Asheville daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1890-1900, 1893-05-12
THE LATE COL. THOMAS
8sD N E:lrksHrSss OF THE I-IE-H. OF
- GOOD MA.

tsss N E:TEaHrSB OF TEaE: LIFE OF
= GOOD MAJ.
kase Was EVERY Bzam'a Friend. and
The Rm<zaas.ss. among whom He
Lived NHamS Years, AlnnOst VVOr-
sB.tEDe-0 Eztsaa-The Organizer of
ThOn nas' EasGasan Battalion.
In the death OF Col. VIM. II. Thomas,
which event was chronicled in THE CITI-
ZEN yesterday. Western North Carolina
lost one of the best of men that have
lived in her borders. Though for nearly
a score of yesrs shut out from the light
of reason. the good works to which Ec
was ALWAYS willing to devote his ener-
gies Ina We borne fruit and will perpetual 4
aud IN AXE his name household word !
he remote western section of tho State
for long years to come.
And not alone in the homes of his rel:
tives and fr;c',is of the wl,tc race VIII
this noble spirit be mournesl. In rlarN
a tie home among the In iians in Jacl.-
SON and Swain counties there is sorrow.
tonight as the father tell the news hc
has heard OF the death OF Col. Thomas,
and then calls his lit tie ones about hiT
and to them points out the character t
the man as one thrice worthy tf emul;.- :
ton. Among the red men in the west ther.
will he tears shed over the death of tn,
man whom. above all Others, they trus-
ted implicitly The Colonel had done so
much for the Cherokees, had spent so
much time among them, and in eyerv
way showed the deepest interest in the
advancement of the trit,e, that the affec-
ton trey feel for him is little short OF
worship.
1t was Col. Thomas who, during the
late war, organized Thomas battalion,
composed of Indians. He was the business
agent for this band for many years and by
his frequent .ontractwith them became
fluent speaker of the Cherokee tongue.
From Wheeler's history of North Caro-
lima is taken the following extract from
letter written by Col. Thomas, October
Is, 1888, to Hon. James Graham, which
will prove of interest:
Until the year 1880 they 1.-THE Indians]
were a in temperate as any other In
dians on our frontier. About that time
I he principal chief OF the settlement, by
the name of Drowning Bear (or You-na-
guSka }, becoming convinced that intern
perancc would destroy himself and peo
pie, determined to live temperate, and
persuade his people to follow his exam
pie. L was present when he assent bled
them. On that occasion he Informed his
people that he had been considering and
devising ways to promote their happi-
ness In future. He said he had become
convinced that intemperance was the
cause of the determination of Indian
tribes situated in the neighborhood of
the whites. He directed his clerk to
write in the Indian language as follows:
The undersigned Cherokees, belonging
to the town of Qualia. agree to abandon
the use of spirituous liquors. 1t was
immedia tely signed by the old chief. who
was followed by the whole town.
Col. John d. Cameron, editor of the
the following story which illustrates well
the absolute confidence bestowed on Col.
Thomas by every one who knew him. OF
whatever color they might be. Col.
he idea for building a railroad tbr ough
Western North Carolina. He did all he
could to stir up the railroad matter and
get the people to do something to secure
the road, pointing out to them the ad
vantages of constructing a line. The in
cident related occurred about 40 years
ago Col. Thomas one day, in talking
railroad" to a Mr. Miller, stated his firm
suggested further that the man who
built a summer resort hotel near
a certain point ON the Nantahala
the venssre Mr so'P Miller 0nss Ssd tsH% sss
unbounded faith in Col. Thomas
Judgment that he at once pur-
chased the site and soon had built what
was in that day and time n fine building
and waited for the railroad to come.
But it was many weary years before the
road did come. Now, passengers over
the M urphy branch OF t he Western North
Carolina road can see this hous they
pass over the line. 1t is old and weather
bea ten. and near enough to the track to
allow passenger to pitch a stone from
the train into the 'hotcl" yard. The
builders dream of summer visitors was
never realized.
Col. Thomas was a man OF much landed
properties. one OF his farms being one OF
| the finest in this section.
| In 1S45-'5O Col Thomas represented
| the Fiftieth Senatorial district Hay
| wood, Macon and Cher rokee) in the Sen
| ate OF North Carolina.
81xg Land 9uit Affected.
Alderman-elect w. W. tones returned
yesterday afternoon from Macon county
court, where he had gone as attorney in
the Everitt-Thomas case. This is a very
| important litig alton. involving one o
the finest farms in Western North Caro-
lima. on the Tuckaseegee river. formerly
belonging to the late Col w. H. Thomas
| The suit was brought by the heirs o.
| Col. Thomas to recover posse ssion of the
| land. on the ground that at the time
| Col. Thomas made the sale to Everitt
| the former was insane, the Thomas heir.
/ to refund to Everitt the amount of pur
! chase money and accounting to thu
| Thomas estate for the rents since tn,
sale was made, many years ago. Befor,
the case could be tried Col. Thomas died
| and the case was put off to a futur,
| court.
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