View source for Joseph Thomas Thomas

=Conjecture=
From the gravestones at Thomas Cemetery, Tega Cay, SC: 
*The 2 yr. old child who died in 1855 is assumed to be a Thomas child because of the stone's location next to those of Joseph and Cynthia Thomas.  The youngest of the known Thomas children was born in 1851, so a birth in 1855 to the same mother is reasonable.  The oldest Thomas daughter, Louisa Jane Thomas Caton, would only have been 15 in 1855, so it is probably not her child.  
*Besides the Thomas family, the other identifiable graves are: 
* [[Sylvester Caton]], husband of Louisa J. Thomas.
*Elijah Caton who died in 1865, probably in the war. The stones of Sylvester & Elijah Caton are memorials; they are understood to have been buried near some Civil War battlefield.
* Carrie S., "daughter of Mr & Mrs E.C. Caton". She reported her birth year (1900 census) as 1868, not the 1866 inscribed on her gravestone. Born in NC, as were her parents, she married (apparently a cousin) Thomas L. Caton and they lived in Charlotte, NC. Their first son was named  Sylvester, named for the family's first CSA casualty [[Sylvester Caton]] (d. 1864) per family tradition.   
*The fieldstone-marked grave could belong to Lois Ann Thomas (b. 1841); or it could belong to Thomas L. Caton (b. 1866), husband of Carrie S. Caton.  Also possibly E. C. Caton (father of Carrie S. Caton b. 1868) ; or to John H. Caton, father of Sylvester & Elijah Caton.  Or to a Zeb (Zebulon?) Caton mentioned in the news article about the cemetery.   Flags seem to have been dispersed indiscriminately, so do not necessarily indicate a veteran's grave (per source 12).
<br>[[Sylvester Caton|Sylvester]] & Elijah Caton were brothers, sons of John H. and Sarah L. Caton (1850 census). It has been suggested they possibly married Thomas sisters, though we find the records contradict this.  Lois Ann Thomas died in 1859 at age 16, still named Thomas in the death notice.  The third sister, Eliza J. Thomas, was born in 1851, so only age 14 when Elijah died in 1865. In 1860, Elijah, age 24, was living with his apparently widowed mother, 60 yr. old Sarah Caton. Elijah died five years later, 1865.   
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[[Sylvester Caton]], as the husband of Louise Jane Thomas from family sources, has been listed on this page as named "John" Sylvester Caton.  We have found as yet no primary or secondary source listing [[Sylvester Caton]] as John Sylvester Caton, so expect this name is correct, from family knowledge or tradition. Our page for him is named simply [[Sylvester Caton]], with this acknowledgement.
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<br> '''1900 Us Census Charlotte NC''', Enum. Dist. 46, p. 7.  Date of census 7 June 1900.<br>lines 54-59: Thomas L. Caton, b. Jan. 1866, age 34, Married 13 yrs. he & both parent born in South Carolina; Foreman house carpenters;own mortgaged house. <br>Carrie S., wife, born Sept 1868, age 32, married 13 yr., 4 children born, 4 living in 1900; she & parents born North Carolina.<nr>Sylvester, son, born 1887 in NC, age 12. <br>Earl, son, b. Jan 1889 in NC, age 11.<br>Floss, daughter, born Sept. 1893 in NC, age 6.<br>May, daughter, b. Aug. 1897 in NC.
All children: father born SC, mother born NC.
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|[[File:1900 US census NC, Mecklenburg, Charlotte enum Dist 46 p.7.jpg|50px]]