All branches of the John Hamp Hardee family
continue to name their children Thomas and/or Ray Thomas
For the "younger folks," I thought you might like
to see the "originals."
On your left: Thomas Walter Hardee, b. 17 May
1875, Blount County, Alabama, m. 6 Jan 1904, in
Marthaville, LA, A. Alberta Pullen, b. 4 Dec
1876, Natchitoches Parish, LA, d. 15 April 1942,
Pleasant Hill, LA, buried: Pleasant Hill, LA.
Thomas died 17 March 1944, Pleasant Hill, LA,
buried: Pleasant Hill, LA.
On your right: Ray Vernon Thomas, b. 1882,
d. 1949, buried Pleasant Hill, LA. m. 6 Aug 1918
Clara Hardee b. 17 Dec 1894, Sabine Parish, LA,
d. 14 Feb 1989, buried: Pleasant Hill, LA
The picture above was taken from the picture below.
Left to Right: Granddaddy (Tom Dykes),
Grandmother (Nina Hardee Dykes),
Thomas Walter Hardee, and Ray Thomas.
Grandmother absolutely idolized her brother,
Thomas Walter Hardee, and her brother-in-law, Ray
Thomas. However, until I started this project, I
didn't realize that Thomas was 21 years older than
Grandmother. She was only 8 years older than Thomas, Jr.
I have never heard anyone who actually knew Ray
Thomas mention him without adding a comment about
what a wonderful man he was. I was only 2 1/2
years old when he died, so I don't remember him.
He must have died at home because one of my
earliest memories is sitting at the foot of the
stairs during this sad event, listening to the
coo-coo clock chime the hours away. I do know that
the adults in our family were devastated when Ray
Thomas died. I am pleased, however, to look
through Known Descendants of John Ziba Hardee and
find both the names Thomas and Ray Thomas still
liberally applied to new babies. Ray Thomas and
Clara had no children of their own, so I know he
would have been pleased to see his name continued.
