Samuel Walter Thomas -- Grassland Cemetery, Grassland TX - Woodmen of the World Grave Markers/Monuments on Waymarking.com

The WoW tombstone for Samuel Walter Thomas, who died before his youngest son Samuel Walter Thomas Jr. was born, in a line of similarly sized and carved granite tombstones at Grassland cemetery, near the small Lynn County community of Grassland.

The tombstone reads as follows:

"[symbol] [WoW medallion]

SAMUEL WALTER
THOMAS
Aug. 16, 188 - Oct. 7, 1918

Asleep in Jesus"

We were able to find a little out about this family on Ancestry.com.

Samuel Walter Thomas was born in Rainsville, Shelby County Texas in 1888.

We found him with his father Thomas and mother Martha, and several siblings and a hired man in the 1900 census living in Shelby County.

They were still living in Shelby County in the 1910 census.

Samuel Walter Thomas married Maud Buhlah Foley in 1915 in Shelby County Texas.

Samuel Walter Thomas registered for the WWI draft in June, 1917. At the time he was married, living in Center, the seat of Shelby County, where he was the State and Shelby County Tax Assessor/Collector. He had 30 days of prior military service in the Texas National Guard.

Samuel Thomas died in Shelby County in 1918, BUT was buried 600 miles west across the state in Lynn County.

Samuel and Maud's son Walter Jr. was born a few months after his father died in Shelby County. In 1920 he is living on a farm in Shelby County with his mother Maude and grandmother Elizabeth Foley.

So we have a mystery -- why is Samuel Walter Thomas, who was born, raised, and married in Shelby county buried 600 miles west of his home?

Samuel Walter Thomas's waymarked grave is one of a line of several Thomas family graves at Grassland Cemetery.

The answer comes in the 1920 US Census, where we found Samuel Walter Thomas's parents and two siblings living in Lynn County. He owned his home and is working as a farmer and a ginner. His 19 year old son Claude is working as a farm laborer.

So this family must have moved west to Lynn County, where there is a lot of money to be made in West Texas in the cotton ginning business. The Thomases seem to have settled in Post, not too far away in Garza County.

This is why there are 5 Thomas family members buried here, including grandson Walter Thomas Jr., who was killed in WWII.

The Thomases buried at Grassland Cemetery are:

William (1861-1925) & Julia (1861-1938, died in Post)

Their Son Samuel Walter (1888-1918) & his wife Maud (1890-1968, died in Post)

Their Grandson Walter Jr (1919-1943)

Mystery solved :)

Was the inscription legible?: Yes Location of Marker/Monument: Cemetery

Visit Instructions:
One photo is fine.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   07/25/2015 Benchmark Blasterz visited it