Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS, 2901At 'the age of twenty-five years Mr. Thomas came to Georgia and assumedthe position of superintendent of the Virginia & Carolina Chemical plant at'Social Circle, Walton County, this preferment having come to him as theresult of his expert knowledge of all matters pertaining to the manufacturingand sale of chemical fertilizers. After retaining this position two and onehalfyears, Mr. Thomas resigned and removed to Madison, Morgan County,where he accepted the position of business'manager of the Madison Oil Mill.In 1906 he effected the organization of the Madison Fertilizer Company, whichwas incorporated with a capital stock of $25,000, and he has since been secretary and treasurer of this important and flourishing company, which placeson the market an average of 5,000 tons of fertilizer annually, the well equippedestablishment giving employment to a corps of about thirty during the manufacturing season of each successive year.In 1909 Mr. Thomas became the organizer of the Thomas ManufacturingCompany, of Madison, and this corporation bases its operations upon a capital stock of $20,000. The company has a plant with the most approved facilities for the manufacturing of artificial ice, the milling and ginning of cottonand the manufacturing of flour and meal. He is president of this company,which gives employment to an average force of about twelve persons, and heis president also of the Madison Oil Mills, which control a large and prosperous business in the manufacturing of cottonseed oil and various byproducts.In 1900 Mr. Thomas was the foremost figure in the organizing of the MorganCounty Bank, which was incorporated with a capital stock of $25,000. By itsnormal earnings the institution has since increased its capital to $40,000, Mr.Thomas has been its president since 1913, and his progressive administrationand mature business judgment have been potent in the development of thisbank as one of the substantial financial institutions of Northwestern Georgia.In 1915 he was elected secretary of the Empire Cotton Oil Company, a Georgiacorporation with $2,500,000.00 capital. Broad and comprehensive knowledgehas been the education which Mr. Thomas has acquired in the practical schoolof experience, and he has fully merited the pronounced success which he hasgained through his persistent, progressive and well ordered efforts along linesof enterprise that have been of distinct benefit to the community in general.In addition to the important enterprises of which mention has already beenmade, this vigorous and indefatigable man of affairs is identified on an extensive scale with agricultural industry in Morgan County, where he is the ownerof an extensive landed estate and gives special attention to the raising ofcotton and corn.The public spirit of Mr. Thomas is of insistent order and he is always atthe front in giving co-operation and influence in the furtherance of thosemeasures and enterprises that tend to advance the best interests of his homecity, county and state, the -while he is unfaltering in his allegiance to thecause of the democratic party. He is president of the Madison Chamber ofCommerce and his loyalty to and appreciation of Madison and MorganCounty are such that he is always ready to give to those desiring such information a description of the resources and advantages of this favored sectionof the State of Georgia. In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Thomas has completedthe circle of the York Rite and has thus received the chivalric degrees, hisaffiliation being with the commandery of Knights Templar at Covington,Georgia, besides which he is a member of Yaarab Temple, Ancient ArabicOrder of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the City of Atlanta. Both Heand his wife are zealous members of the Presbyterian Church at Madisonand he is serving as a deacon of the same.On the 15th of June, 1901, at Beaufort, South Carolina, was solemnizedthe marriage of Mr. Thomas to Miss Florida Antoine Poullam, daughter ofAntoine and Rebecca (Lamar) Poullam, of Augusta, Georgia, Mr. and Mrs.Thomas have no children.