| Show t = 0 = l blg oldfashioned Southern In a olfnshl I ion Southampton county Va in maflt0r I i manion IC two old women Tho elder M1H The Thomas Is 00 years old judItI tllth SO Annie Is perhaps Miss 0unger 155 roung the closest surviving blood Mr are survlvlnS Stives of Gen Geoge II Thomas r1att Rook of Chlckaruauga but ever since lh Thomas cast In his lot with then j the-n in 1SW tney have declared that We have no brother He died the day Deter Virginia seceded The two stately old VIrginia ladles ri Th rebels From still unreconstructed are moment when their famous brother Kcd to go into the Confederate 2 refused ttrmy they have refused to allow his amC to tt l > spoken In their presence although Gen Thomas lived for And years after the clone of ho war communicated with him 1l v novcr hif Li they novpr Lntrvi communlca MnQpnl Afl 10 receive a UV CI tfon lrom him ThY tXC iing still on the memories 0 of the days n before the war The old Thomls potation is ltl In their ioscTsslon and the rentals paid by Kc tenants who work It enable them 15 t live in comfort Only a feW months deposited among the treasures they So nmong historical society In RIchmond of a historicL majrnliloent sword which was vn the magnWoent nrescntcd to their l brother by the county of Southampton after he had returned from hi9 splendid service in I the Mexican war People who go to call on the Misses 5 Thomas come away from the old manorhouse full of admiration the I i I in1 lii 1 II I Iii 1l S tt iil I I l 1 f I pf Gen George H Thomas I tl ard stately courtesy of the ladies tot t saddened by the pathos of their resIn res-In the winter of 1860 George H Thonias was n Major In a regiment of the regular army stationed In Texas Robert E Lee was Its Colonel Almosf all Us officers were Virginians Thomas himself l was n Virginian o the Vir pinlaap but he seems never to have altered In his allegiance to the Union When Virginia seceded from the Union Leo and all the other officers of f the regiment with but one exception excep-tion resigned and threw in their lot with the Confederacy Thomas who happened to be In New York ntt the time on leave of absence wrote to vWs BaUva ntVlfglnla that he felt It his duty to saM < by the old flag whatever happened To them his action was acton black treason and treachery They wrote and asked him if he could mean that he would take up arms against Jilt old comrades and Invade the soil of his native Flat lie answered and finally the sisters sent him e final message expressing their conviction that he was worse than n traitor trltor Then he wrote and asked them to forward for-ward to his address the sword which had been given him by his native country after his return from the Mexl can war The reply which was sent In answer to this letter Is said to have been a most scathing piece oC sarcasm Th6 two women acknowledged In formal slyle tho receipt of a letter f rpm Mal r I I f I A o l rtvc4r i I We Rve No iothcr I I 7hoinaj > he t Thorl They J ibey went on to ia that f lie had onco had r brother but that J ias now proYf himself l traitor and lrad I esi 111 lhlt his sword was the 01x Cfl4C braveanil meynentQ Whloh lheyhAd of their tFey t anl 10jal brother nnd that token therefore or his wihed to keep l It as la 1 iII Bravery and fidelity In iI-I I so Mn Thomas as he was then sent r reply to f d3Y the brother thIs 1jttcr and from tHht I sever inrother Und the sisters were other communication with each AI tho I apidly b War went on and Thomas the great I e Prominent as ono of I th Cr oc the Union armlea ncigiI nelghb of the Misses < L ieed to Thomas I iteiling Wandel at he news which cane oc teln the I rut skill and daring of their ol assoOlat i assOluto nnt flh end but they soon lernat nOt to tho ° mentloh the menton the subject In tme presence when or the al3lcrB Soma kn the u strangei who did not th situaton would great speak f t I 18tcr Miss Federal General to his I trC YJng Judith would rcply with dignity tnistake digniy i that there must bea e that their that brave they hnd no Brother I J j hen Vc brother had diet cn Virginia I cn Apr seceded from the Union iril I I li Apri lS6L nslHtontlv ihS Pcra tently nnd COnelaltntr thc I ftt ton that M they kopt up tho Pathetic wnnlni tbl the great pathctc soldier I who binning sni Jr was of the Union SDlCfldjrl vjclorles for the cause 1 i was no relation tOf theirs 1 laay ere tres and In many ways thoy at IPut the tests but always thftfr I lti r than the Confederacy proveXJ rotlipr thcr affecHoif for thc InUlMhtaly j I r aCer the CIOMC oC diZ Ile VIrg1fl the d Whie 4 VlrJlnll stiti I Irlel n Federal stl a rltulY Petirsburg Fdlfl tn dpne l i fI n ISburf heard that the two I lVl S n nrby trnd of Gen Thomas were tnd that thcy were ln I I destitute circumstances as l result oft the of-t ravages of war One of the officers In question had been 0 classmate of Gen Thomas at West Point and had been on terms of intimate personal friendship with him He determined to relieve the necessities of the Misses Thomas and had an army wagon loaded with supplies which he accompanied S ac-companied to the Thomas mansion The old ladles received the Federal oincor on the veranda of their liomc1 with stately courtesy but icy 1omC I One of the officers explained that he SI I o I I I 1 I l I f 1 I Ii 1 I Ho Died In 28D 1 was an oldtime friend of t Gen Thomas < and that he vas delighted to be of some slight service to his sisters Thp reply of Miss Judith was that she had no brother The officer explained ex-plained and Insisted but the women were immovable They hnd no brother Then an attempt was made to force them to accept the provisions which hnd been brought over from the military mili-tary headquarters As a matter of fact the Thomas pantry was empty f f rhere was practically nothing to eat J In the house or on the plantation but Virginia pride was too strong to yield even under these circumstances Miss Thomas thanked the Federal officer for his kindness but assured him that she and her sister were not In need of anything and must decline to accept the offered eupplles On another occasion nn even more pathetic Incident Is i recorded A Confederate f Con-federate soldier who came from Southampton South-ampton county and Who knew both Gen Thomas and his sisters surrendered rendered with Johnston in North Carolina He found It Impossible to get transportation home but finally got n ride to a pclnt in Tennessee near where Gen Thomass command I I I S I The Monument Washington to Gen Thomas at was stationed He de e mined to seek out the General and on the ground of old acquaintance and neighborly affection ask him to furnish transportation transpor-tation back to Southampton After some dllllculty the ragged Confederate succeeded in getting word to Gea Thomqs that a man fiom Southampton county Avanted to see him He was immediately im-mediately ushered Into the Generals tent and wns provided with transnbr tatloii to his home On arrivingi it Southampton the Confederate naturallv thought that the Misses Thomas would be glad to hear from their distinguished brother to whom he felt himself under a debt of gratitude He went at once to thO plantation wearing his old cray uniform and was received as 7n guest of honor by the old ladles J3tut S when he attempted to spea of Gen Thomas he was tokl that they ligll h9 no brother and that they must refuse to hear the name of Gen Thomas mentioned men-tioned Jn their presence The feeling of the sisters wasrshared by most Virginians antl Gen Thomas rslninS never felt that he had State he1 coud pall his own until he was practically adopted by Tennessee After hehal ivon the battle Nashville which was substantially the end of the rebellion Ci111qf ebel9n In that quarter he Was made a MajorGeneral in the United States army received the thanks of Congress and of the Legislature of Tennessee and was presented with a gold medal by the Inter body on the first anniversary anni-versary of the battle In 18C9 Gen Thomas was sent to San Francisco to assume command them the-m ltar district of the Pacific He died there early In 1870 and his remains were taken Lo Troy N Y where they were burled He left no child to keep l his name alive alve Not even after the war had closed would those stern old women living nil alone In the great house which was his birthplace as well as their own recognize or receive a communication from their famous brother For them L I he had died In IfcGl and when he was actually borne to his grave nine yenrs I S later It did not add to the grief which they felt so IonS Even now more than thirty years after the great sold l whom the boys of the Army of the Cumberland lovingly called I cflrd II Pap Thomas was laid to rest the two old women cling to the memory of the young Lieutenant who fought so bravely In the war with Mexico I and refused te admit that any briber of theirs ever reached the rank of n general officer Chicago Tribune |
