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William C. Thomas Sr. Papers, , Mss. Collection# 2005.4, Special Collections, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA
Donated by Mary B. Kegley in 2005; part of the Mary B. Kegley Collection.
William Crockett Thomas, the son of Charles Benton Thomas and Elizabeth Peirce Crockett Thomas, was born in Wytheville, Virginia on 30 March 1881. He attended King College in Bristol, Tennessee and Saddlers, Bryant & Stratton Business School in Baltimore. He graduated from the Law School of Washington & Lee University and was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1906. He practiced law in Wytheville for over fifty years. He also served as an Assistant Trial Judge and Judge of the Wythe County Court in his later years.
Thomas married Czarina Pettit, daughter of Dr. Absalom and Czarina Forbes Pettit of New Orleans, on 12 June 1912. They had three children: William Crockett Thomas Jr., Czarina Elizabeth Thomas, and Zaida Pettit Thomas . William C. Thomas Jr. served as an aviation mechanic in the Army Air Corps in England during World War II and became an engineer. His sister, Czarina, graduated from Virginia Intermont College and worked as a secretary in the Orthopedic Department at the University of Virginia Hospitals. Zaida Pettit Thomas married Dr. Marion Kemper Humphries in 1939 and resided in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Active in the community and church life, Thomas served on the Wytheville Town Council (1911-1912) and as mayor (1911-1916). He also was an active member of the Democratic Party being Wythe County Democratic Committee Chairman and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1936. He also organized the Wythe County Farm Loan Association in 1917. He served as deacon and trustee of the Wytheville Presbyterian Church.
Thomas died on 8 May 1963 and Czarina Pettit Thomas died on 3 July 1974. Both are buried in East End Cemetery, Wytheville, Virginia.
This collection contains personal correspondence to and from William Crockett Thomas, the bulk written during World War II. Correspondence include his wife Czarina Pettit Thomas, his son, William C. Thomas Jr., brother Charles Mitchell Thomas, and nephew Benton Hickok. Correspondence is arranged chronologically in eight folders.
Collection is arranged chronologically
Re: his "chivalry."
Re: Thomas coat of arms.
Re: reproduction of the Thomas coat of arms painted by Fannie Gibboney of Wytheville, Va., and his ancestry.
Re: his enjoyable visit and the Hay-Stuart family Bible records.
Re: article by John S. Wise from his book
Re: car accident he judged as Trial Justice and birthday of "Granny" [Elizabeth Peirce Crockett Thomas, his mother].
Re: financial matters, Army Air Corps training of his son William C. Thomas Jr., and Charles' wife and baby.
Re: finances, Charles' wife and baby, birth of Thomas' granddaughter, Betty Forbes Humphries, and visit to Grandpa Crockett's homestead and fire in main house.
Re: her wages and her new baby.
Re: Thomas' Army Air Corps training, planes passing over Wytheville, his Sunday School class at Wytheville Presbyterian Church, the relocation of his former stenographer Louise Umberger Kent and her husband to Portland, Oregon, and his new stenographer Erma Lorena Catron of Crockett, Virginia.
Re: suggested wording of his will, news from Army Air Corps serviceman William C. Thomas Jr., Sunday School classes, and dedication of the Jefferson Monument in Washington, D. C.
Re: description of her apartment in the shipyard village of Vanport and her new job.
Re: his request to remove maple tree in square owned by grandmother of Dr. Thomas in East End Cemetery because of its branches discoloring tombstones in square owned by William C. Thomas family.
Re: his permission to cut maple tree.
Re: Christmas present of $5.00.
Re: Christmas present of $20.00.
Re: removal of tree from cemetery square, his childhood memories of Dr. Thomas and Plumer College and his grandmother, Harriet M. Lufborough.
Re: his deployment in the Pacific Theatre probably as a hydrographic surveyor in the Navy, memories of early interest in aviation, Army Air Corps career of William C. Thomas Jr., his baby daughter Diane, and boyhood memories.
Re: witholding tax and engagement of Doris Hart.
Re: news from William C. Thomas Jr. who is stationed in Liverpool, England.
Re: his hope for successful deployent and return home "right-side-up."
Re: deployment of Charles M. Thomas to Solomon Islands and WCT Sr.'s flirtation with woman in Roanoke before V.M.I. game.
Re: dance he attended with nephew Benton Hickok (son of Laura Thomas Hickok) and his girlfriend in Washington, D.C., visit with his daughter and husband in Charlottesville, Zaida Pettit Thomas Humpries and Marion Kemper Humpries Jr., death of "Patterson boy from Pulaski" in bombing mission on Berlin, and family.
Re: his admittance to hospital for scarlet fever.
Re: his recuperation from scarlet fever.
Re: his recuperation from scarlet fever.
Re: his recuperation from scarlet fever, eggs English style, powdered milk, "all the fellows talk about how sick they are going to get when they hit the U.S. and start stuffing on ice-cream and chocolate milk shakes."
Re: his hospitalizatin for scarlet fever.
Re: his business trip to Bland.
Re: Clem Fountain [Clement N. Fontaine] and his Sunday School class discussion about communication with the dead.
Re: hail storm, fall of Mrs. John Hamlet and hip injury, meningitis illness of Gregory Ewald, death of Annie Stuart Litchfield Bolling, sister-in-law of Edith Bolling Wilson.
Re: funeral of Annie Stuart Litchfield Bolling in Abingdon, visit of John Crockett, recovery of Gregory Ewald from meningitis, and weather.
Re: furlough of Billy Rorrer, service in Charles Mitchell Thomas in Solomon Islands, service of Lawrence Thomas Jr. and Dewey Crockett in England, and visit of John Crockett.
Re: Rev. Balmer Kelly, Dr. Jake Haller, and letter with no postage to Billy Thomas.
Re: meeting of Presbytery, dinner with Rev. Preston and elder Baldwin from Buchanan County, Dr. Liston of King College, Rev. Balmer Kelly, Dr. Walsh, trial of Sam Slater, arrival of Jack Crockett in England, recovery of Gregory Ewald from meningitis, and visit of Rev. Chalmus McClutchin.
Re: visit of Rev. Chalmus McClutchin, bladder trouble of Sue Pendleton, hospitalization of Alberta Crockett (Mrs. Newton Crockett), Hugh Campbell service as navigator and not pilot, and Austin Campbell.
Re: visit to oil field in Lee County, improving health of Richard R. Hickok (Hickie), alert by Dr. Charles Fox Graham of polio cases, death of son of Dr. Alfred Jones of Jefferson Hospital, Roanoke, memorial service for Sergeant Lloyd E. Riggle, death of Trent Kincer on 6 June 1944, and Sunday School.
Re: recovery of Richard R. Hickok.
Re: his selection to lead combat orientation sessions. "I was pretty darned scared as my group was full of master Sgts. including my bosses. The topic was 'what to do with Germany after the War.'"
Re: possibility of establishment of hospital in Wytheville, conversation with Mr. Taylor, superintendent at New Jersey Zinc Company in Austinville, bomb attempt on Gen. George Patton, Lillian Moses, accident of B-17 in England, and illness of Dick Miller.
Re: his injury moving airplane parts.
Re: his application to engineering program after the war.
Re: business trip to Marion and Bristol, new house of Lawrence Thomas, death of Frank Spiller from stomach cancer, and visit with blind soldier on train.
Re: his planned trip to Washington, D. C.
Re: trip with Joe Shaffer to Norfolk and Washington, D. C., visit with Benton Hickok, German prisoners on train, drunken sailor on train, and visit with Marion Kemper Humphries and Zaida Thomas Humphries.
Re: business trips with Joe Shaffer, visit with Benton Hickok, German prisoners and drunken sailor on train, funeral of James L. Davis, and experiences of William C. Thomas Jr. in England.
Re: his desire for William C. Thomas Sr. to help him obtain a commission as captain in Navy, book by sister Elizabeth Thomas Hanson called
Re: his request for Thomas to assist him in obtaining a commission as captain. "I feel quite sure that with my training and qualifications I would now be a '4-striper' had my orders for my transfer to the Civil Engineer Corps not been cancelled."
Re: death of Brown Cassell, hospitalization of Carl Brown Umberger, and Sunday School experiences of Elizabeth Thomas Hanson (Bess).
Re: request of Mrs. Towson Moore to occupy the Thomas' rental apartment upon vacation of Rev. Harris and funeral of Brown Cassell.
Re: relocation of Rev. Harris and desire of Mrs. Harris to remain in apartment until she can find a house in Richmond.
Re: death of son of Dr. Wagner who was killed in action, throat cancer of John Crockett, and meeting with Mae Juett Bunker in Marion.
Re: his demurral to get involved in promoting Thomas' commission as captain because of his membership on the advisory board of the Army. "Almost everyday somebody wants me to try to help get their son released from the army or navy, but after they are sent off, I have to keep hands off."
Re: shortage of coal in rental apartment.
Re: approval for military service of John Lester and "Squire" Jimmy Crockett and disapproval of Lataney Sutherland.
Re: purchase of S.S. Simmerman house for hospital by Seventh Day Adventist Church, encounter with copperhead snake, tuberculosis of Claudie Hagey, and death of John Brackens. Enclosure, clipping re: copperhead snake.
Re: compliment he received from woman train passenger that he "was the highest type of Virginia gentleman."
Re: purchase of Virginia Rorrer's property by Tom Pendleton, baccalaureate sermon at Methodist Church and dog fight during it, meteor explosion, and mix-up with his nightshirt - laundry workers sent it to Terry girls.
Re: piano recital experience of Major Bowen, election of new elders including J. C. Wilson, Ben Kelly, and James Hutton, and mortal illness of Nell Hoofnagle.
Re: his advice for riding train to Lynchburg.
Re: his uncertainty about his next posting, building a radio, and transatlantic phone call resumption.
Re: visit of Charles Mitchell Thomas and family, visit to Hungry Mother State Park with Ruth Thomas, Don Spiller and sons.
Re: posting of Charles Mitchell Thomas to Pacific theater again as commander, visit to Hungry Mother State Park, and marriage of Mrs. Lee MIller to Mr. Lambert.
Re: Hungry Mother State Park visit, visit of Benton Hickok to nudist colony near Washington, D. C., and Lee Miller Lambert.
Re: visit of Benton Hickok and his English friend, Mr. Butler, death of Mrs. Ludlow Lindamood, and visit of Charles Mitchell Thoams and family.
Re: hospitalization of Virginia Thomas Spiller and Lillian Allen Moses.
Re: Mrs. Verran Crowgey, purchase of house by Simmerman family and Watkins family from John Vernon, illness of John Simmerman, accident of Martha Susan Campbell, and visit to Hungry Mother State Park.
Re: collision of automobile and truck near Jackson Ferry and death of male occupant.
Re: arrival of William C. Thomas Jr.
Re: visit of Andrew Bird and family.
Re: her Red Cross papers.
Re: finances.
Re: sugar stamps, hospitalization of Virginia Spiller, and 100th anniversary of St. Mary's Catholic Church.
Re: death of Sam Sayers Crigger and airplane trip with William C. Thomas Jr. as pilot.
Re: enlistement of William C. Thomas Jr., and diatribe against newspapers and business and
Re: motion picture