Stephen Thomas (Medal of Honor)
| Stephen Thomas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
December 6, 1809 Bethel, Vermont |
| Died | December 18, 1903 (aged 94) Montpelier, Vermont |
| Place of burial | Green Mount Cemetery, Montpelier, Vermont |
| Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General
|
| Commands held | 8th Vermont Infantry |
| Battles/wars |
American Civil War - Battle of New Orleans (Civil War) - Battle of Fort Bisland - Siege of Port Hudson - Valley Campaigns of 1864 |
| Awards | Medal of Honor |
| Other work | Manufacturer, politician, jurist |
Stephen Thomas (December 6, 1809 – December 18, 1903), manufacturer, politician, jurist, and Union Army officer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for gallantry.
Thomas was born in Bethel, Vermont, the son of John and Rebecca (Batchellor) Thomas. His father died while serving in the U.S. 31st Infantry during the War of 1812. His grandfather, Joseph, served in a New Hampshire regiment during the American Revolution. Thomas was only four years old when his father died, and he started work young to help his widowed mother. He apprenticed in the woolen industry, then started his own business, which was destroyed by fire, and finally ended up in the manufacturing business in West Fairlee.
Thomas married Ann Peabody of Reading, on January 13, 1831. She died at West Fairlee, January 8, 1877.
He represented the town of Fairlee in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1838, 1839, 1845, 1846, 1860 and 1861. He was a state senator, representing Orange County in 1848 and 1849, and a delegate to the Constitutional Conventions in 1843 and 1850. He served a register of probate for the district of Bradford from 1842 to 1846, and probate judge from 1847 to 1849.
He was a Democrat until the outbreak of the American Civil War, an alternate to the Democratic national convention of 1848, delegate for the next three conventions, in 1852, 1856 and 1860, and candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1860.
Governor Erastus Fairbanks called an extra session of the State Legislature on April 23, 1861, which Thomas attended. He was a member of the Ways and Means committee, which intended to report out a bill appropriating half a million dollars for military purposes. Thomas presented an impassioned speech supporting an amendment that doubled the amount to one million dollars. He said "Until this rebellion shall have been put down, I have no friends to reward and no enemies to punish, and I trust that the whole strength and power of Vermont, both of men and of money, will be put into the field to sustain the government."
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