These are my maternal great-great-great grandparents. They are the parents of Edward Jonathan Thomas--see here:
https://365project.org/darylo/2021/2021-03-06
John Abbott Thomas was born on Peru Plantation in 1816 (his parents were Major Johnathan Thomas and Mary Jane Baker). His father's first wife died prior to 1820 as no females are listed in the 1820 MacIntosh County census. He married his second wife, Mary Ann Williamson Houstoun (1756-1854), widow of James E. Houstoun, Sr.
John Abbot Thomas married Malvina Huguenin Thomas, who was from Charleston, SC. Her mother can be found here:
https://365project.org/darylo/2021/2021-03-12 John Thomas died 1859 and I have located his grave in Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA. alongside his wife. He was a "planter" as I read in some notes online, he was a substantial plantation owner with many slaves. Edward J. Thomas (his son) graduated from Univ. of GA in 1860, and I believe he inherited at least one of the plantations, the most prominent one in my research being called Peru plantation. There is a lot of history online to wade through, so this is a snapshot of all this--and likely incorrect on a timeline. From the story of EJThomas's "Memoirs of a Southerner," his father is buried on the land where the plantation is. So there is no "marker" for his grave, but in the memoir, he mentions "by a large oak in our private burying ground on the banks of the South Newport River."
John Joel Abbott Thomas and Malvina H. had at least four children: EJThomas (only son), Eliza (wife of John W. Magill), Mary Jane (wife of George Gaydon), and Malvina H. who remained unmarried and lived in Savannah. Other sources show more children, some who likely did not live full lives.
My next photos, I believe, will be of those four siblings.
Oh, and of note! The signatures on these photographs are from a Savannah photographer "Launey" and these are signed and noted as "copy" of the originals. My mother had all these framed. Launey, in my research, also photographed some slave plantations in the 1800's and he did the portraits of EJThomas and sisters in 1903 (3 years before my grandmother was born).
I'm behind again, not in taking photos on the correct day, but in posting. Will try today to get the next photo in before the light goes. Afternoon light is perfect, but morning and evening not so great.
