Although no obituary was located for Robert, Robert Otto Thomas was born in Simpson, Illinois in the extreme NE corner of Johnson County on September 9, 1871 to George Washington Thomas and Mary Jane Simpson. By the time the 1880 federal census was taken the Thomas family had relocated to New Burnside, Illinois not very far from Simpson. The farming family consisted of the father George W. 58, the mother Mary J. 53, son John A. Logan 15 and Robert O. aged 9. Older brother to Robert, John A.L. was working as a farm laborer.
On December 14, 1898, Robert married Alberta Hill in Johnson County and by the 1900 census they had had their first child, Grace, aged 6 months and relocated back to Simpson where he was born. At the time of the census, Robert was a 28 year old farmer and Alberta “Bertie” was 17, and they were living in a home that they owned free of mortgage. Living with the young couple were Alberta’s parents, John A. Hill, a 40 year old preacher, Sarah Hill 42, and her two brothers James C. Hill 15 and Robert B. Hill 13. Alberta indicated in the census that she had only birthed one child while her mother Sarah had birthed 3 children with 3 living.
By 1904, Robert and Alberta had moved to Marion where they had their second daughter, Irma, in that year. By the 1910 census, the couple had moved into their forever home at 918 W. Union Street in Marion. 38 year-old Robert was working as a furniture clerk and the home they lived in was owned with a mortgage. Children in the home at the time were Grace 10, Irma 6, Merle 3 and Beulah aged 1.
In 1916, Robert was elected city alderman under Mayor Dausa D. Hartwell.
When the 1920 census was taken, Robert was 48 and Alberta was 38, they had four daughters living in the home, Grace 20, Irma 15, Merle 13 and Beulah aged 1. Robert was working as a furniture dealer while his daughter Grace had begun teaching school in Marion.
By 1922, Robert had started working at the Marion Glass Company located then at 204 W. Main Street and the couple were still living in their home at 918 W. Union Street. An article in the Marion Daily Republican from May 1923, indicated that Robert was walking down W. Union Street to his home for lunch from his work and encountered the clothing of a young child floating in the creek where West End Creek crosses Union Street near where he lived. The body of a young child, too young to attend school, belonging to Mrs. Anna Fontinetti was found drowned in the creek in less than two feet of water. It was guessed that the child fell from a bridge covering the creek.
A Marion street directory from 1928-29 indicated that Robert and Alberta were living at 918 W. Union Street and that Robert worked at Marion Glass Company.
When the 1930 census was taken, 59 year old Robert and 48 year old Alberta were still in their home on Union Street and they had several people living in the home. Present in the home were daughters Grace 30, Muriel 23, now divorced Irma Woolf 25 and her son John E. Woolf aged 4. In addition there were two people rooming in the home which they owned mortgage free and was then valued by Robert at $5,000. Robert indicated that he was self-employed at Marion Glass Company and that they had no radio in the home. Their daughter Grace was working as a public school teacher.
An article in the Marion Daily Republican in 1931 indicated that the Marion Glass Company located at 203 W. Main Street had been seriously damaged by fire according to operators Robert O. Thomas and C.A. Hilt. By the 1934 city directory, the business had relocated to 102 S. Van Buren Street.
In the 1940 census, 68 year old Robert was still working in the glass business and indicated that he had worked 52 weeks out of the previous year of 1939. In addition to his wife, Alberta 57, there were still 3 daughters left in the home, Grace 40, Merle 33, divorced Irma Woolf 36 and her son John Woolf 16. There was also a 63 year old female roomer in the home. In the census, the education level for Robert was stated to be 1 year of college, Alberta had finished 8th grade, Grace had done 2 years of high school as well as Merle, while Irma had finished 4 years of high school. Grace was teaching grade school and Irma was an adult education teacher.
By the 1950 census, 78 year old Robert and 67 year old Alberts were retired and still living at 918 W. Union Street. Daughters still living in the home were Grace 50, Irma Woolf 45 and Merle 43. The only one shown working was Grace as a primary school teacher.
In late August 1957, Alberta passed away in Marion Memorial Hospital having been in ill health for 4 years. She was born July 9, 1882 in Hardin County. Burial was on September 1, 1957 in Rose Hill Cemetery. She left her husband Robert O. Thomas and daughters Miss Grace Thomas and Miss Merle Thomas of Marion and Mrs. Beulah Johnson of Gary, Indiana, a brother Calvin Hill in California and three grandchildren.
On January 29, 1959, Robert O. Thomas passed away in Marion and was buried with his wife Alberta in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Notes on Children:
Grace Thomas, born November 22, 1899 in Simpson, Illinois, died February 24, 1968 in Marion.
Irma L. Thomas Woolf, born April 12, 1904, married Wyvon E. Woolf in June 1922, divorced in Florida in 1927. She remarried Fred Grant in 1950 and died in Long Beach, Calif on February 16, 1991. Only son was John Edward Woolf.
Merle Louise Thomas, born September 26, 1906 in Marion, died March 28, 1973 in Marion.
Beulah May Thomas Johnson, died September 19, 1908, married Roy B. Johnson in 1935, died October 4, 1975, burial in West Frankfort, Illinois
(Sources: Federal Census records, Marion Street Directories, Marion Daily Republican, Southern Illinoisan, Johnson County Marriage Records, FindaGrave.com, Google Maps, Williamson County Property Records. Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 5/9/2024)