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Contents List

• Folder-item 1:1
  Letter. Anna Gleaves Rich, Princeton, W. Va. to William C. Thomas Sr. 1936, 1940-1942
  1 p.; typed.

  Re: his "chivalry."

• Folder-item 1:2
  Letter. Ralph Thomas, Los Angeles, Calif. to William C. Thomas Sr. 4 March 1940
  1 p.

  Re: Thomas coat of arms.

• Folder-item 1:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Ralph Thomas, Los Angeles, Calif. 19 March 1941
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: reproduction of the Thomas coat of arms painted by Fannie Gibboney of Wytheville, Va., and his ancestry.

• Folder-item 1:4
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to John B. Stuart, Wilmore, Ky. 27 March 1941
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: his enjoyable visit and the Hay-Stuart family Bible records.

• Folder-item 1:5
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Dr. T. K. Young. 22 August 1941
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: article by John S. Wise from his book The End of an Era .

• Folder-item 1:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 10 September 1941
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: car accident he judged as Trial Justice and birthday of "Granny" [Elizabeth Peirce Crockett Thomas, his mother].

• Folder-item 1:7
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Charles Mitchell Thomas, Oakland, Calif. 12 November 1942.
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: financial matters, Army Air Corps training of his son William C. Thomas Jr., and Charles' wife and baby.

• Folder-item 2:1
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Charles Mitchell Thomas, Oakland, Calif. 13 January 1943
  2 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: finances, Charles' wife and baby, birth of Thomas' granddaughter, Betty Forbes Humphries, and visit to Grandpa Crockett's homestead and fire in main house.

• Folder-item 2:2
  Letter. William C. Thomas to Mrs. G. D. Wade, Williamson, W. Va. 10 March 1943
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: her wages and her new baby.

• Folder-item 2:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to William C. Thomas Jr. 11 May 1943
  2 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: Thomas' Army Air Corps training, planes passing over Wytheville, his Sunday School class at Wytheville Presbyterian Church, the relocation of his former stenographer Louise Umberger Kent and her husband to Portland, Oregon, and his new stenographer Erma Lorena Catron of Crockett, Virginia.

• Folder-item 2:4
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Charles Mitchell Thomas, Oakland, Calif. 17 May 1943
  3 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: suggested wording of his will, news from Army Air Corps serviceman William C. Thomas Jr., Sunday School classes, and dedication of the Jefferson Monument in Washington, D. C.

• Folder-item 2:5
  Letter. Louise Umberger Kent, Portland, Or. to William C. Thomas Sr. 24 May 1943
  4 p.

  Re: description of her apartment in the shipyard village of Vanport and her new job.

• Folder-item 2:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Dr. John D. Thomas, Washington, D. C. 24 September 1943
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: his request to remove maple tree in square owned by grandmother of Dr. Thomas in East End Cemetery because of its branches discoloring tombstones in square owned by William C. Thomas family.

• Folder-item 2:7
  Letter. Dr. John D. Thomas, Washington, D.C. to William C. Thomas Sr., Wytheville, Va. 10 October 1943
  4 p.

  Re: his permission to cut maple tree.

• Folder-item 2:8
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to "Reen" [Czarina Elizabeth Thomas] 16 December 1943
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: Christmas present of $5.00.

• Folder-item 2:9
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to "Zaid" [Zaida Pettit Thomas Humphries] 16 December 1943
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: Christmas present of $20.00.

• Folder-item 2:10
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Dr. John D. Thomas, care of James P. Thomas, Hilton Village, Va. 31 December 1943
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: removal of tree from cemetery square, his childhood memories of Dr. Thomas and Plumer College and his grandmother, Harriet M. Lufborough.

• Folder-item 3:1
  Letter. Charles Mitchell Thomas, Oakland, Calif. to William C. Thomas Sr. 11 January 1944
  3 p., typed copy of original.

  Re: his deployment in the Pacific Theatre probably as a hydrographic surveyor in the Navy, memories of early interest in aviation, Army Air Corps career of William C. Thomas Jr., his baby daughter Diane, and boyhood memories.

• Folder-item 3:2
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Louise Umberger Kent, Kingsport, Tenn. 13 January 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy; 1 p., enclosure.

  Re: witholding tax and engagement of Doris Hart.

• Folder-item 3:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Charles Mitchell Thomas, Oakland, Calif. 13 January 1944
  2 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: news from William C. Thomas Jr. who is stationed in Liverpool, England.

• Folder-item 3:4
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Charles Mitchel Thomas, Oakland, Calif. 14 January 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: his hope for successful deployent and return home "right-side-up."

• Folder-item 3:5
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to William C. Thomas Jr., A.P.O., New York [stationed in England with Army Air Corps] 17 January 1944
  2 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: deployment of Charles M. Thomas to Solomon Islands and WCT Sr.'s flirtation with woman in Roanoke before V.M.I. game.

• Folder-item 3:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to William C. Thomas Jr., A.P.O., New York [stationed in England with Army Air Corps]. 16 February 1944
  2 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: dance he attended with nephew Benton Hickok (son of Laura Thomas Hickok) and his girlfriend in Washington, D.C., visit with his daughter and husband in Charlottesville, Zaida Pettit Thomas Humpries and Marion Kemper Humpries Jr., death of "Patterson boy from Pulaski" in bombing mission on Berlin, and family.

• Folder-item 3:7
  Letter. [William C. Thomas Jr.] to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 31 March 1944

  Re: his admittance to hospital for scarlet fever.

• Folder-item 4:1
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 2 April 1944
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his recuperation from scarlet fever.

• Folder-item 4:2
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 6 April 1944
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his recuperation from scarlet fever.

• Folder-item 4:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 8 April 1944
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his recuperation from scarlet fever, eggs English style, powdered milk, "all the fellows talk about how sick they are going to get when they hit the U.S. and start stuffing on ice-cream and chocolate milk shakes."

• Folder-item 4:4
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 8 April 1944
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his hospitalizatin for scarlet fever.

• Folder-item 4:5
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 10 April 1944
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his business trip to Bland.

• Folder-item 4:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 11 April 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: Clem Fountain [Clement N. Fontaine] and his Sunday School class discussion about communication with the dead.

• Folder-item 4:7
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 13 April 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: hail storm, fall of Mrs. John Hamlet and hip injury, meningitis illness of Gregory Ewald, death of Annie Stuart Litchfield Bolling, sister-in-law of Edith Bolling Wilson.

• Folder-item 4:8
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 14 April 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: funeral of Annie Stuart Litchfield Bolling in Abingdon, visit of John Crockett, recovery of Gregory Ewald from meningitis, and weather.

• Folder-item 4:9
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to William C. Thomas Jr., A.P.O., New York [stationed in England with Army Air Corps]. 17 April 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: furlough of Billy Rorrer, service in Charles Mitchell Thomas in Solomon Islands, service of Lawrence Thomas Jr. and Dewey Crockett in England, and visit of John Crockett.

• Folder-item 4:10
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 17 April 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: Rev. Balmer Kelly, Dr. Jake Haller, and letter with no postage to Billy Thomas.

• Folder-item 4:11
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 20 April 1944
  2 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: meeting of Presbytery, dinner with Rev. Preston and elder Baldwin from Buchanan County, Dr. Liston of King College, Rev. Balmer Kelly, Dr. Walsh, trial of Sam Slater, arrival of Jack Crockett in England, recovery of Gregory Ewald from meningitis, and visit of Rev. Chalmus McClutchin.

• Folder-item 4:12
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 22 April 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: visit of Rev. Chalmus McClutchin, bladder trouble of Sue Pendleton, hospitalization of Alberta Crockett (Mrs. Newton Crockett), Hugh Campbell service as navigator and not pilot, and Austin Campbell.

• Folder-item 5:1
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 17 July 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: visit to oil field in Lee County, improving health of Richard R. Hickok (Hickie), alert by Dr. Charles Fox Graham of polio cases, death of son of Dr. Alfred Jones of Jefferson Hospital, Roanoke, memorial service for Sergeant Lloyd E. Riggle, death of Trent Kincer on 6 June 1944, and Sunday School.

• Folder-item 5:2
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 21 July 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: recovery of Richard R. Hickok.

• Folder-item 5:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 13 October 1944
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his selection to lead combat orientation sessions. "I was pretty darned scared as my group was full of master Sgts. including my bosses. The topic was 'what to do with Germany after the War.'"

• Folder-item 5:4
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. To Charles Mitchell Thomas, U. S. Naval Hospital, San Francisco, Calif. 19 October 1944
  3 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: possibility of establishment of hospital in Wytheville, conversation with Mr. Taylor, superintendent at New Jersey Zinc Company in Austinville, bomb attempt on Gen. George Patton, Lillian Moses, accident of B-17 in England, and illness of Dick Miller.

• Folder-item 5:5
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 2 November 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: his injury moving airplane parts.

• Folder-item 5:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 8 November 1944
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his application to engineering program after the war.

• Folder-item 5:7
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 15 November 1944
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: business trip to Marion and Bristol, new house of Lawrence Thomas, death of Frank Spiller from stomach cancer, and visit with blind soldier on train.

• Folder-item 6:1
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Benton HIckok, Washington, D. C. 8 January 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: his planned trip to Washington, D. C.

• Folder-item 6:2
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to William C. Thomas Jr. 17 January 1945
  2 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: trip with Joe Shaffer to Norfolk and Washington, D. C., visit with Benton Hickok, German prisoners on train, drunken sailor on train, and visit with Marion Kemper Humphries and Zaida Thomas Humphries.

• Folder-item 6:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Charles Mitchell Thomas, U.S.S. Bowditch, Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, Calif. 20 January 1945
  3 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: business trips with Joe Shaffer, visit with Benton Hickok, German prisoners and drunken sailor on train, funeral of James L. Davis, and experiences of William C. Thomas Jr. in England.

• Folder-item 6:4
  Letter. Charles Mitchell Thomas, U.S.S. Bowditch, Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, Calif. to Elizabeth Peirce Crockett Thomas. 26 February 1945
  1 p., typed.

  Re: his desire for William C. Thomas Sr. to help him obtain a commission as captain in Navy, book by sister Elizabeth Thomas Hanson called Abundant Living , his wife Mildred Thomas and daughter Diane Thomas, and work.

• Folder-item 6:5
  Letter. Charles Mitchell Thomas, U.S.S. Bowditch, Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, Calif. to William C. Thomas Sr. 26 February 1945
  2 p. typed.

  Re: his request for Thomas to assist him in obtaining a commission as captain. "I feel quite sure that with my training and qualifications I would now be a '4-striper' had my orders for my transfer to the Civil Engineer Corps not been cancelled."

• Folder-item 6:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 6 March 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: death of Brown Cassell, hospitalization of Carl Brown Umberger, and Sunday School experiences of Elizabeth Thomas Hanson (Bess).

• Folder-item 6:7
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 7 March 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: request of Mrs. Towson Moore to occupy the Thomas' rental apartment upon vacation of Rev. Harris and funeral of Brown Cassell.

• Folder-item 6:8
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 7 March 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: relocation of Rev. Harris and desire of Mrs. Harris to remain in apartment until she can find a house in Richmond.

• Folder-item 6:9
  Letter. William C. Thomas to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 9 March 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: death of son of Dr. Wagner who was killed in action, throat cancer of John Crockett, and meeting with Mae Juett Bunker in Marion.

• Folder-item 6:10
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Charles Mitchell Thomas 20 March 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: his demurral to get involved in promoting Thomas' commission as captain because of his membership on the advisory board of the Army. "Almost everyday somebody wants me to try to help get their son released from the army or navy, but after they are sent off, I have to keep hands off."

• Folder-item 7:1
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas, c/0 Dr. M. K. Humphries, Charlottesville, Va. 2 May 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: shortage of coal in rental apartment.

• Folder-item 7:2
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 5 May 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: approval for military service of John Lester and "Squire" Jimmy Crockett and disapproval of Lataney Sutherland.

• Folder-item 7:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 5 May 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy; 1 p., enclosure newspaper clipping.

  Re: purchase of S.S. Simmerman house for hospital by Seventh Day Adventist Church, encounter with copperhead snake, tuberculosis of Claudie Hagey, and death of John Brackens. Enclosure, clipping re: copperhead snake.

• Folder-item 7:4
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 1 June 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: compliment he received from woman train passenger that he "was the highest type of Virginia gentleman."

• Folder-item 7:5
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 4 June 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: purchase of Virginia Rorrer's property by Tom Pendleton, baccalaureate sermon at Methodist Church and dog fight during it, meteor explosion, and mix-up with his nightshirt - laundry workers sent it to Terry girls.

• Folder-item 7:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 25 June 1945
  1 p., typed.

  Re: piano recital experience of Major Bowen, election of new elders including J. C. Wilson, Ben Kelly, and James Hutton, and mortal illness of Nell Hoofnagle.

• Folder-item 7:7
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 27 June 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: his advice for riding train to Lynchburg.

• Folder-item 7:8
  Letter. William C. Thomas Jr., A.P.O, New York [stationed in England with Army Air Corps] 25 June 1945
  1 p. typed, copy of V-E Mail.

  Re: his uncertainty about his next posting, building a radio, and transatlantic phone call resumption.

• Folder-item 8:1
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 2 July 1945
  1 p., typed.

  Re: visit of Charles Mitchell Thomas and family, visit to Hungry Mother State Park with Ruth Thomas, Don Spiller and sons.

• Folder-item 8:2
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 5 July 1945
  1 p., typed.

  Re: posting of Charles Mitchell Thomas to Pacific theater again as commander, visit to Hungry Mother State Park, and marriage of Mrs. Lee MIller to Mr. Lambert.

• Folder-item 8:3
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 7 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: Hungry Mother State Park visit, visit of Benton Hickok to nudist colony near Washington, D. C., and Lee Miller Lambert.

• Folder-item 8:4
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 17 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: visit of Benton Hickok and his English friend, Mr. Butler, death of Mrs. Ludlow Lindamood, and visit of Charles Mitchell Thoams and family.

• Folder-item 8:5
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 18 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: hospitalization of Virginia Thomas Spiller and Lillian Allen Moses.

• Folder-item 8:6
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 21 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: Mrs. Verran Crowgey, purchase of house by Simmerman family and Watkins family from John Vernon, illness of John Simmerman, accident of Martha Susan Campbell, and visit to Hungry Mother State Park.

• Folder-item 8:7
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 25 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: collision of automobile and truck near Jackson Ferry and death of male occupant.

• Folder-item 8:8
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 26 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: arrival of William C. Thomas Jr.

• Folder-item 8:9
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 27 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: visit of Andrew Bird and family.

• Folder-item 8:10
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas. 28 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: her Red Cross papers.

• Folder-item 8:11
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 31 July 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: finances.

• Folder-item 8:12
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 9 August 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: sugar stamps, hospitalization of Virginia Spiller, and 100th anniversary of St. Mary's Catholic Church.

• Folder-item 8:13
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas 10 December 1945
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: death of Sam Sayers Crigger and airplane trip with William C. Thomas Jr. as pilot.

• Folder-item 8:14
  Letter. Benton Hickok to William C. Thomas Sr. Undated
  4 p.

  Re: enlistement of William C. Thomas Jr., and diatribe against newspapers and business and PM newpaper published by Marshall Field III.

• Folder-item 8:15
  Letter. William C. Thomas Sr. to Czarina Pettit Thomas Undated
  1 p., typed, carbon copy.

  Re: motion picture Wilson and hand injury of William C. Thomas Jr.

• Folder-item 8:16
  List. Papers in Lock Box of W. C. Thomas undated
  2 p., typed.