John B. Thomas (politician)

John Benjamin Thomas (December 23, 1819 – October 22, 1893) was an American politician and judge from Maryland. He served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Frederick County from 1858 to 1860 and 1870 to 1872.

John B. Thomas
Sketch of Thomas in a 1893 newspaper
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
from the Frederick County district
In office
1870–1872
Preceded byEphraim Albaugh, Noah Bowlus, Joseph Byers, R. P. T. Dutrow, Thomas G. Maynard, Charles F. Wenner
Succeeded byTheodore C. Delaplane, Charles W. Miller, Lycurgus N. Phillips, Jonathan Routzahn, Charles F. Rowe
In office
1858–1860
Preceded byLawrence J. Brengle, James S. Carper, James L. Davis, Daniel Grove, Peter Hauver, William N. Wolfe
Succeeded byThomas J. Claggett, John A. Johnson, Andrew Kessler, Daniel W. Naill, Jonathan Routzahn, William E. Salmon
Personal details
Born
John Benjamin Thomas

(1819-12-23)December 23, 1819
Frederick County, Maryland, U.S.
DiedOctober 22, 1893(1893-10-22) (aged 73)
Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeMount Olivet Cemetery
Political partyWhig
Democratic
Spouse(s)
Charlotte E. Thomas
(m. 1840; died 1875)

Harriet McCleery
Children7
Occupation
  • Politician
  • farmer
  • judge

Early life

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John Benjamin Thomas was born on December 23, 1819, in Frederick County, Maryland, to Margaret E. (née Dutrow) and Levin Thomas. He was educated in county schools.[1][2] His brother Jacob Thomas of Adamstown was a doctor.[1]

Career

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At 17, Thomas took over his father's farm and worked there for five years. He then rented a farm and continued farming until 1855. He moved to Frederick, and purchased a farm 10 miles south of Frederick in 1856. In 1873, he rented his farms and moved to Frederick again. In 1877, he opened a real estate agency.[2]

Thomas was a Whig and later a Democrat.[1][2] In 1846, he was elected chief judge of the magistrate's court. He served until the role was abolished in 1850.[2] He then served as county commissioner in Frederick County in 1851.[2] He served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Frederick County from 1858 to 1860 and from 1870 to 1872.[2][3] He served as a member of the convention for the Maryland Constitution of 1867.[1][2] He was commissioned as colonel by Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks in 1860 and he was appointed by the Maryland governor in 1876 to assess the property of Frederick County.[2] He served one term on the school board of Frederick County.[2]

Personal life

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His son, John Benjamin Thomas, Baltimore retail drug business owner

Thomas married Charlotte E. Thomas of Frederick County on October 20, 1840. They had seven children, including S. F., Nellie, Amos, David, John B. Jr. and Charles G. His wife died in 1875. He later married Harriet McCleery of Frederick. [1][2] He was a deacon and elder of the Reformed Church.[2] He moved to Frederick around 1878 and lived on East Church Street.[1] His son John B. Jr. was president of Thomas & Thompson, a retail drug business in Baltimore.[2]

Thomas died on October 22, 1893, in Frederick.[1][4] He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery.[1][5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Col. John B. Thomas Dead". The Daily News. October 23, 1893. p. 2. Retrieved March 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Baltimore: Its History and Its People. Vol. 3. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1912. pp. 569–571. Retrieved March 18, 2024 – via Archive.org. 
  3. ^ "Historical List, House of Delegates, Frederick County (1790-1974)". Maryland Manual On-Line. Maryland State Archives. January 4, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  4. ^ "Col. John B. Thomas..." The Democratic Advocate. October 28, 1893. p. 3. Retrieved March 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. 
  5. ^ "Funerals". The Daily News. October 25, 1893. p. 3. Retrieved March 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. 
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