Elmer Thomas

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Elmer Thomas | "Forty Years a Legislator" Memoir of a Hoosier Boyhood | Indiana Magazine of History, 103.4 | The History Cooperative

"Forty Years a Legislator"
Memoir of a Hoosier Boyhood

The title of this book is "FORTY YEARS A LEGISLATOR."	1
The author served thirteen years—from Statehood in 1907 to 1920—in the Oklahoma State Senate; four years—1923 to 1927—in the National House of Representatives, and twenty-four years—1927 to 1951—in the United States Senate.	2
In order that those who read these lines may have some understanding of the background, education and qualifications of the author to serve as the representative of the people of a district and a state of some two and one half million people, it is deemed appropriate that a brief history be outlined in this, the first chapter.	3
ANCESTORS—The name "Thomas" is one of the most common for both personal and surnames in the entire list of American names. An early Thomas family originated in Wales and dates back to antiquity.	4
My forebears on the Thomas side migrated to Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary War. From Pennsylvania my great grandfather moved to Bath County, Kentucky, and from there my grandfather moved on to Indiana.	5
My grandfather Joel Thomas, was killed November 8, 1884, while attending a Democratic jollification over the election of Cleveland and Hendricks, which had just occur[r]ed.¹	6
My father, William Thomas, was born June 17, 1844, in Putnam County, Indiana.	7
My mother, Elizabeth Ewing Thomas, was born October 5, 1842, in Montgomery County, in the same State.	8
My father and mother were married on January 1, 1863, and began housekeeping in a log house in a heavily timbered area in Indiana.	9
On my mother's side, the Ewing family came from the Lowlands of Scotland. From Scotland to Ireland, thence to Cecil County, Maryland, then on to Pennsylvania where my great, great grandfather purchased 322 acres of land from the government. From York County, Pennsylvania, the family moved to Kentucky. The town of Ewing was named for the early settlers from Pennsylvania.	10
My father's and mother's ancestors were predominantly merchants, farmers and live stock raisers.	11
My father was the eldest of a family of ten children—nine brothers and one sister—and all, of necessity, chose farming as a mode of life.	. . .

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"Forty Years a Legislator"Memoir of a Hoosier Boyhood

ELMER THOMAS

"Forty Years a Legislator"
Memoir of a Hoosier Boyhood