery in Brazos County, where Peter and his wife Lucy were buried.
  
  "Lucy J. Thomas  9/5/1852  6/26/1918   [Lucy Jane? Hood, wo Peter Thomas]"
  "Peter Thomas   5/16/1848  1/18/1900"
  --  http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/brazos/cemetery/cotton.txt
  
  Their infant son's name and details are also in that register.  Frank lived less than a year:
  "Frank Almer Thomas  9/22/1892  8/25/1893  Son of Lucy and Peter"
  --  http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/brazos/cemetery/cotton.txt
  
  Peter is the oldest child of Nicolas Thomas and Mary Ann Kiefer, one of two born in Prussia before the family emigrated to Texas in 1850.  A census record of his daughter Frances Elizabeth in 1920 clarifies that Peter was born in Alsace-Lorraine, a German-speaking province that had been shifted back and forth from the domains of the French Empire and the various German Empires.  Since WWI it has been a Province of France.
  
  1920 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas, 10 February, Precinct 3, District 5, page 11A, Hse #207, Fam #208
  Cobb, John L Head  Owns Farm M W 42 TX AL TN Public School Teacher [b abt 1878]
  Cobb, Elizabeth F  Wife F W 31 TX Alsace-Lorraine AL [b abt 1889]
  
  We find Peter and his parents recorded in the US census of 1860 in Brazos County, Texas.
  
  1860 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas, 23 July, PO Wheelock, page 75, Hse/Fam #544
  Nicholas Thomas 47 M Farmer $1216 Real Estate $112 Personal b Prusia [sic]
  Mary A Thomas  38 F Housewife b Prusia
  Peter Thomas 12 M Prussia
  
  Peter's father Nicholas died before the 1870 census.  Peter is one of the children still in the household of his widowed mother Marry Ann.
  
  1870 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas, 16 June, PO Bryan, page 2, Hse/Fam #11
  Thomas, M A  49 F W Keeping House $3000 Real Estate value $240 Personal b Prussia
  Thomas, P  22 M W Farmer $0 Real Estate value $100 Personal b Prussia
  
  1880 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas, 8 June, District 2/16, page 14B, Hse/Fam #131
  Thomas, Peter W M 33  Farming Prussia Prussia Prussia
  Thomas, Lusy J  W F 25  Wife Keeping House TX AL AL
  Thomas, Joseph H  W M 8  Son  Farm Hand TX Prussia AL
  Thomas, Ada  W M 1  Dau TX Prussia TX
  
  The birth places of Joseph's parents don't make sense.  They should be the same as for Ada.  Both are the children of Lucy.
  
  Living next door to Peter and his family is his brother Lewis N, a single head of household, with their mother in the household, as well as 12-year-old Annie Zerbst, daughter of Mary's Ann's daughter Cathrine Thomas Zerbst.

Sources

• 1. 1870 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
  • 16 June, PO Bryan, page 2, Hse/Fam #11
• 2. 1860 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
  • 23 July, PO Wheelock, page 75, Hse/Fam #544
• 3. 1880 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
  • 8 June, District 2/16, page 14B, Hse/Fam #131
• 4. 1920 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
  • 10 February, Precinct 3, District 5, page 11A, Hse #207, Fam #208
• 5. Email Sources
• 6. Cemetery Registries
• 7. Texas, Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1977
• 8. 1900 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
  • 15 June, District 5, Kurten Precinct 3, page 9A, Hse #158, Fam #162
• 9. Ancestry Trees
• 10. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 11. Texas Deaths, 1890-1976
• 12. 1900 Federal Census, Brazos County, Texas
  • 15 June, District 5, Kurten Precinct 3, page 9A, Hse #159, Fam #163
• 13. Social Security Death Index
• 14. Texas Death Certificate