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Temperance Calvert Thomas*
(1774-1874)
Photographed by the Writer
Temperance Calvert Thomas* 1774-1874
She married Richard Thomas on May 6, 1804. Temperance Calvert was the grand-niece of Lord Baltimore, the Founder of Maryland, and she lived to the age of 100.
Photographed by the Writer
Richard Thomas accidentally drowned in late 1804.
Temperance remained a widow and raised her only son William H. Thomas.
*Temperance Calvert Thomas is interred at Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesville, North Carolina, but her marker, however, incorrectly indicates 1805 as the death of her husband, Richard Thomas (Richard
died in late 1804 and while Temperance was pregnant). Although Temperance was initially interred at Stekoa Fields, N.C., on
October 1,
1874, and her daughter-in-law, Sarah Love Thomas, was interred adjacent to her on May 15, 1877, after
the summer of 1893, both Temperance and Sarah were reinterred at Green Hill Cemetery and adjacent to William Holland Thomas. The present inter and new marker, consequently, reflect the inscription error of 1805.
Perhaps Richard’s incorrect death
date on the present marker was committed intentionally. A death prior to 1805, the year that her son was born, could easily
give the impression that Temperance had her son out of wedlock and immediately following the death of Richard – acts
considered highly immoral at the time.
Related Reading:
Editor's Recommended Reading: Western North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913 (Hardcover)
(679 pages). Description: From the introduction to the appendix,
this volume is filled with interesting information. Covering seventeen counties—Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee,
Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey—the author conducted
about ten years searching and gathering materials. Continued...
About the Author: John Preston Arthur was born in
1851 in Columbia, South Carolina. After relocating to Asheville, North Carolina, in 1887, he was appointed Secretary of the
Street Railway Company, and subsequently the Manager and Superintendent until 1894. Later, after becoming a lawyer, he
was encouraged by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) to write a history of western North Carolina.
Recommended
Reading: Touring the Western North Carolina
Backroads (Touring the Backroads). Editorial
Review: This guidebook, unlike most, is so
encyclopedic in scope that I give it as a gift to newcomers to the area. It is also an invaluable reference for the visitor
who wants to see more than the fabulous Biltmore Estate. Even though I am a native of the area, I learned nearly everything
I know about Western North Carolina from this book alone and it is my primary reference.
I am still amazed at how much fact, history and folklore [just enough to bring alive the curve of the road, the odd landmark,
the abandoned building] is packed in its 300 pages. The author, who must have collapsed from exhaustion when she finished
it, takes you on a detailed tour, laid out by the tenth of the mile, of carefully drawn sections of backroads that you can
follow leisurely without getting lost. Continued below...
The author
is completely absent from the text. The lucid style will please readers who want the facts, not editorial comment. This book,
as well as the others in this publisher's backroads series, makes an excellent gift for anyone, especially the many seniors
who have relocated, or are considering relocating to this fascinating region. It is also a valuable reference for natives,
like me, who didn't know how much they didn't know.
Recommended
Reading: Touring the Carolina's
Civil War Sites (Touring the Backroads Series). Description:
Touring the Carolina's Civil War Sites helps travelers find the Carolinas'
famous Civil War battlefields, forts, and memorials, as well as the lesser skirmish sites, homes, and towns that also played
a significant role in the war. The book's 19 tours, which cover the 'entire Carolinas,' combine riveting history with clear,
concise directions and maps, creating a book that is as fascinating to the armchair reader as it is to the person interested
in heritage travel. Below are some examples from this outstanding book:
1. Fort Fisher - the largest sea fort in the war that protected the
vital town of Wilmington N.C., and the blockade runners so important for supplying Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
2. Charleston
- where the whole shootin' match started.
3. Bentonville - the last large scale battle of the war.
4. Outer Banks - early Union victories here were vital to capturing many parts of Eastern North Carolina from which the
Union could launch several offensives.
5. Sherman's
March - the destruction of certain towns in both Carolinas (particularly South Carolina)
further weakened the South's will to continue the struggle.
I also enjoyed reading about the locations of various gravesites
of Confederate generals and their Civil War service. Indeed, if not for this book, this native North Carolinian and long-time
Civil War buff may never have learned of, and visited, the locations of some of the lesser-known sites other than those mentioned
above.
Johnson's writing style is smooth--without being overly simplistic--and contains several anecdotes (some humorous
ones too) of the interesting events which took place during the Civil War years. Highly recommended!
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