Clark County OhArchives Biographies.....Thomas, William S. April 22, 1857 - May 1, 1922 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Teresa Dillard teresajd57@earthlink.net September 12, 2005, 1:47 pm Author: From: “A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio, Volume II” Prepared Under the Editorial Supervision of Dr. Benjamin F. Prince, President Clark County Historical Society, The American Historical society Chicago and New York, 1922 William S. Thomas, president of the Thomas Manufacturing Company and of the Mad River National Bank of Springfield, is on of the essentially representative men of his native city, and is a son of the late John H. Thomas, who whom a memoir is dedicated in preceding paragraphs. Mr. Thomas was born at Springfield on the 22d of April 1857, received his preliminary education in public and private schools and was but fourteen years old when he entered Wooster University, in which institution he was graduated, with honors, in 1875 – one of the youngest students ever graduated in this excellent Ohio Institution. As noted in the preceding sketch of the career of his honored father, he became associated with the latter in the organization of the Thomas Manufacturing Company, of which he was made treasurer in 1886 and of which he has been president since the death of his father in 1901. From his early manhood, Mr. Thomas has been a prominent and influential figure in the civic, industrial, commercial and social life of his native city. He has long been president of the Mad River National Bank, and has been a dominating force in making this one of the leading financial institutions of this section of Ohio. He was president of the Jefferson Club from 1880 to 1890. For many hears, he has been an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, in which his parents likewise held membership and he has served as president of its board of trustees. He is a valued member of the Springfield Commercial Club, and has served as president of the Ohio Shippers’ Association. In divers [diverse] ways Mr. Thomas has contributed liberally of time and money to movements and enterprises advanced or the general good of his home city and county, and in the World war period he was a veritable tower of strength in connection with various patriotic activities in the city and county. The Thomas Manufacturing Company, manufactures of a large and widely diversified line of agricultural implements, has contributed in large measure to the industrial and commercial fame and solidity of Springfield. Mr. Thomas has long been influential in the councils and campaign activities of the democratic party and for years had benn a member of the democratic State Central Committee of Ohio. Though he has had no desire for public office, his civic loyalty has caused him to give effective service in various local offices of trust, often at a personal sacrifice. December 8, 1887, recorded the marriage of M r. Thomas and Miss Fannie Senteny, who was born in the City of Louisville, Kentucky. They have three children: John Henry, Wallace Senteny and Lucretia (Mrs. Burton Carr, of Richmond, Indiana). Wallace S. Thomas was an instruction in the aviation service of the Government during the major part of the time during which the nation was involved in the World war, and was an aviation pilot in active service at the time when the war closed. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/clark/bios/thomas266bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ohfiles/ File size: 3.8 Kb