Noah Thomas
For distinguished services and long residence, the subject of this sketch takes the lead. Noah Thomas is native born, the oldest of a family of thirteen, whose parents were William and Lavinia Thomas. He first saw Madison county seventy-three years ago, and, with the exceptin of a few years either as soldier, or otherwise serving his country, he has lived here continuously. When the civil war broke out he was a student in Antioch College. He joined Co. C., 110th O. V. I., and led, by General J. Warren Keifer, marched to the front, to do or die for the eternal right.
He was with Grant in the Wilderness, at Spotsylvania and at Cold Harbor. Here a gunshot wound caused the loss of his left arm, amputation being necessary in the field hospital. In '64 he returned. An appreciative community made him County Auditor, and re-elected him for five consecutive terms. Governor Foster, in 1870, made him Warden of the Penitentiary, where he remained four years. He has served as Mayor of London, Superintendent of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans Home at Xenia, member of the Board of Education, four terms as councilman, and is now serving his fifth term as Justice of the Peace. He has been twice married, his frist wife being Geneva Smith, of London, and his second Alice Dooris of Zanesville, by the former one child, a daughter, Mrs. Georgia Thompson, of Xenia, and by the latter five children, four of whom are still living. Mr. Thomas, full of years and crowned with honors, looks back upon a busy life, in every scene of which he had the confidence of all of his fellow citizens.
From Madison Democrat 50th Anniversary - Published by the Madison Democrat, 1908
Noah Thomas, P. O. London, Warden Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus, residence London, was born in Fayette, near the Madison County line, Ohio, August 1, 1834. He is a son of William Thomas, a native of Virginia. He was a farmer by occupation, and upon coming to Ohio, located in Fayette County. About 1835, he came to Madison County, and has since lived there. He now resides in Stokes Township, and is about sixty-nine years of age. He married Lavina Beauchamp, a native of Clark County, Ohio. They are the parents of thirteen children, eleven now living. Mrs. Thomas is still living in her sixty-eighth year, and both parents enjoy reasonably good health. Our subject is the oldest of this large family of children, and obtained only a limited education in his earlier life. He remained with his parents until twenty-five years of age, and then entered Antioch College, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he was in attendance when the war broke out. He returned home, and in December, 1863, enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Tenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Gen. J. Warren Keifer, commanding, and served until June 2, 1864, the date of the battle of Cold Harbor. In that affray he received a musket ball in the left arm, which caused the loss of that valuable member. He lay in Armory Square Hospital, Washington, D. C., from June 10 to July 29, of that year, and during that period was nominated for County Auditor, on the Republican ticket, by his admiring and sympathizing friends in far away Madison County. He was triumphantly elected. and re-elected three times in succession, serving eleven years in all (lacking a few months). At the expiration of this time. he was employed in a clerical capacity in one or two of the county offices, and also served as Justice of the Peace of Union Township. In April, 1850, he was elected Mayor of London, and two weeks later was appointed to his present position by the Boards of Directors of the Ohio State Penitentiary for a term of three years from April 1 after appointment. His term will there end April 22, 1884. Warden Thomas has made a faithful and efficient public officer an has made a host of friends throughout every part of the State. He is a member of Madison Lodge, No. 70 (I. O. O. F.), Knights of Honor and American Legions of Honor all of London. He was formerly a member of the Christian Church. but of late years has been connected with the Presbyterian denomination. He has always been an advocate of Republican principles. Mr. Thomas was married in February, 1866, to Geneva, daughter of James Smith, and sister of Auburn Smith, deceased, of London. One child was given them -- Maud. Mrs. Thomas died May 25, 1871. He was again united in marriage September 16, 1874, to Alice Dorris, a native of Muskingum County. and residing at Zanesville, Ohio. Four children have been born to this latter union, three living. They are John D., Alice and Helen J. Mrs. Thomas is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church of London. During his army career, Warden Thomas was successively offered the position of First Lieutenant and Captain, but declined both honors, preferring to serve in the ranks.
From HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY - W. H. Beers [Chicago, 1883]