Before the Diary
Charles F. Thomas was born in Baltimore, Maryland on November 22, 1839. As mentioned in his diary, he converted to Methodism in 1852, which foreshadowed his future career as a circuit rider. When he begins the diary, he is twenty years old and a member of the class of 1860 at Dickinson College.
After the Diary
Thomas would continue his career as a Methodist circuit rider until 1872, when he became a Presbyterian for unknown reasons. After his conversion, he serves as a preacher for a salary of $1600, which increases to $1800, at the Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania between 1873 and 1878. He then retires because of his poor health. In 1890, he takes a group of freemasons to Jerusalem to serve as a sort of tour guide. He dies suddenly on April 29, 1896, and his obituary helps to make sense of the masonic tour. In his obituary, it is revealed that after his retirement in 1878, he “organized continental tours and also to the West Indies.” It mentions tours in Europe as well. It appears as though Thomas somehow turned his experiences of travelling as a circuit rider into organizing tours of faraway lands.
Citations
"1870 Federal Census." Ancestry.com. Accessed December 11, 2016.
Ashmead, Henry Graham. Historical Sketch of Chester, on Deleware. Chester, Pennsylvania: Republican Steam Printing House, 1883.
Frick, Robert. "Charles F Thomas." Find a Grave. Last modified October 8, 2007 and accessed December 11, 2016. Link.
Loyer, Dr. Milton. "Central Pennsylvania Conference Methodist Pastors." Archives of the Susquenhanna Conference of the United Methodist Church. Accessed December 11. 2016. Link.
"Masonic Pilgrimage to Jerusalem." The Philadelphia Inquirer. August 24, 1890. 10:7. [Newspapers.com]
"Rev. Charles Thomas, a Presbyterian Minister, Buried Saturday." Lebanon Semi-Weekly News. May 4, 1896. 1:5. [Newspapers.com]
Thomas, Charles F. Diary, 1859-1861. I-Friends-1983-17, Friends of the Library, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.
Charles F. Thomas was born in Baltimore, Maryland on November 22, 1839. As mentioned in his diary, he converted to Methodism in 1852, which foreshadowed his future career as a circuit rider. When he begins the diary, he is twenty years old and a member of the class of 1860 at Dickinson College.
After the Diary
Thomas would continue his career as a Methodist circuit rider until 1872, when he became a Presbyterian for unknown reasons. After his conversion, he serves as a preacher for a salary of $1600, which increases to $1800, at the Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania between 1873 and 1878. He then retires because of his poor health. In 1890, he takes a group of freemasons to Jerusalem to serve as a sort of tour guide. He dies suddenly on April 29, 1896, and his obituary helps to make sense of the masonic tour. In his obituary, it is revealed that after his retirement in 1878, he “organized continental tours and also to the West Indies.” It mentions tours in Europe as well. It appears as though Thomas somehow turned his experiences of travelling as a circuit rider into organizing tours of faraway lands.
Citations
"1870 Federal Census." Ancestry.com. Accessed December 11, 2016.
Ashmead, Henry Graham. Historical Sketch of Chester, on Deleware. Chester, Pennsylvania: Republican Steam Printing House, 1883.
Frick, Robert. "Charles F Thomas." Find a Grave. Last modified October 8, 2007 and accessed December 11, 2016. Link.
Loyer, Dr. Milton. "Central Pennsylvania Conference Methodist Pastors." Archives of the Susquenhanna Conference of the United Methodist Church. Accessed December 11. 2016. Link.
"Masonic Pilgrimage to Jerusalem." The Philadelphia Inquirer. August 24, 1890. 10:7. [Newspapers.com]
"Rev. Charles Thomas, a Presbyterian Minister, Buried Saturday." Lebanon Semi-Weekly News. May 4, 1896. 1:5. [Newspapers.com]
Thomas, Charles F. Diary, 1859-1861. I-Friends-1983-17, Friends of the Library, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.