Thomas Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Thomas Cemetery, out in Walker County. Now, this patch of ground holds more than just graves. It marks the site of Thomas Plantation and Steamboat Landing, and the story buried here is the kind that stays with you.

John R. Thomas came to this place in 1854, a native of Alabama who put down roots along the river and built something worth remembering. When the Civil War came calling, he answered as a Confederate soldier.

In 1863, at the Battle of Arkansas, he was captured. They transferred him to Camp Chase, Ohio. And one month later, he was gone.

Just like that. A man who crossed a continent to build a life, and he never made it home. His mother Lucy Day Thomas, born in 1794 and gone by 1869, is buried here.

So is his brother Budd Fry Thomas, born 1838 and dead by 1862, another Confederate veteran who didn't outlast the war either. And there's Leroy Thomas, gone in 1871, who owned land across the river. The Thomas family had roots and reach on both banks.

But nothing holds forever. A nephew, Jack Thomas, had sold this property by 1883 and moved on to Polk County. The landing went quiet.

The plantation faded. What's left is this cemetery, keeping the name and the story right where John R. Thomas first decided this was home.

What the marker says

This cemetery marks the site of Thomas Plantation and Steamboat Landing. John R. Thomas, a native of Alabama, settled here in 1854. A Confederate soldier during the Civil War, he was captured at the Battle of Arkansas in 1863 and transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio. He died there one month later. Graves include those of his mother Lucy Day Thomas (1794-1869) and brothers Budd Fry Thomas (1838-1862), also a veteran of the Confederate army, and Leroy Thomas (d. 1871), who owned land across the river. A nephew, Jack Thomas, sold this property by 1883 and moved to Polk County.