alfred thomas
1927-1995
Life Story
Early Life in Newton County
Alfred Thomas was born on August 22, 1927, in Newton, Mississippi, the son of Hunter Thomas and Lennie Howze Thomas. He was born into a large blended family that included children from his mother’s earlier relationship with Chester Wheaton as well as children born to Lennie and Hunter Thomas.
By 1930, two-year-old Alfred was living with his family in Beat 4 of Newton County, Mississippi. The census recorded him as “Alf T.” in the household of his father, Hunter Thomas. Also in the home were his mother, Lennie, and several of his siblings, including Francis, Flora, Eloise, and infant Violene.
Alfred’s childhood began in the rural communities of Newton County, but his early life would eventually carry him beyond the county where he was born.
A Childhood Move to Meridian
By 1940, Alfred was living in Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, a significant change from the rural Newton County household in which he had been recorded a decade earlier.
Eleven-year-old Alfred was living on 14th Street in the household of Mary Turner and Johnie Mae Temple. He was attending school and had completed the fourth grade.
The census documents Alfred’s presence in their household but, without additional evidence, does not explain why he was living apart from his mother and father. Rather than speculate about the circumstances, the record provides a snapshot of a young Alfred living and attending school in Meridian as the United States approached the Second World War.
Entering Adulthood
On August 23, 1945, one day after his eighteenth birthday, Alfred registered for the military draft in Moselle, Jones County, Mississippi.
At the time, he stood approximately five feet three inches tall, weighed 130 pounds, and was described as having a dark complexion, black hair, and brown eyes. He named his mother, Lennie Thomas, as his next of kin.
Alfred was employed by the Maritime Commission, indicating that by eighteen his working life had already taken him beyond the farm environment of his early childhood.
His draft registration documents his eligibility for military service, but it should not be confused with his later enlistment in the Army. That would come several years afterward.
Working in Mississippi’s Pine Country
By 1950, Alfred was living in the Southwest district of Jones County, Mississippi, in the household of his sister Eloise McCormick and her husband, Sam McCormick.
Also in the home were Eloise and Sam’s young son, Sammie Lee, and Alfred’s younger brother Elbert Thomas.
Alfred was working as a pulpwood cutter for a wood dealer, reporting fifty hours of work during the census week. His occupation placed him within the timber economy that shaped much of southern and east-central Mississippi during this period. Pulpwood cutting was demanding physical labor, requiring workers to cut timber that would eventually be processed for paper and other wood products.
The census therefore captures Alfred at twenty-two years old, living with members of his extended family and earning his livelihood from one of Mississippi’s important natural-resource industries.
Service in the United States Army
Two years later, Alfred entered the United States Army, beginning active military service on August 4, 1952, during the Korean War era.
He attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC) and remained on active duty until July 22, 1954.
From Mississippi to Erie
Following his military service, Alfred eventually left Mississippi and established his home in Erie, Pennsylvania.
His move placed him among several members of the extended family who became associated with Erie. His sister Katie Ramsey made her home there, as did brothers Elbert Thomas and the Rev. Hunter T. Thomas.
Alfred’s migration from Mississippi to Pennsylvania became part of a much larger geographic transformation within the family. While some siblings remained in Mississippi and others established themselves in places such as Gary, Indiana, several branches converged in Erie.
Alfred eventually made his home at 412 East 23rd Street in Erie.
A Life of Faith
In adulthood, Alfred became known as the Reverend Alfred Thomas, adding Christian ministry to the story of his life.
This aspect of his life is particularly significant, but it deserves careful treatment. Unless additional church records, an obituary, or family testimony identifies the congregation he served, his denomination, ordination, or specific ministerial responsibilities, those details should not be assumed.
What the surviving records establish is that the boy who had begun life in rural Newton County and later worked cutting pulpwood in Mississippi eventually became known to his family and community as Rev. Alfred Thomas.
Death and Burial
Reverend Alfred Thomas died on March 6, 1995, at his home at 412 East 23rd Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was sixty-seven years old.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to J. E. Taylor Funeral Home.
Following his death, Alfred was laid to rest at Lakeside Cemetery in Erie County, Pennsylvania, in Section 6, Lot 392C, Grave C.
His burial in Erie marked the end of a journey that had begun nearly seven decades earlier in Newton County, Mississippi.
Legacy
Alfred Thomas’s life connected several chapters of twentieth-century African American history.
He was born in rural Mississippi in 1927 and spent portions of his childhood in both Newton County and Meridian. As a young man, he worked in Mississippi’s timber industry before entering the United States Army during the Korean War era. He later joined other members of his family in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he established the community that would become his final home.
His life also demonstrates how migration could occur within a family through networks of brothers and sisters. Alfred was not the only child of Lennie Howze whose life eventually became connected with Erie. Katie Ramsey, Elbert Thomas, and the Rev. Hunter T. Thomas were also associated with the Pennsylvania city, creating a northern branch of a family whose roots remained firmly planted in Mississippi.
Yet Alfred’s story contains another transformation. The young man whom the 1950 census recorded laboring fifty hours a week as a pulpwood cutter would later be remembered as Reverend Alfred Thomas.
From Newton County to Meridian, from Mississippi’s pine country to military service, and finally from Mississippi to Erie, Alfred’s life traced a path traveled by many African Americans of his generation while remaining distinctly his own. When he died in 1995, his final resting place at Lakeside Cemetery placed him among the members of his family who had carried their Mississippi roots north and made Erie their home.
Resting Place
Lakeside Cemetery in Erie County, Pennsylvania
Photos/Albums
Sources
- 1930 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat 4, Hunter Thomas household. Alfred was enumerated at approximately two years old as “Alf T.”, living with his father, Hunter Thomas, his mother, Linnis “Lennie” Thomas, and other members of the family, including Francis, Flora, Eloise, and Elvira.
- 1940 U.S. Census, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, population schedule, Meridian, 14th Street, Mary Turner household. Alfred Thomas, age eleven, was attending school and had completed the fourth grade while living in the household with Mary Turner and Johnie Mae Temple.
- U.S. World War II Draft Registration Card, Alfred Thomas, registered August 23, 1945, Moselle, Jones County, Mississippi. Alfred gave his birth date as August 22, 1927, named Linnie Thomas as his next of kin, and reported employment with the Maritime Commission. He was described as five feet three inches tall, 130 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, and a dark complexion.
- 1950 U.S. Census, Jones County, Mississippi, population schedule, Southwest district, Sam McCormick household. Alfred was living with his sister Eloise McCormick, her husband Sam, their son Sammie Lee, and Alfred’s brother Elbert Thomas. Alfred’s occupation was recorded as pulpwood cutter for a wood dealer, with fifty hours worked during the census week.
- U.S. military service record, Alfred Thomas, United States Army. Alfred entered active service August 4, 1952, attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC), and was discharged July 22, 1954. His service occurred during the Korean War era.
- Funeral program for Flora Mae Wheaton Moffett, obituary, 1982, privately held family copy. Flora’s obituary identifies Alfred Thomas of Erie, Pennsylvania, among her surviving brothers and helps document the migration of several members of the family to Erie.
- Obituary/death record for the Rev. Alfred Thomas, Erie, Pennsylvania, March 1995. Alfred died March 6, 1995, at age sixty-seven, at his residence at 412 East 23rd Street, Erie. Funeral arrangements were handled by J. E. Taylor Funeral Home.
- Lakeside Cemetery, Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania, burial record for Alfred Thomas, Section 6, Lot 392C, Grave C. Documents Alfred’s final burial place following his death in 1995.
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