Thank you for you quick response. In the valley of Little Bigby Creek south of Columbia, TN (near Bigbyville) in Maury Co., in the early 19th century, there seems to be a large related clan of Thomases. One branch was Marine D. and his father William. This William definitely had other children by previous marriages. The other families you mention in Harrison County Texas are found in Maury Co. associated with Marine D. -- Marine's younger sister was married to a Draper, Marine married a girl descended from the Richardsons of Maury Co., the Cannons lived close by, etc... Also of interest are the Emersons who moved from Scott Co. KY to southern Maury Co. and were strongly associated with Marine D. Unfortunately, I have run out of further evidence to document the ancestry of William, Marine's father, although I have theories. My belief is that the Thomases came to the Philadelpia area as Welsh Quaker gentry in the late 1600's and then down into VA.

Thanks,

Alan Gulick