{{Infobox person | name = Samuel Russell Thomas | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1840|04|27}} | birth_place = [[South Point, Ohio]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1903|01|11|1840|04|27}} | death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S. | occupation = Soldier, capitalist | alma_mater = | parents = | spouse = {{marriage|Ann Augusta Porter|September 1872}} | children = [[Edward Russell Thomas]]<br>Harold Edgell Thomas<br>Eleanor Nancy Thomas | relations = }} '''Samuel Russell Thomas''' (April 27, 1840 – January 11, 1903)<ref name="SRTObit1903"/> was an American capitalist and [[Union Army]] general during the [[U.S. Civil War]].
==Early life== Thomas was born on April 27, 1840, in [[South Point, Ohio|South Point]] in [[Lawrence County, Ohio]].<ref name="Hall1895">{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Henry |title=America's Successful Men of Affairs: The city of New York |date=1895 |publisher=[[New York Tribune]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ldpd_6221441_000/page/n721 648]-650 |url=https://archive.org/details/ldpd_6221441_000 |access-date=29 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> He was a son of Captain James Thomas (d. 1842) and his wife, a daughter of Captain John Callihan, a [[War of 1812]] soldier.<ref name="NYTribObit1903"/> His parents were originally from Virginia and were among the early settlers, in 1807, of the region between the [[Kanawha River|Kanawha]] and [[Ohio River]]s.<ref name="SRTObit1903"/>
==Career== After limited schooling in [[Marietta, Ohio|Marietta]], he began his career as a junior clerk with the Keystone Iron Company in [[Jackson, Ohio]], where he learned the engineering of mining.<ref name="SRTObit1903"/>
===U.S. Civil War=== An ardent [[Republican party (United States)|Republican]] upon the forming of the party,<ref name="NYTribObit1903"/> Thomas enlisted during the [[U.S. Civil War]] as a Second Lieutenant in the [[27th Ohio Infantry]] of the [[Union Army]] in July 1861. For three years, he served under Col. [[John W. Fuller]] in the "Ohio Brigade" and was successively promoted "for gallant and meritorious" to Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel before being [[Brevet (military)|brevet]]ted a [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier general]]. Thomas mostly participated in the south and west under Grant and Sherman during the War, including at the [[Battle of Pittsburg Landing|Battles of Pittsburg Landing]], [[First Battle of Chattanooga|Chattanooga]] and [[Battle of Vicksburg|Vicksburg]].<ref name="SRTObit1903"/> He was known for leading the first black Union troops, the [[63rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment|63rd]] and [[64th United States Colored Infantry Regiment|64th]] [[United States Colored Troops|United States Colored Infantry]], into battle.<ref name="Hutto2005">{{cite book |last1=Hutto |first1=Richard Jay |title=Their Gilded Cage: The Jekyll Island Club Members |date=2005 |publisher=Indigo Custom Publishing |isbn=9780977091225 |pages=146–147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNPoVchaehwC&pg=PA146 |access-date=29 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
Thomas was in the rear with the reserve forces during General [[Sherman's March to the Sea]].<ref name="Eicher2002">{{cite book |last1=Eicher |first1=John |last2=Eicher |first2=David |title=Civil War High Commands |date=2002 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=9780804780353 |page=528 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fs0Ajlnjl6AC&pg=PA528 |access-date=29 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> For one year after the war during the [[Reconstruction era]],<ref name="Hutto2005"/> he was in charge of the [[Freedmen's Bureau|Freedman's and Abandoned Land and Property Departments]] in Mississippi.<ref name="1866Freedman">{{cite news |title=MISSISSIPPI.; The Freedmen--Report of Col. Samuel Thomas--Large Crops Anticipated.. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1866/02/25/79801453.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=25 February 1866}}</ref> He was an [[Adjutant General]] on the staff of [[Oliver Otis Howard]] until January 1867 when he was honorably mustered out of the army.<ref name="SRTObit1903"/>
===Later career=== After the war, he moved to [[Zanesville, Ohio]], and entered the industrial sector, first as a [[pig iron]] and railroad supplies manufacturer. In 1869, he moved into [[coal mining]] when the [[Hocking Valley]] coal mines opened, and eventually moved into railroads in 1878. He began constructing railroads in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. From 1878 until March 1882, he variously served as vice president and president of the Creek Valley Railroad, a director and general manager of the [[New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad]] (known as the [[Nickel Plate Road]]). Beginning in 1882, he served as the president of the [[East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway]] Company and was a director of the [[Lake Erie and Western Railroad]], the [[Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway]],<ref name="American1902">{{cite book |title=American Manual of Values (annual) |date=1902 |publisher=J.L. McLean & Company |page=328 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bRlGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA328 |access-date=29 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> and the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon Railroad, the [[Memphis and Charleston Railroad]], and the [[Richmond and Danville Railroad]], the latter two later became the [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]].<ref name="SRTObit1903"/><ref name="Michigan1902">{{cite book |last1=Commission |first1=Michigan Railroad |title=Annual Report of the Michigan Railroad Commission |date=1902 |publisher=Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Company, state printers |page=208 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cv5AAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA208 |access-date=29 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
==Personal life== In September 1872, Thomas was married to Ann Augusta Porter (1847–1944),<ref name="1945PST">{{cite news |title=Lucetta's Problem with the Thomas Fortune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30058172/lucettas_problem_with_the_thomas/ |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph]] |date=19 Aug 1945 |page=51 |language=en}}</ref> a daughter of Carson Porter, a prominent citizen of Zanesville.<ref name="NYTribObit1903"/> Together, they were the parents of the following children:<ref name="Yale1894">{{cite book |last1=[[Yale University]] Class of 1894 |title=Quarter-century Record, Class of 1894 Yale College |date=1922 |publisher=class under the direction of the Class Secretaries Bureau |page=409 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NEs3v-YlUr4C&pg=PA409 |access-date=29 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Edward Russell Thomas]] (1873–1926),<ref name="ERTObit1926">{{cite news |title=E. R. THOMAS, NOTED SPORTSMAN, DIES; Was an Owner of The Morning Telegraph and a Former Banker {{!}} HAD SPECTACULAR CAREER {{!}} Inherited a Fortune and Lost' Heavily in Panic -- Early Auto-Racing Enthusiast. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1926/07/07/98488310.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 July 1926}}</ref> a banker and owner of the ''[[New York Morning Telegraph]]'',<ref name="buy">{{cite news |title=THE MORNING TELEGRAPH SOLD. Secured from the Whitney Estate by E. R. Thomas |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/03/22/117939211.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 March 1904}}</ref> who married three times, first to [[Linda Lee Thomas]], then to Elizabeth Finley, and lastly, to actress [[Lucy Cotton]].<ref name="ERTObit1926"/> * Harold Edgell Thomas, a physician who married a widow, Ada Blande, to his father's dismay.<ref name="1903Suit">{{cite news |title=DR. HAROLD E. THOMAS SUED.; Chicago Lawyer Wants $250,000 for Services in Suit Against His Father's Estate. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/06/26/102010008.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 June 1903}}</ref><ref name="1903Divorce">{{cite news |title=MRS. THOMAS GETS DIVORCE.; Chicago Court Grants Decree to the Wife of Gen. Samuel Thomas's Son on Ground of Desertion. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/07/18/118493713.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 July 1903}}</ref> * Eleanor Nancy Thomas (1878–1920),<ref name="MrsRLBObit1920">{{cite news |title=MRS R. L. BEECKMAN DEAD IN VIRGINIA -- R I Governor's Wife Was Stricken Suddenly |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30044591/mrs_r_l_beeckman_dead_in_virginia/ |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=December 21, 1920 |page=11 |language=en}}</ref> who married [[Robert Livingston Beeckman]], the [[Governor of Rhode Island]] from 1915 to 1921.<ref name="RLBObit1935">{{cite news |title=ROBERT BEECKMAN, EX-GOVERNOR, DIES; Descendant Also of Livingstons Served 3 Terms, 1915-21, as Rhode Island Executive. WAS FRIEND OF HARDING Republican, 68, Was Mentioned for Vice President--Had Been in State Legislature |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/01/22/93444311.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 January 1935}}</ref>
He was a member of the [[New York Yacht Club]], the Riding Club, the Southern Club, the [[The Union League Club|Union League Club]], the Country Club, the Ohio Club, the [[Lotos Club]], the Lawyers' Club and the [[Jekyl Island Club]].<ref name="SRTObit1903"/>
Thomas died of heart disease at his home, 17 [[57th Street (Manhattan)|West 57th Street]] in New York City, on January 11, 1903.<ref name="NYTribObit1903">{{cite news |title=SAMUEL THOMAS DEAD. -- General's Family at His Bedside at the End |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30058359/samuel_thomas_dead_generals_family/ |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[New-York Tribune]] |date=January 12, 1903 |page=2 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="SRTObit1903">{{cite news |title=GEN. SAMUEL THOMAS DEAD; Passes Away at His Home in This City at Midnight. His Career in the Army, in the Coal Trade Region After the War, and as a Railroad Financier. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/01/12/101965592.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=12 January 1903}}</ref> He was interred in a mausoleum at [[Sleepy Hollow Cemetery]] in North Tarrytown (now [[Sleepy Hollow, New York]]). A mournful statue, [[Sleepy Hollow Cemetery#Bronze Lady|''Recueillement'']] (also known as ''Bronze Lady'') at the door of his mausoleum, commissioned by his widow from the noted sculptor [[Andrew O'Connor (sculptor)|Andrew O'Connor]], is a popular landmark of the cemetery.
At his death, his estate was estimated to be $10,000,000 (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000000|1903}}}} today).<ref name="1903Will">{{cite news |title=GEN. SAMUEL THOMAS'S WILL.; Income of Estate to be Paid to His Widow, Sons, and Daughter -- Esti- mated Value $10,000,000. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/01/29/101969843.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 January 1903}}</ref> His executors (including [[George Macculloch Miller]]) were instructed to invest $100,000 (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|100000|1903}}}} today) and pay the income to his son Harold because in his will, Thomas stated: "I make no further provision for my son Harold because his condition, mentally and physically, is such that he is incapable of managing his own affairs."<ref name="1903Contest">{{cite news |title=NO THOMAS WILL CONTEST; Practical Agreement Said to Have Been Reached. Beneficiaries and Executors of the Will Have Been Conferring with Gen. Samuel Thomas's Son Harold. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/03/15/101981275.pdf |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 March 1903}}</ref> Upon his widow's death in 1944, she left her estate to son Dr. Harold E. Thomas, and not to her late son Edward's children Samuel and Lucetta, "because, in my opinion, each of them is adequately provide for financially".<ref name="1945PST" />
==Legacy== [[Thomasville, Alabama]] is named after him.<ref name="about">{{cite web|title=About Thomasville|work=City of Thomasville|url=http://www.thomasvilleal.com/documents/AboutThomasville-history.pdf|access-date=6 October 2023|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717051704/http://www.thomasvilleal.com/documents/AboutThomasville-history.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{fg|59870557}}
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[[Category:1840 births]] [[Category:1903 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American business executives in rail transportation]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Ohio]] [[Category:Ohio Republicans]] [[Category:People from Lawrence County, Ohio]] [[Category:People of Ohio in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Union army generals]]