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WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

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gnstill
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WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by gnstill » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:37 pm

New Featured Family Page: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Please post comments and queries about this family hereunder.

Kennedy/Thomas
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by Kennedy/Thomas » Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:30 am

This William Thomas information is invaluable as it connects him to some of the first Thomas's of St. Peters. Thanks for sharing what information you had from your own family research. I know a lot of the info was in that Metis book, although, to me it looks like the Thomas's were mostly Indian. I can definitely see how why they would have stayed on the reserve if that's technically what it was where they moved to after the St. Peters surrender. So this is how it looks form my Thomas tree.

Juliet kennedy nee Thomas
William Thomas(father of Juliet Thomas)
Thomas Thomas(father of William Thomas)
Simon Thomas(father of Thomas Thomas)

I would say this quote you put into the profile for William Thomas is mostly accurate. I'm just wondering if William's father is a different Thomas Thomas then the one profiled in the forum with 1845-1926 life years listed?

Here is a quote from a SHAND cousin who seems to have done their homework very well: “Rachel's parents were William THOMAS and Mary Ann STEVENSON of St. Peter's Indian Band, Selkirk, MB. William THOMAS was born in 1844 on the banks of Cook's Creek. His father and mother, Thomas THOMAS and Fanny HOPE were married at St. Andrews in 1835 by William COCHRAN before the stone church was built. This is the same church where in 1836 Henry BUDD and Betsy WORK were married. William signed Treaty 1 and was present at the hearings regarding the 1908 surrender of the band's land in Selkirk. At the time of the surrender he had several river lots on the east side of the Red by Colville Landing. In exchange he received at least 40 acres of patented land in East Selkirk. He and his family lived in Clandeboye after the surrender. Rachel married Percy WILLIAMS and had at least two children which did not live past age two. She had two children with James SHAND but died a pauper and is buried in an unmarked grave at Fairford. Their two children were left with others to be raised when James remarried in 1923.”

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by gnstill » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:47 pm

No. William's father was definitely a different Thomas THOMAS; born around 1819. William himself was almost the same age as the Thomas THOMAS you are mentioning.

That Thomas THOMAS born in 1845 was the adoptive father of my late father-in-law Ventrice THOMAS. His story is told at the following link: THOMAS THOMAS (1845-1926)

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by gnstill » Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:15 am

I now have a page up for William's father. Here's the Link: THOMAS THOMAS (1819-1859)

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by gnstill » Thu Oct 17, 2013 5:00 am

Sheila Soulsby posted Oct 16, 2013: Hello, I am a descendent of the THOMAS family (Rachel Harriet THOMAS 1885-1922 is my great grandmother) and I am wondering if the family received scrip ? My living relatives do not know of any instances of such, however the information on this website states that he received land from the 1908 surrender of St. Peters land, leading me to believe that they did indeed. Would you please be able to clarify this, Gary? - Sheila

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by gnstill » Thu Oct 17, 2013 6:19 am

Hi Sheila: This is a very difficult and complicated family lineage to trace. I’m glad that you posed these questions because now perhaps someone with more information will come forward to help us sort all this out.
Regarding whether William THOMAS received Scrip: So far I have been unable to find a Half-breed Scrip record for William myself. However, in the 1911 Census he was recorded in the St Peters Reserve as a Cree Labourer. With him was his wife, Mary Ann (nee STEVENSON) and a child Agnes Matilda (age 15) who would have been his granddaughter who later married Wallace MAYO (1893-1965).
** MORE ABOUT WALLACE MAYO

That census record might suggest that William THOMAS remained a Treaty Indian, in which case he would not have received Half-breed Scrip.

sheila
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by sheila » Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:08 am

Thank you for the information! I suppose then, that none of the Thomas' took scrip because they were mostly treaty status. I feel slightly disappointed that they did not, as I was hoping to obtain my Metis status. alas.

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by gnstill » Sat Oct 19, 2013 2:55 am

Sheila: Perhaps you should try to get your Treaty Status. There are many more benefits and opportunities available to you in that.

sheila
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by sheila » Sat Oct 19, 2013 6:19 pm

I think I am in limbo between metis status and treaty status; i have too much treaty status in my family to qualify with MMF and i have too little treaty status in my family to be granted treaty status with the Chief Peguis band. Treaty status ends with my father, or so i've been told.

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM THOMAS (1846-1931)

Post by gnstill » Sun Oct 20, 2013 5:47 am

The last records I have of William THOMAS were in the St Peters Reserve in both 1906 and 1911. In 1907 the St Peters Reserve was surrendered to then Crown.

However, by 1911 the St Peters Indian Reserve ceased to exist as an actual Indian Reserve, and most of the Indians had moved to the new reserve(s) at Fisher River (Peguis), but certainly not all of them, including not William THOMAS. For that reason he would not have become a member of the New Peguis Band.

Did Indians cease to be Treaty Indians simply because they never moved to an established Reserve? I don’t think so; many of them moved elsewhere, including Winnipeg. That might be an interesting question to pose to someone in DIA.

William was on the St Peters Reserve prior to its surrender in 1907.

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