Edward Lloyd Thomas
1785 - 1852
Edward Lloyd Thomas was the surveyor who laid out the town of Oxford and Emory College. In payment for his services, he received four lots, each containing a little over two acres. His was one of the first houses built in Oxford and is known today as the Thomas / Stone House on Wesley Street.
In 1808, Thomas married Mary (“Polly”) Hogue of Clarke County, the daughter of a successful farmer, Jacob Hogue. Edward and Mary Thomas had two daughters and six sons; one of their sons died in infancy. In 1827, Thomas was selected to survey the 1,200 acre town of Columbus, Georgia. Thomas took his young son, Truman, with him as a member of his crew. Truman got sick and died during the project. The house on 808 Broadway Street where young Truman died still stands; his was the first burial at the Linwood Cemetery in Columbus.
Thomas’s remaining four sons grew to adulthood and all of them served in the Civil War. Henry Phillip (1810 – 1863) was a Colonel in the 16th Regiment of Georgia Infantry and was killed in the Battle of Fort Sanders; Lovick Pierce (1812 – 1878) served as Quartermaster of the 35th Georgia Infantry; Wesley Wailes (1820 – 1906) was a Major in Company F, Phillip’s Legion of Cavalry; Edward Lloyd II (1825 – 1898) had, by the end of the war, become General of the 35th Georgia Infantry.
In addition to being a surveyor, Thomas was a Methodist minister, farmer, and land speculator. In 1808, he even served as a justice of the peace in Franklin County and was captain of Militia District 209. He learned surveying from his uncle, Levin Wailes and surveyed many district lines in Georgia. In 1826, Thomas became chief surveyor appointed by the governor of Georgia to establish the long-disputed western boundary between Georgia and Alabama. It wasn’t until 1840 that Alabama accepted his survey.
Edward Lloyd Thomas spent the last years of his life in Oxford and is buried in the Oxford Historical Cemetery.
In 1808, Thomas married Mary (“Polly”) Hogue of Clarke County, the daughter of a successful farmer, Jacob Hogue. Edward and Mary Thomas had two daughters and six sons; one of their sons died in infancy. In 1827, Thomas was selected to survey the 1,200 acre town of Columbus, Georgia. Thomas took his young son, Truman, with him as a member of his crew. Truman got sick and died during the project. The house on 808 Broadway Street where young Truman died still stands; his was the first burial at the Linwood Cemetery in Columbus.
Thomas’s remaining four sons grew to adulthood and all of them served in the Civil War. Henry Phillip (1810 – 1863) was a Colonel in the 16th Regiment of Georgia Infantry and was killed in the Battle of Fort Sanders; Lovick Pierce (1812 – 1878) served as Quartermaster of the 35th Georgia Infantry; Wesley Wailes (1820 – 1906) was a Major in Company F, Phillip’s Legion of Cavalry; Edward Lloyd II (1825 – 1898) had, by the end of the war, become General of the 35th Georgia Infantry.
In addition to being a surveyor, Thomas was a Methodist minister, farmer, and land speculator. In 1808, he even served as a justice of the peace in Franklin County and was captain of Militia District 209. He learned surveying from his uncle, Levin Wailes and surveyed many district lines in Georgia. In 1826, Thomas became chief surveyor appointed by the governor of Georgia to establish the long-disputed western boundary between Georgia and Alabama. It wasn’t until 1840 that Alabama accepted his survey.
Edward Lloyd Thomas spent the last years of his life in Oxford and is buried in the Oxford Historical Cemetery.