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hood. STEPCHILDREN: names unknown; wife Sarah
mentioned grandchildren in her will made in 1783.
PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS
AFFILIATION: Anglican. SOCIAL STATUS AND AC-
TIVITIES: Gent., by 1768. OCCUPATIONAL PRO-
FILE: lawyer, admitted to the following courts:
Talbot County in June 1765; Somerset County in
June 1765; Queen Anne's County in August 1765;
Frederick County in November 1766; Charles
County in March 1768; Provincial Court in May
1769. After the Revolution, Thomas represented
Alexander Hamilton, factor for James Brown &
Co. of Glasgow, in claims against Maryland debt-
ors. In 1786, angry planters appeared in the Charles
County Court and forced Thomas to withdraw
the actions he had brought against men indebted
to Brown & Co. Gov. William Smallwood (1732-
1792) issued a proclamation deploring the "riot-
ous behaviour" of the "disorderly persons lately
assembled at Port Tobacco," enjoining civil of-
ficers to suppress any such conduct which might
prejudice the administration of "right and jus-
tice." PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
Conventions, St. Mary's County, 3rd, 1774, 4th,
1775, 5th, 1775, 6th-8th, 1775-1776 (did not at-
tend the 7th and 8th Conventions); Lower House,
St. Mary's County, 1778-1779 (Elections 1; Laws
to Expire 3); 1781-1782 (Grievances 2). OTHER
PROVINCIAL OFFICE: clerk, Lower House, 1761-
1762. LOCAL OFFICES: deputy commissary, St.
Mary's County, 1771-1776; justice, Court of Oyer,
Terminer, and Gaol Delivery, St. Mary's County,
commissioned 1771 (clerk and cryer, 1772); St.
Andrew's Parish Vestry, St. Mary's County, 1790-
1793; churchwarden, St. Andrew's Parish, St.
Mary's County, 1793; trustee of alms and work-
house, St. Mary's County, July 1795. MILITARY
SERVICE: captain, 5th Independent Company of
Regular Troops, commissioned January 17, 1776;
major, Upper Battalion, St. Mary's County Mi-
litia, appointed August 26, 1777. In July 1776,
Thomas was ordered by the Convention to take
his company to Philadelphia; he was present in
Harlem, New York, in September 1776. WEALTH
DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed
value £662.7.8, including 17 slaves and 89 oz.
plate, 1793; assessed value £639.2.6, including 15
slaves and 89 oz. plate, 1796. LAND AT FIRST ELEC-
TION: probably none (had sold land in Talbot
County inherited from his father prior to his first
election). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BE-
TWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: acquired,
possibly through marriage, 637 acres in St. Mary's
County, including a mill, by 1793; held certificate
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for an additional 127 acres in St. Mary's County,
1796. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: between Septem-
ber 22, 1796, and January 23, 1797, in St. Mary's
County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, at least
£1,474.10.2 current money (including 15 slaves,
plate valued at £114.15.5, and law books valued
at £57.8.0). LAND: 763 acres, including a mill, in
St. Mary's County. Principal heirs were his wife,
his brother James, and his nephews William and
John Thomas.
THOMAS, NICHOLAS (?-ca. 1784). BORN: in
Talbot County; probably third son. NATIVE: fourth
generation. RESIDED: in Talbot County. FAMILY
BACKGROUND. FATHER: William Thomas (1705-
1767). MOTHER: Elizabeth Allen (by 1705-by
1757). STEPMOTHER, by 1757, Margaret Finney
Edmondson (?-ca. 1766). AUNT: Elizabeth Thomas
(ca. 1701-1755), who married Edward Needles
(1695/96-1751/52). BROTHERS: John Allen Thomas
(1734-ca. 1797); William (?-1789); and James
(?-1810). STEPBROTHER: Samuel Edmondson (?-
1751). SISTER: Mary (ca. 1741-by 1767). STEP-
SISTER: Rachel Edmondson. FIRST COUSIN: John
Stevens (ca. 1735-1794). PRIVATE CAREER. EDU-
CATION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: father
and brother were Anglicans. SOCIAL STATUS AND
ACTIVITIES: Gent., by 1768. OCCUPATIONAL PRO-
RLE, lawyer, admitted to the following courts:
Queen Anne's County in August 1759, Talbot
County in November 1759, Provincial Court in
September 1760, Cecil County in November 1760,
Somerset County in June 1765, and Dorchester
County by March 1773. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGIS-
LATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Talbot County,
1768-1770 (Public Offices 1; Grievances 1-3; Laws
to Expire 1-4), 1771 (Laws to Expire), 1773-
1774 (Grievances 1, Cv, 2, 3; Public Offices 1,
Cv, 2, 3); Conventions, Talbot County, 1st, 1774,
4th, 1775, 5th, 1775, 6th-8th, 1775-1776; Lower
House, Talbot County, 1777 (elected elected dur-
ing the 1st session to fill vacancy; speaker 1, 2),
1777-1778 (speaker 1, 2; resigned in March 1778
when he accepted a commission as judge of the
General Court). OTHER STATE OFFICES: Councils
of Safety, Eastern Shore, 4th, 1776 (appointed
on September 18, 1776), 5th 1776-1777; judge,
General Court, 1778 to death. MILITARY SERVICE:
quartermaster general, 4th Battalion, Talbot
County Militia, appointed on January 14, 1776,
resigned on August 8, 1776. WEALTH DURING LIFE-
TIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed Value
£351.6.4, including 8 slaves and 67 oz. plate, 1783.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 73 acres in Talbot County
809
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