LABAN GILBERT THOMAS
Laban Thomas was born in 1816, was married to Rachel Maples in 1837 in Alabama.
Laban bought land in Mississippi where the town of Guntown is now located as early as 1839 - this deed calls for 1/4 section. We think possibly he moved to this area between 1840 and 1842.
We have always been told that he had a gun shop and a general merchandise store. We found the record where there was a gun shop and a deed for land where the gun shop was located. This land he later sold to a Mr. McDaniel and this would lead us to believe that the Mr. McDaniel ran the gun shop for Grandpa Laban before buying the land on which it was located.
It is interesting to note that Laban started started buying up land in 1839 in the region of Mississippi where Guntown is now located and in 1855 the railroad came in right through the center of his property. It looks as if our great grandfather had foresight enough to predict future possibilities.
The little community of Campbelltown which had two stores, a post office and a gin, decided to move to Guntown after the railroad came through so Laban got busy with sales of lots and plots of ground he had previously bought up. (deed records show this activity) This strip of land was two miles long and 1/2 mile wide.
We also have recorded proof that Laban was very civic minded. One deed shows that he gave 10 acres for the local depot. Local citizens including the local history buff tells us that Laban gave land for the Cemetery, the churches, the Masonic lodge and the Academy. Strangely enough, the first deed we found for one of the churches built in 1855 was dated 1881 and signed by another Mr. Thomas, then when we located the church mentioned on the deed, it was located 2 1/2 miles from Guntown (used plat map for this).
Laban was in the Home Guard during the Civil War but his two oldest sons were in the actual fighting. One was wounded in the second battle of Manassas (Bull Run) and never lived to get back home. The other son sickened, was released from service but we have found no record of his returning home.
After the Civil War ended, with the loss of his two older sons and the intolerable conditions that existed in Northern Mississippi, Laban chose to to migrate to Texas. He, his remaining children and his married daughter, Nancy, her husband John Mathews and their young son Johnnie, all traveled to Texas by wagon and first stopped in Red River. They later migrated to Hopkins County where he immediately began buying up land and establishing another general merchandise store in the community now known as Old Tarrant. His land extended Eastward to the present community of Mt. Sterling.
He lies at rest in the Old Tarrant Cemetery along with his wife Rachel and several of his children.