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Was the grandmother of Johns Hopkins II, the Baltimore financier and philanthropist.
REFERENCE: Information sent from Thomas Edwards [thomas@thesync.com] to T.Mason on 4Mar2002 referring to [HYPERLINK http://www.colesville.org/book/ch5.html ] Colesville by Ned Baley. EXTRACTS: "Evan Thomas was the most prominent person in the Colesville area during the latter half of the 18th Century. Quaker minister, plantation owner, public servant, dissenter, freer of slaves and family man, he left his mark not only on the future of the area but also on the whole of Maryland.
Samuel and Mary Thomas owned the largest 18th Century plantation in today's Colesville area and were very active in the Sandy Spring Meeting of the Society of Friends. Although the plantation was operated with the help of slaves, there is reason to be believe that his Quaker parents insisted that Evan do his share of field work.
Evan Thomas was a very literate person. Where and how he received his education is not known. His parents were sufficiently affluent to hire a tutor or to send Evan away for schooling, or to do both. On the other hand he may have received his schooling directly from his parents.
The written memorial at the time of his death mentions that Evan was ill as a child, read a number of Quaker writings during that period and became deeply religious. As an adult, he was chosen by his Quaker peers to be a minister, a position awarded to men and women of acknowledged eloquence, "who preached Quakerism to the world and did more than their share in the affairs of Quaker meetings." However in the 18th Century, Quaker ministers were not ordained - they were "called and qualified by God." They were not paid for their services, did not conduct the meetings of worship, and like other members of the meeting, spoke only when the Lord "moved" them to do so."Evan Thomas became a landowner at the age of 26, when he patented 60 acres called Beaver Dam.
In 1766, the year he married Rachel Hopkins, he patented Mount Radnor containing 29 acres. (See Figure 20) Mount Radnor, after which Evan named his entire plantation, was a narrow strip between two of his father's holdings.
In 1768, Evan purchased his father's 1029 acres of Snowden's Fourth Addition to His Manor for the same price his father paid for it twenty years earlier - 100 pounds sterling. In addition, Evan no doubt managed the other 709 acres of his father's plantation which he inherited in 1781 when his father died. At that time, Evan's holdings amounted to 1829 acres located west of today's New Hampshire Avenue and extending across the Northwest Branch beyond Glenmont.
At the start of the Revolutionary War, Evan lived in the only brick house in the Colesville area and was among the wealthier men in Frederick County.Being a minister did not fully satisfy the aspirations of Evan Thomas, and he enlisted his talents in activities of public service. In 1772, he was appointed a Frederick County Overseer for roads: from Charles Williams to the lower end of the County and from the main road that leads to Monocacy by Sam Beale's mill to the Northwest Branch from Snowden's Manor to the lower end of the County and from John Roqers race qround to the fork in the road near Edward Owens. Overseers of roads were usually prominent citizens living nearby their assignment and were responsible for cutting away underbrush, felling trees, draining the worst of the marshes and making heads of rivers, creeks, branches and swamps passable for horses and people on foot.
To do that, they were authorized to conscript slaves and other labor from neighboring land owners. They were paid in tobacco.
During the second week of June, 1774, Evan Thomas saddled his horse, left his Mount Radnor plantation and rode the several miles to Charles Hungerford's Tavern. He was met there by his cousins, Richard Brooke and Richard Thomas, as well as other inhabitants of what was called "Lower Frederick County."
They were meeting to protest the closing of the Port of Boston by the British in March of that year, and they unanimously resolved:
That it is the opinion of this meetinq that the Town of Boston is sufferinq in the common cause of America.
That every leqal and constitutional measure ouqht to be used by all America for procurinq a repeal of the act of Parliament for blocking up the harbor of Boston.
That it is the opinion of this meetinq that the most effectual means for the securinq of American freedom will be to break off all commerce with Great Britain and the West Indies until the said act be repealed and the riqht of taxation be qiven up on permanent principles.This resolution was a bold step. Agreement on nonimportation of goods from Great Britain had been widely supported and by 1773, very few goods were being brought into the colonies. However breaking off all commerce with Great Britain and the West Indies would sharply reduce the incomes of plantation owners like Evan Thomas. Their main cash crop was tobacco and nearly all of it was exported to England or the West Indies.
The meeting also unanimously resolved:
That Mr. Henry Griffith, Nathan Maqruder, Dr. Thomas Spriqq Wooton, Evan Thomas, Richard Brooke, Richard Thomas, Zadok Magruder, Dr. William Baker, Thomas Cramphin Jr., and Allen Bowie be a committee to attend the qeneral committee at Annapolis and of correspondence for the lower part of Frederick County, and any six of them shall have the power to receive and communicate intelligence to and from their neighboring committees.
The meeting in Annapolis which Evan Thomas, his cousins, and the other representatives attended on June 22, 1774, was the First Maryland Convention. Agreement on nonexportations was difficult to attain, and finally a temporary measure was passed which called for prohibition of exports if approved by the other colonies.
There was a strong sentiment among citizens of Maryland to find a peaceful settlement to the growing tension with Great Britain, but on October 15, 1774, the brigantine, Peggy Stewart, anchored in Annapolis harbor with 2,000 pounds of tea aboard. The brigantine's presence provoked those who maintained that the only solution was through forceful resistance, and despite efforts to stop them, they burned the ship.
The Second Maryland Convention met the following November, but adjourned after five days because of poor attendance. With 85 members present, the convention met again on December 8. Among the resolutions passed, one authorized the organization of military units within the counties.
Henry Griffith, Thomas Sprigg Wooton, Evan Thomas and Richard Brooke were elected to represent Lower Frederick County at that Second Convention. Evan Thomas refused to serve, a decision that changed the course of his life.Although Quakers occupied many positions of power and influence during the early decades of Maryland's history, they were constantly attacked for their plain manner of dress and speech, their refusal to take oaths and their opposition to violence of any sort. When Maryland was a Crown colony, they were increasingly barred from holding public office and subjected to taxes in support of the Anglican church, which many refused to pay. Discrimination against them continued even after the proprietorship was restored in 1713. Quakers responded to this treatment by setting themselves apart from society and concentrating introspectively on insuring that each member lived up to the rigid rules of their society.
When Evan Thomas had accepted election to the First Maryland Covention, he had subjected himself to criticism by fellow Quakers for "walking discordantly." His refusal to serve in the Second Maryland Convention probably was hailed by his fellow Quakers as an act of Providence, "bringing him to a sight and sense of his outgoing."
His adherence to Quaker precepts required Evan Thomas to avoid involvement in armed conflict. Quakers believed that there was something divine in everyone, and the end to conflict could be accomplished only by working out differences through negotiations based on love and respect. A Quaker could be loyal to an established government as long as that government did not impose on one's conscience.
Agreeing to and supporting military measures against Great Britain were impositions that Evan Thomas's conscience refused to accept. He and many of other Quakers hoped to remain quiet and maintain their normal lives during the turmoil of the Revolutionary War. They hoped that their example would be a witness to a way of life, which if followed by all, would take away any reason for war. This was not to be.
At the Maryland Constitutional Convention in July, 1775, the delegates adopted the Articles of Association of the Freemen of Maryland. All men of legal age were asked to sign as members of the association. Committees of Observation were setup in all counties to obtain signatures and to enforce policies of the Association. There were no penalties for nonsigners.
In July, 1776, the nonsigners (called non-associators) were required to pledge their good conduct, were subject to higher taxes, could have their arms confiscated and were to be watched carefully. Enforcement was not carried out and the Quakers, as well as others, ignored the requirement.
By October, 1777, overt opposition to the war and to the new government of Maryland was especially strong among inhabitants on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay (the Eastern Shore). Fear of this opposition stimulated the legislators to pass "An Act for the Better Security of the Government." Every free male over 18 years of age, unless a Quaker, Menonite or Tanker, was required to take, repeat and subscribe the oath of fidelity before March 1, 1778, and had to support the state. Every free Quaker, Menonite or Tanker, 18 years of age, was required to affirm, sincerely and truly declare and affirm the words of the oath and subscribe to it in writing.
Penalties for those who refused to obey the law were:
1. Assessment of treble taxes on real or personal property.
2. Denial of the use of courts to sue or recover debts or damages from exercising or practicing a trade of merchandise.
3. Ban on practicing law and medicine and being a druggist.
4. Ban on preaching and teaching the Gospel, and on teaching in public and private schools.
5. Ban on voting and on holding public and military office.
6. A fine for each offense of 5 pounds sterling for every 100 pounds sterling he is deemed to be worth.Quaker precepts prohibited the signing of oaths or swearing to them. Their Biblical authority was Jesus's Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the New Testament, Matthew 5:34-37:
But I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the qreat Kinq; Neither shall thy swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
The prohibition on swearing to an oath was repeated in James 5:12:
But above all thinqs, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.The words in the Maryland law permitted Quakers, Menonites and Tankers to declare (affirm) their agreement with the oath without actually signing or swearing to it, but this compromise was not acceptable to Evan Thomas. He not only refused to comply with the law, but contrary to the ban imposed on non-signers, he also continued his activities as a minister. He visited other Quaker meetings and became a leader in the struggle for freedom of conscience and an eloquent spokesman for the historic Quaker peace testimony.
In August, 1778, Evan Thomas was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury for preaching the Gospel contrary to the law. There were five such indictments, one for June 1, June 4, July 1, July 7 and July 15, 1778 - each time that he had been reported preaching. The informant was his cousin, Richard Brooke. One of the justices to whom the grand jury reported their indictment was Thomas Sprigg Wooten, a co-signer with Evan Thomas of the Hungerford Resolution and a fellow delegate to the First Maryland Convention. Thomas's case dragged on for two and a half years before coming to trial.
In November of 1778, Maryland Quakers petitioned the General Assembly to release them from the penalties of the Security Act. The petition was rejected.
Because Thomas refused to support war in any way, and refused to allow the assessment of his property, the sheriff, in 1778, trebled his previous tax assessment and confiscated two horses. In 1779, 13 head of cattle, 24 sheep, 2 oval tables, and one mare were taken away.
In November, 1779, Maryland Quakers again petitioned the General Assembly for exemption from the penalties of the Security Act. Again their petition was reiected.
In 1780, Evan Thomas refused to have his property assessed, and therefore his prior assessment was doubled and the base amount of his taxes tripled. Again he refused to pay because the money would be used to support war, and the sheriff confiscated eight cows and one horse.
In August of 1780, Thomas appeared in court and refused to affirm his agreement with the oath required by the 1778 Security Act. A minimum fine of 5 pounds sterling was imposed and he paid it.
The General Assembly, in October of 1780, limited the levy of triple taxes to only those absentees and non-signers of the oath who were attached to Great Britain. The next year the legislators tried to appease Quakers by asking them only to sign a paper saying they were friends to the now established government and that loyalty to Great Britain was not their reason for refusing to sign the oath and not providing accounts of their property. Evan Thomas and many other Quakers refused, saying that they "cannot enter into any engagement or test of this kind in the present unsettled state of affairs."
In March, 1781, a jury of the Montgomery County Court found Evan Thomas guilty on all five charges of violating the Security Act. Thomas was fined 198 pounds sterling, nine shillings and 6 pence for each charge and assessed 731 pounds of tobacco to cover court costs.
Although Thomas appeared in Montgomery County court at his trial, the written judgement of the verdict identifies him as "late of said county." This indicated that Thomas had left Montgomery County, possibly to avoid arrest.
Thomas appealed the five guilty verdicts of the Montgomery County Court to the General Court of the Western Shore of Maryland. In October, 1781, the case was continued to the May term of the next year. In the meantime, the sheriff of Montgomery County had confiscated 4 head of cattle, 4 work oxen, 6 chairs, 1 large looking glass, 12,000 bricks, a kiln, a wagon and cart, a large grindstone, a wheat fan, wheels and shafts, and 150 bushels of wheat in the straw.
The General Assembly, in November of 1781, repealed the penalties for violating the Security Act that prohibited 1) use of courts to sue to recover debts or damages, 2) exercise or practice of a trade, 3) practice of medicine, and 4) except for Methodists, preaching and teaching of the Gospel and teaching in public and private schools.
In May, 1782, a jury of 12 persons appointed from Anne Arundel County found Thomas not guilty of violating the Security Act, but he was required to pay back taxes and court costs.
Baker Johnson, Thomas's lawyer, argued at length with the County over the amount of back taxes to be paid, and the case was finally settled in 1791. In addition to the goods already taken by the County, Thomas forfeited 118 3/4 acres of land which were sold at sheriff's sale for £300 to Nicholas Lyddane.Besides Evan Thomas. only two other male members of the Sandy Spring Meeting, John Thomas and Isaiah Boone, refused to sign the oath. Seven did sign and they were stripped of their membership in the Society of Friends. Richard Thomas Jr. and Richard Brooke (who reported Evan Thomas's preaching), were disowned by the Quakers because they joined the Maryland militia.
The defection of most of the men in the Sandy Spring meeting did not lessen Evan Thomas's zeal as a Quaker and a pacifist. He became clerk of the Monthly meeting held at Herring Creek.
He also increased his participation in the Yearly Meeting, the central organization for Maryland Quakers. He was a member of the Committee on Sufferings which was formed in 1778 to record financial losses by Quakers resulting from their opposition to war. The committee also collected money and provided other forms of relief to needy Quakers.
Evan Thomas was a member of the committee to answer correspondence from the Philadelphia and London Meetings. He was on the committee to consider important issues. He was named delegate to the Philadelphia Meeting, was appointed assistant clerk to the West River Yearly Meeting, and in 1781, became the clerk. He served as clerk through 1786, during which time the Meeting changed its name from West River to Baltimore Town Year Meeting. He also served as clerk from 1790 to 1792 and again in 1795.18 It is reasonable to assume that he participated, possibly as leader, in the efforts to have Quakers exempted from the penalties of the Security Act.
In 1795, Evan Thomas presented the Quaker position on slavery to the Maryland General Assembly.Like most Quakers in rural Maryland during the first half of the 18th Century, Evan Thomas and his father operated their plantation with slaves. After finishing the organizational business in a Yearly Meeting at West River, Maryland Quakers frequently boarded slaveships that were anchored nearby and purchased replacements for their labor force.
However by the middle of the Century, Quaker slaveholders were being subjected to growing criticism from others in the Society of Friends. As early as 1657, after witnessing slavery in the Barbados Islands, George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, raised the question when he wrote in his journal, "Christ shed his blood for them as well as for you, tasted death for them as well as for you, enlightened them as well as you, ... and his is a propitiation for their sins as well as yours." But it was in 1688, when a group of Friends in Germantown, Pennsylvania, submitted to the Philadelphia Meeting a paper entitled "Remonstrance Against Slavery and the Slave Trade" that the debate among colonial Quakers began in earnest.
John Woolman, a New Jersey Quaker and tailor by trade, became a fervent, eloquent spokesman against the keeping of slaves. He traveled throughout Maryland and the southern colonies preaching the fundamental idea of the brotherhood of all mankind and that no man can be truly free who holds another in bondage.
But Quakers who lived in rural Maryland were reluctant to give up their slaves. They needed hand labor to produce tobacco, to till other crops, to tend livestock and to carry out a multitude of domestic chores about their farmsteads.
Because of the influence of the rural Quakers, opposition to slavery in the Maryland Yearly Meeting grew slowly. In 1768, the record of the meeting spoke only of the "inconsistency of appointing such Friends the stature of Elders as are in possession of slaves." Two years later, a slightly stronger statement asked Quakers "to be careful toward appointing elders who do not appear to have a testimony in their heart against the practice of slave keeping."
In 1772, the Yearly Meeting achieved a consensus to advise members against owning slaves and set up committees to work towards emancipation. In 1777, the Yearly Meeting prohibited importation, purchase and sale of slaves and required local meetings to disown members who continued the practice. Committees were appointed to work with members who were not conforming with this decision and to report those who would not.
That it took time to carry out such a drastic change is well illustrated by the experience of the Indian Spring Monthly Meeting to which the Sandy Spring Meeting reported. At a 1779 meeting, the subject of disowning slaveholders was still under discussion and further consideration was postponed until the next meeting. The matter was still being debated in November of 1780. Finally, in June of 1781, the Meeting decided to disown those who continued to own slaves and appointed two men to visit the nonconformers, try to convince them to change their ways, and report back to the Meeting. As a result, eight members of the Sandy Spring Meeting were disowned.
What part Evan Thomas took in the debates over slavery in the local, Monthly and Yearly Meetings is not known. However he was a leader in the Yearly Meeting, having been appointed to important committees and was clerk of the meeting in 1781 when the disownment consensus was reached.
How many slaves Thomas owned is not known. Records show that in April, 1780, he freed five adult slaves and provided for the freedom of a sixth when the boy reached the age of 21. The procedure he used was known as manumission - the freeing of slaves when they became of age, and it was the only way to do so in accordance with Maryland law.
Although it has been reported that he furnished his freed slaves with patches of land on his holdings, there are no land records to substantiate that claim. It is more likely that the blacks found employment in Baltimore where the shipbuilding industry was booming and demand for labor was high." ..."Evan Thomas married Rachel Hopkins in a Quaker ceremony, December 26, 1766. Rachel was a daughter of Gerard and Mary Hall Hopkins of South River. She also was a minister and leader in the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting. Their home was Mount Radnor, a substantial brick residence built on the narrow strip of land which Evan had patented in 1768. The Sandy Spring Meeting was occasionally held there when the Meeting was devastated by defections during the Revolutionary War.
Like many 18th Century families, the efforts of Rachel and Evan to raise a family were scarred by tragedy. Of their eight children, three died in infancy.""Evan Thomas spent most of his mature years resisting pressure to conform and undertaking efforts to change the social environment around him. His insistence on religious freedom and the right to free speech, even during times of war, contributed to the basic principles of our government today. His position against the institution of slavery and the freeing of his slaves became a part of the slowly developing public pressure that would culminate in the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863."
REFERENCE: Information sent from Thomas Edwards [thomas@thesync.com] to T.Mason on 4Mar2002 referring to [HYPERLINK http://www.colesville.org/book/ch5.html ] Colesville by Ned Baley. EXTRACTS: "He was a partner with his brother, Phillip, in the hardware business. In 1826, he personally inspected the newly opened English railroad between Stockton and Darlington. In the fall of that year, he reviewed his trip at a dinner given for prominent Baltimoreans. A "voluble and impulsive man", he is credited with stimulating the interest of his brother and others in building the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was a member of the six man committee that developed the organizational plans. He designed the earliest example of mechanical brakes for railroad cars. He was still active in the affairs of the B & O when it reached Wheeling, Pennsylvania in 1853.
Evan Jr. achieved enough fame to be listed in some encyclopedias and history books by inventing a railroad car, called Aeolus. It was propelled by the use of sails, and ran equally well in both dirctions. He hired a ship captain to pilot it on a test trial and its speed reached 20 miles per hour. Unfortunately,it could move only in the direction toward which the wind was blowing.
In 1824, Evan Jr. wrote a letter to Elias Hicks, a prominent Quaker of that time and friend of the Thomas family. Evan Jr. commented on the advanced age of his parents and the debilities of old age. He recommended "old and pure wine" as a tonic, saying that his "mother's health had improved greatly thereby."
At the time of this letter, Evan Sr. was 86 years old. Both Evan and Rachel were living in Baltlmore.
Just when the Thomases moved from Montgomery County to the city is not known, Deeds list Thomas as being of Montgomery County until after 1800. However, court records state that he was "late of Montgomery County" as early as 1781. In the ensuing years, court records continued this statement and some added that the sheriff should bring Thomas safely to court if he was in the sheriff's bailiwick, i.e. Montgomery County.
Evan died in 1826. The year of Rachel's death has not been found. but it probably was a few years earlier.
REFERENCE: Information sent from Thomas Edwards [thomas@thesync.com] to T.Mason on 4Mar2002 referring to [HYPERLINK http://www.colesville.org/book/ch5.html ] Colesville by Ned Baley. EXTRACT: "They established their residence at the corner of Sharp and Lombard Streets, Baltimore, Md.
Elias was the third son of Andrew and Elizabeth Ellicott. His father was one of the Ellicott brothers who moved from Pennsylvania to establish Ellicott Mills outside of Baltimore - now known as Ellicott City. The Ellicotts are given credit for transforming much of Maryland agriculture from tobacco production to wheat. As a result of their efforts, Baltimore became one of the most important ports for the shipment of flour during and after the Revolutionary War. Elias made a living in Baltimore as a merchant-miller, looking out for the various interests of his own as well as those of his brothers.
Evan Thomas gave his daughter, Mary, 165 acres of St. Winexbergh in 1788. Less than four years later, she and her husband sold the land to James Pearce for £550. This income was no doubt helpful. When Mary died in 1809, she had born 15 children. "
REFERENCE: Information sent from Thomas Edwards [thomas@thesync.com] to T.Mason on 4Mar2002 referring to [HYPERLINK http://www.colesville.org/book/ch5.html ] Colesville by Ned Baley. EXTRACTS: "He entered the hardware business in Baltimore with his younger brother, Evan Jr., and his brother-in-law. Originally known as Thomas and George, the firm later became P. and E. Thomas and Sons, hardware merchants and importers. Phillip also entered the banking business and became cashier of the Mechanics Bank.
He was active in the affairs of the Baltimore community, being the first President of the Mechanics and Fire Company, a founder of the Baltimore Library Company, and an organizer of the State Temperance Society. He donated $25,000 toward the construction of Baltimore's Washington Monument.
He was a commissioner for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1825, but resigned in 1826 because he didn't believe the canal would benefit Baltimore. His experience with the C & O introduced him to the politics of grandiose transportation endeavors and gave him an opportunity to appraise Charles Mercer, a leader in developing the canal. Mercer and Thomas became bitter, personal enemies in the struggle to establish a railroad that would doom the economic future of the C & O.
Phillip E. Thomas and George Brown were the "fathers" of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first long distance rail system in America. Based on an enthusiastic report from Phillip's brother, Evan, about the railroads in England, Thomas and Brown started in 1826 to organize financiers, businessmen and engineers to construct a railroad from Baltimore across the mountains to the Ohio River. It was a venture for which there were no precedents,no rules and no certainty of outcome. Their objective was to bring to Baltimore, the grain, livestock and other trade that was floating down the canal to more southern ports.
Thomas became the first President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1827. Through years of struggle against the perils of then unknown feats of engineering, of political maneuver against the formidable opposition of canal interests in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Federal Government, he successfully led the development of a profitable long distance railroad system that carried both passengers and freight. Exhausted and in ill health, he resigned in 1836.
During all the years of intense business activity, Phillip E. Thomas was a leader in the Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends. He was clerk of the Meeting from 1821 to 1832, serving in that position during the traumatic schism of ideologies that split the Society of Friends in two. He was chairman of the Meeting's Indian Affairs Committee from 1808 to the time of his death in 1861. Because of his earnest efforts to help native Americans, he was adopted by the Seneca Tribe and given the name of "Hai-wa-nob", the Benevolent One.
He was the representative to Washington for the Six Nations of Indians.