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Author: Thomas, Joseph

Biography:

THOMAS, Joseph (1791-1835: ancestry.com)

Information about Thomas's life up to 1817 is derived mainly from an autobiography, The Life of the Pilgrim (1817), published like several of his early works in Winchester VA, his home base at the time. He was born in Haw River NC, the youngest of nine children in a family impoverished by the Revolutionary War. The names of his parents have not been found. He was sent away to school at the age of seven and later combined farm labour with teaching. In 1806 he experienced a calling to preach but it took him some time to find the right sect to preach for: eventually he settled upon the "Christian Church of the South" formed by James O'Kelly. He referred to himself as simply a "Christian" or "the Pilgrim" and lived as an itinerant preacher, travelling widely through NC, KY, TN, PA, DE, and VA, attracting some resistance from established churches. He probably published along the road other works that have been lost; his last recorded title is a collection of his poems prefaced by a reprint of the autobiography, published in Lebanon OH. In 1812 he married Christiana Rittenour in Winchester. They had at least five children. After 1815 he took to dressing all in white and was therefore known as "the White Pilgrim." In 1834 he undertook a tour of New York and New Jersey but contracted smallpox in New York City and died of it in Johnsonburg NJ. (ancestry.com 23 Nov. 2020; findagrave.com 23 Nov. 2020; Index of Virginia Printing online, indexofvirginiaprinting.org 23 Nov. 2020) 

 

Books written (5):

2nd edn. Winchester VA: printed by J. Foster, 1817
Lebanon OH: printed at the office of The Western Star, 1829