Didymus Thomas (1812-1887)

                           From the History of Oneida County, New York and Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers.

   A one-term member of the New York state assembly, Didymus Thomas was born in Steuben, New York on May 24, 1812, to Thomas Thomas (not a typo!) and his wife Mary Hughes Thomas, who were both natives of Wales. The couple immigrated to the United States in 1800 and eventually settled in the village of Steuben in 1804. Didymus (whose name means "twin" in Greek) attended schools local to the Steuben area and also worked at farming. As a young man, he worked as a schoolteacher and later settled into a career as a general merchandiser and store owner. He married in 1835 to Ms. Lydia Pierce, with whom he had one daughter, Lydia Marion (1835-1905). Thomas's marriage was short-lived, as Lydia Pierce Thomas died at age 25 in August 1840. Didymus remarried sometime in the 1840s to Ms. Eliza Griffin, who died in 1882.
   The History of Oneida County also makes note of Thomas's later career as a cheese manufacturer. In his later years, Thomas built a large structure on his property (shown below) devoted to the manufacture of that dairy product, and it's mentioned that it was "one of the best-patronized factories in the vicinity."

       This sketch of Didymus Thomas's home appeared in the 1878 book "History of Oneida County".

   Thomas's cheese factory closed within a few short years of opening, due to the "onerous duties imposed", as well as the "unreasonable exaction of patrons". After this endeavor, he engaged in real estate transactions for several years, in addition to his earlier mercantile pursuits.
   Didymus Thomas was also politically active in his native county, serving at various times as magistrate, postmaster, justice of the peace, and township supervisor for the village of Remsen. Sources of the time mention him as a "Free Soil Democrat, but never failing by his vote or influence, to promote the cause of temperance." In 1859, the citizens of Oneida County elected Thomas to the New York State Assembly, where he served a one-year term. His term in the legislature may have been short, but the History of Oneida County gives note that he represented his district "in a manner highly creditable to himself and most satisfactory to his constituents". Thomas's sterling character and integrity are also attested to in the "History of Oneida County", which notes that he was "an exceptionally rigid temperance advocate, having never made use during his life of alcoholic stimulants or tobacco in any form."
   Thomas died in Steuben on March 7, 1887, at age 74. One source lists his cause of death as a "shock of paralysis" which he sustained on the day preceding his death. Both Didymus and his wife Lydia were interred in the Capel Ucha Cemetery in the town of Steuben. On an aside note, the town of Remsen, NY named a library in honor of Didymus Thomas some years after his death, proving that he isn't a totally forgotten historical figure!

An article on Thomas' Assembly nomination, published in the Rome, NY Citizen.