General Notes

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Notes for JAMES (BOSS) DUNCAN CONNER:
Prepared by:
Gerald W. Thomas
JOHN WILLIAM THOMAS
and wife,
MARTHA FRANCES JERNIGAN THOMAS
John William Thomas, son of William David Thomas and Amilia Jane
CaleThomas, was born near Windsor, Bertie County, North Carolina, on
January 9, 1867. John, the first of sixteen children born unto William
David and Amilia Jane, was raised on his parents' small farm about two
miles north of Windsor. John's boyhood was typical of the farm children
who grew up in northeastern North Carolina. He worked on the family farm,
took care of routine chores, and for recreation engaged in hunting and
fishing.
on May 11, 1892--at the age of twenty-five--John married fifteen-year-old
Martha Frances "Fannie" Jernigan, daughter of James Randolph Jernigan and
Mariah Catherine White Jernigan of the Jernigantown community
(present-day Elm Grove) in north-central BertieCounty. (Fannie was born
on September 16, 1876.) Thirteen and one-half months after John and
Fannie married, Fannie gave birth to their first child--a daughter whom
they named Lonie Jane after John's sister of the same name who had died
about two years earlier. John and Fannie had a total of twelve
children--five daughters and seven sons. Their children and dates of
birth were:
Lonie Jane, June 26, 1893
Minnie Catherine, Aug. 15, 1895
John Alec, Sep. 16, 1897
William Guy, Sep. 10, 1899
Pearly Randolph, July 18, 1901
Amilia Frances, Feb. 14, 1904
Nora Neil, Dec. 9, 1905
James Edward, July 13,1907
Joseph Duncan, June 17, 1909
Charlie Linwood, Aug. 10, 1911
Mary Minerva, Mar. 5, 1914
Grady, Apr. 6, 1916.
By 1900 John and Fannie were in the process of acquiring land north of
Windsor in order to establish a farm and upon which to build a house. On
October 4, 1900 John purchased from John B. Gillam and his wife, Sallie,
a 250-acre tract of land situated along the Cashie River. John paid $322
for the wooded property which was comprised of swampland and highland.
John, not having sufficient funds to pay cash for the land, acquired the
property "on credit," signing a promissory note payable to Gillam. John
successfully paid off the debt a little over eight years later.
Also on the day that John purchased the land from John and Sallie Gillam,
he acquired fifteen acres inthe same area from his parents.He held this
parcel for only sixteen months before selling it onFebruary 5, 1902, to
Isaac Reddick.
Shortly after purchasing the real estate from the Gillams, John began
manually clearing part of the highland for his farm. Using an ax John
felled trees and dug up the resulting stumps. With the aid of an "old
mule," he dragged the felled trees, stumps, limbs, and brush from the
field-to-be. Eventually, John cleared a modest-sized, farmable field.
John and Fannie, like most young couples, desired to have a home to raise
their family. Pine trees, suitable for sawing into lumber and building a
structure, were fairly abundant on his property. Therefore, John hired
his first cousin, James Duncan "Boss" Conner, a logger, to cut trees on
his property and float the logs down the Cashie River to Johnson's Mill
(about three miles down stream). At the mill the logs were to be cut into
lumber (sills, studs, boards, etc.) which was to be transported by horse
and wagon back to the Thomas property. Dancy and Franklin P. Cale, John's
uncles, were to build John's and Fannie's house.
Boss Conner and John Thomas were almost exactly the same age. (Boss was
born on April 14, 1867--a little over three months after John was born.)
Besides being first cousins the two were close friends, lived near each
other, and had played together while growing up. Their fathers, James
Richard "Dick" Conner and William David Thomas, had also grown up
together, had both served in the Union army during the Civil War, and
married sisters. (James married Emeline Cale.) Boss and John, acco