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Obituary of Capt. Samuel Brown Thomas
His obituary in the Confederate Veteran, from his birth under the Mexican flag to the gold fields and the 13th Texas Cavalry.
- Date
- 1911
- Place
- San Augustine County, Texas
- People
- Capt. Samuel Brown Thomas (1831–1911); Shadrach Dickinson Thomas (1799–1874); Mary Elizabeth (Garrett) Thomas (1853–1925)
- Type
- Obituary · Published account
- Citation
- "Capt. S. B. Thomas," Confederate Veteran 19 (1911): 295–96.
- Held by
- Digitized by Google Books
Transcription
Capt. S. B. Thomas.
Samuel Brown Thomas, whose death occurred recently at his home, near San Augustine, Tex., was a native of Texas. He was born October 7, 1831, under the Mexican flag in the old homestead near where his remains lie.
His parents, Shadrach and Sarah Thomas, were among the earliest settlers of Texas; and this son saw the sovereignty of his native land pass from Mexico to the Republic of Texas, to the United States and after four years in the Confederacy back to the United States again, and to every flag while it was his he was loyal and true.
Filled with the adventurous spirit of the West, he went to California in the fifties to try his fortune in the hunt for gold. The outbreak of the Civil War caused his return to Texas, and with his brother John he enlisted in Capt. Hiram Brown’s company of Angelina County, of which Comrade Thomas was made first lieutenant. Later, when Captain Brown resigned, he was elected captain, and with his men was enrolled in the 13th Texas Cavalry Regiment under Colonel Burnett. Later it was dismounted and known as “dismounted cavalry.” It belonged to Waul’s Brigade of Walker’s Division, and served in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Throughout the four years Captain Thomas was a gallant soldier and an efficient officer, ever fighting at the head of his company.
When the war closed, Captain Thomas returned home and faced the hardships of ruined fortune with unflinching fortitude. He was married first to Miss Phoebe Sharp, daughter of Dr. B. F. Sharp, but after two happy years the young wife was stricken by death, leaving a little daughter. In 1871 he married Miss Mary Garrett, and removed to Nacogdoches County, where he made his home until a few years since, when he returned with his family to San Augustine County, near the old homestead.