Dates of Service: 1888-1895
1846 Born on November 9, 1846, in Mathews County, VA. to parents John B. & Sarah Thomas
1872 Marries Emma J Davis. The couple raises eleven children.
1888-1890 Serves as Second Assistant Keeper at Wolf Trap Lighthouse (VA). Annual salary – $400.
1891-1893 Serves as First Assistant Keeper at Wolf Trap Lighthouse (VA). Annual salary $440.
1893 Wolf Trap Lighthouse is destroyed by ice on January 22nd.
1893 Serves as First Assistant Keeper at Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse (VA). Annual salary $435.
1894 Serves as First Assistant Keeper at Cherrystone Bar Lighthouse (VA). Annual salary $435.
1894-1895 Serves as Keeper at Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse (VA). Annual Salary $575. Resigns for unknown reason.
1896 Moves to Lancaster County, VA. where Thomas works as a farmer and fisherman.
1900 U.S. Census lists Thomas as Farmer in Mathews County, VA.
1910 U.S. Census lists Thomas as Farmer in Mathews County, VA.
1929 Emma Thomas passes away in February.
1929 Died on March 1 at age 82 and buried at Friendship Cemetery, Mathews County, VA.
Sources – www.uslhs.org; Chesapeake Chapter Database, Lighting The Bay: Tales of Chesapeake Lighthouses, Pat Vojtech, Tidewater Publishers, 1996
