John Thomas (born Hans Wendel Thoma) was married at least twice as appears from deeds where there is a wife’s name. The first known wife was Mary and the second was Sarah, both surnames are unknown.
Some have speculated that Mary was a Vaught based on a land sale from John Paul Vaught to John Thomas. This is very weak evidence. It is true that John Paul Vaught came with his wife and five children on the ship Charming Betty in 1733. The ship’s roster is more complete than usual and gives Johan Vogt, 53, Andreas Vogt, 12, Casper Vogt, 8, Maria Vogt, 46, Catherine Vogt, 18, and Maria Vogt, 16. One factor against Maria as the wife of John Thomas is that Maria is not mentioned in her father’s will nor are any children of hers mentioned. There is no evidence for her existence beyond her arrival in Philadelphia.
In May of 1735, John Thomas was issued a patent for 400 acres in the Great Fork, for which he paid with the head rights of three people, Robert Turner, Mary Turner, and Parva Turner plus 25 shillings. Robert Turner was a mistake for Robert Tanner. He testified that he came in 1720 with his wife Mary and five children, Christopher, Christianna, Katherine, Mary, and Barbara (Parva). In this same year, 1735, Robert Tanner was issued a patent for 200 acres for which he paid with the head rights of four people, Catherine Turner, Mary Turner, Christopher Turner, and Christianna Turner. (None of these people had to be living at the time their head right was used.) Thus, John Thomas was using three of the head rights that Robert Tanner did not use. Robert could have sold the extra head rights or given them to John Thomas.
Very often, head rights were used within the family. For example, when John Carpenter took up 150 acres of new land in 1733, he paid with the head rights of Andrew Kerker, Margaret Kerker, and Barbara Kerker. These were his parents-in-law and their daughter, his wife.
I have wondered if the wife Mary of John Thomas was Mary Tanner. Unfortunately, husbands of the Tanner daughters are unknown except it does appear that Katherine married Richard Burdyne. There is no evidence for the husbands of Barbara (who did not marry Peter Fleshman as some have guessed), nor of Christianna or Mary.
We know only, for sure, that John Thomas’ wife in 1742 was a Mary, for in that year he sold his interest in a 156 acre tract to his brother Michael. Whether Mary was a Vaught, Tanner, or another surname is not known and the best answer is to note the uncertainty of pinpointing her name.
(31 Mar 06)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.