Colonel Richard Thomas papers

Richard Thomas was born in West Whiteland Township on October 30, 1744, a descendant of Richard Ap Thomas of Whitford Garden, Flintshire, North Wales. Colonel Thomas was the third Richard in the Ap Thomas lineage. (“Ap” is a prefix that was used in Wales to indicate “son of.” ¹)

A Quaker, Thomas was appointed a colonel of the 5th Battalion of Association in Chester County by John Morton on April 19, 1776 (see Box 2, Folder 3). He was disowned from Uwchlan’s Friends Meeting for his military service on August 10, 1775 ². His brother George remained in the Society of Friends, but according to a letter in the collection, seems to have aided the Revolutionary cause in other ways (see Box 2, Folder 4). After the war, George was a member of the Commission that planned the building of the “Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike.” George died after contracting yellow fever in 1793 after attending a commission meeting in Philadelphia. ³

During the Revolutionary War, Colonel Thomas participated in a campaign into New Jersey (as far as Amboy) as part of the military’s efforts to protect Philadelphia.

Thomas was appointed Brigadier General of Chester County on April 19, 1793, (see Box 2, Folder 4), but declined the promotion according to Futhey & Cope’s History of Chester County (1881). He began his political career in 1786, serving as an assemblyman until his election as a State Senator in 1790. In 1794 he became a member of Congress for the fourth, fifth and sixth sessions (1794, 1796, 1798).

Thomas was married to Thomazine Downing on October 20, 1774, at Uwchlan Meeting. They had eight children: Richard, Mary, George, Jacob, Phebe, Thomazine, Samuel and William. Richard married Rebecca Malin. ⁴ Thomazine married William Ashbridge and Phebe married Samuel Hains.

Colonel Richard Thomas died January 19, 1832 in his eighty-eighth year.

Sources for above include:

History of Chester County, Futhey & Cope, 1881.

¹Brown, Francis G. Downingtown Friends Meeting, p 47.

²Ashbridge, W.T., The Ashbridge Book, p. 153.

³Ibid, p. 48.

⁴Chester County Historical Society Broadside T-15.

The collection spans the years 1741 to 1919, with the bulk of the collection ending in 1857. The documents, especially Thomas’ letters, give a detailed account of not only Chester County and U.S. history, but of the personal side of the Thomas family. Military records in the collection include “Accounts of a Revolutionary War Soldier, Richard Thomas 1776-1777,” and “A Size Book of Firelocks 1776/Field Book 1775, Richard Thomas.” These manuscripts record the activity of the Chester County Militia during Thomas’ service in the Revolutionary War and are a record of supplies. In 1775, a Committee of Safety was appointed by the Assembly and part of their duty was to make sure each county furnished a certain number of firelocks for their militia in preparation for defense. Chester County’s quota was 600 guns, which were manufactured by one man, Dunwicke. ¹ In the “Size Book of Firelocks,” Thomas lists the Captains of each company of the 5th Battalion of Association of Chester County and the number and gauges of guns and firelocks that they had. He also lists other supplies needed or used along with expenses.

Thomas’ records in “Accounts of a Revolutionary War Soldier, Richard Thomas 1776-1777,” list the Returns of the Officers and Privates at their muster on August 3, 1776. Revolutionary war records are at the front and back of this book and at a later date, he used the middle of the book to record the survey of the route of the Lancaster-Philadelphia turnpike. There are twelve other manuscripts in the collection that relate to this time period.

Items in the collection from Thomas’ time in Congress include tickets to dine with President Washington and an invitation to attend the first celebration of the President’s birthday. Thomas also wrote numerous letters to friends and loved ones back in Pennsylvania during 1800-1801 when he was with the first session of Congress to serve in Washington City. The letters provide insight into the young city and Congress as well as Thomas’ personality.

Thomas maintained a mill on his property and his account book is in this collection along with receipts and letters. His business expertise is shown in the advice he gave in several letters to Richard Trimble, who was considering purchasing a mill, and also in a letter of recommendation for William Yardley as flour inspector of the Port of Philadelphia.

There are many family letters in the collection, two are especially poignant: Thomas describes the death of his daughter Mary in a letter dated May 18, 1798, and in another dated February 14, 1830, writes of his son Richard’s head injury and death.

Many letters tell of weddings, new babies, dinners, and business happenings. Topics include his trip, via many modes of transportation, across New York State in 1819. These letters provide a detailed account of the people, sights, and landscape of the times. He eventually had a report of his trip published in the Village Record newspaper shortly after he returned home.

Also included in the collection are poetry, written by family members and friends or copied from published works. A travel journal is a record of a trip to Madeira by Samuel Hains that began July 15, 1796, and along with the daily record of events and reflections, Hains wrote a sketch of the country at the end of the journal.

¹ Futhey & Cope, p. 62.

When initially added to Chester County Historical Society’s manuscript collection, each document was assigned a unique consecutive number. In the current arrangement, they are grouped by relationship and subject.

The individual manuscript numbers listed in this guide date from the original arrangement and are no longer used. (They are listed for in-house reference purposes only.) Researchers should use box and folder numbers when requesting documents.

Gift of Francis D. Brinton and George Ashbridge, III.

The creation of the electronic guide for this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.

Finding aid entered into the Archivists' Toolkit by Garrett Boos.

Chester County Historical Society: See newspaper clippings files, manuscript card catalog, and book card catalog for additional sources on Colonel Richard Thomas;

The curatorial department holds some items related to Colonel Richard Thomas and his family: Colonel Thomas’ clothing (museum id. #1994.522, 1994.523, and 1997.695), and a charcoal portrait, (PTG211) of Richard Thomas, Jr. (President of Bank of Chester County, 1819-1830).

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Colonel Thomas had his portrait painted by James Peale as a miniature on ivory which can be viewed online at: www.metmuseum.org.

A book that may help in understanding how the militia was organized and functioned is The Pennsylvania Militia in 1777, by Hannah Benner Roach.

Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Chester County Historical Society with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ms.Coll. 159, Colonel Richard Thomas papers, 1741-1919, Chester County Historical Society.

Publisher

Chester County Historical Society

Sponsor

The processing of this collection was made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2006 The creation of the electronic guide for this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project. Finding aid entered into the Archivists' Toolkit by Garrett Boos.

Finding aids author

Finding aid prepared by Margaret Miles Baillie

Date

2010.09.15

Creator

Thomas, Richard, 1744-1832

Subject

Pennsylvania--Politics and government--1775-1865

Transportation

United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783

People

Thomas, Richard, 1744-1832

Organization

Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Senate.

Pennsylvania. Provincial Assembly.

United States. Congress.

Place

Chester County (Pa.)

Language

English

Form

Correspondence

Family papers

Genealogical tables