• General Notes

  [pitts.FTW]
  
  [Br²derbund WFT Vol. 5, Ed. 1, Tree #0725, Date of Import: Apr 16, 2002]
  
  1850 Census listed with his father on Page 139, Pulaski County, Kentucky.
  
  His age is listed as 6 years of age.
  
  "Samuel Combest and His Descendants" book
  Edmund G. Fisher
  340 N.E. Cleveland Ave.
  Gresham, Oregon 97030
  
  source of information on the descendants of Thomas Riley Combest
  and the Bennett family.
  
  As a young man, Thomas was known as Riley. He left Kentucky and moved to
  Sullivan County, Indiana, where he farmed for a time near the town of
  Hamilton, probably as a sharecropper. On 17 December, 1863, Tom enlisted
  with the Indiana Volunteer Cavalry at Hamilton, Sullivan County and was subsequently attached to Company G of the Cavalry's 11th Regiment as a Private.
  His Civil War Record reads as follows:
  
  Enlistment      Co. G,  11  Reg't Indiana Cavalry
  
  When       Dec 17  1863                     Name: Riley Combast, Pvt.
  Where      Sullivan Co., Ind.               Jan 1864, absenton furlough from Jan 15
  Term         3 years                              to Feb. 8, 1864 at home in Sullivan County
  Age           20 years                            Indiana. Hamilton Twp.
  Height       5 feet 7 inches                  Enlistment to April 30, 1864  Present
  Complexion   dark                              May and June 1864  Present
  Eyes           Blue                                July and August 1864  Present
  Hair           black
  Where born:  Pulaski County, Ky.
  Occupation:  Farmer
  
  
  In 1864, while in this regiment in Mississippi, Tom contracted a severe
  fever which confined him to a hospital for several months and adversely
  affected his health for the rest of his life. He was discharged on 17 June, 1865. After the Civil War, Tom returned to farming. In early 1872, Tom went to Clark County, Washington Territory where, on 2 March, 1872, he submitted an application at the United States land office in Vancouver for a homestead under the Homestead Act of 1862. The eighty-acre parcel which Tom had selected for his homestead was located in the vicinity of the small farming community of La Center, a short distance from the Erastus Bennett homestead. It was during this time that he first met Ellen Bennett. Their marriage took place at La Center, Clark County, Washington Territory.
  On 20 August, 1878, after having made the necessary improvements on the
  land as required by the Homestead Act, Tom was finally granted ownership
  of the farm. In addition to the usual crops common to the area, Tom and
  Ellen maintained a fruit orchard of about 500 trees. During the
  mid-1880's, the Combests sold their farm and settled at Yacolt Prairie in
  eastern Clark County, where they continued to farm. About 1892, the
  family left Clark County and moved south to Marion County, Oregon, where
  Tom bought a large farm near the historic town of St. Paul.
  Since the Civil War, Tom's health had not been good and his condition was
  further worsened by the hard work necessary for the successful operation
  of a farm. With a large family to support, Tom's physical stamina was
  tested beyond endurance and this resulted in a general breakdown of his
  health. Eventually, due to ulcers, Tom had to be hospitalized at
  Portland, Oregon, where he died on 19 August, 1897. He is buried in the
  St. Paul Catholic Cemetery, St. Paul, Oregon.
  Ellen Bennett Combest continued to reside in St. Paul for a number of
  years after Tom's death. About 1905, Ellen moved to Houston, Texas,
  taking her two youngest sons with her. She remained in Texas until 1922,
  when she moved to California. By 1923, Ellen was living with her son,
  Tom, in Los Angeles. Ellen Bennett Combest died in Los Angeles,
  California, on 4 September, 1936 and is buried in Calvary Catholic
  Cemetery there.

Details of Thomas Riley's family with Louisa Ellen Bennett