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The Alexander Thom Family of Virginia

Updated April 14, 2009


Alexander THOM immigrated to America from Scotland in 1746 and eventually settled in what is now Culpeper County, Virginia. In about 1770, Alexander Thom married Elizabeth TRIPLETT who died in 1789. They had eight sons.

The information contained on this web site regarding the parents of Alexander Thom should be considered speculative until further evidence can be found to confirm or dispute the relationship. However, it is my opinion that the circumstantial evidence is compelling enough to warrant posting the information. This new evidence dispells the family tradition that Alexander Thom was from Inverness. Perhaps a previous generation may have lived there but from what I have found, the family appears to have been located mainly in Lanark.

My research in Scotland began with a letter written between July and November 1785 by Alexander Thom of Virginia to his nephew, also Alexander Thom, in Scotland addressed thus:

Mr. Alexander Thom
Officer of Excise at Bonhill
Dumbarton County, North Britain

By the time the letter arrived in Scotland, nephew Alexander had moved so the letter was returned to Virginia. The fact that the addressee had moved was "Attested by Robert Tam". This is written on the 'envelope' side of the letter in a handwriting different from all the rest.

The letter mentions several family relationships:

"Please to let your father know that I desired particularly to be remembered to him and to my 3 nieces and I shall be glad to have their husband's names in your next to me. Also my affectionate wishes to my sister Beckey and Brother James..."

Armed with this information I searched in Mitchell's Notes on Scottish Excise Officers and found nephew Alexander Thom. The notes mention his wife Anne DYKES and that he was "heir to his Aunt Rebecca Thom, widow of Charles ROSS at Torrance." Also included in Mitchell's Notes on Excise Officers are others by the name of Tam/Thom, most notably one Robert Thom who was born in the early 1720s and likely the person who wrote "Attested by Robert Tam" on the returned letter. These Notes also indicate that nephew Alexander Thom resided in various locations surrounding Glasgow, primarily in Lanarkshire. Torrance House is found in the present city of East Kilbride so Lanark is where I focused my search for Birth/Baptism and Marriage records.

The Old Parish Records for the Parish of East Kilbride in Lanarkshire produced the following Birth/Baptism records:

Robert Tom b. 18 March 1722 to Alexander Tom
Alexander Tom b. 18 October 1724 to Alexander Tom
James Tam b. 17 October 1726 to Alexander Tam and Rebecca STRUTHERS

There were no other Thom/Tom/Tam families in East Kilbride Parish at that time so I am making the assumption that Rebecca Struthers was the mother for all three births though she was only named in the third record.

The Old Parish Records for East Kilbride in Lanark also produced the marriage of Alexander Tam and Rebecca Struthers in January 1718. Alexander Thom of Virginia named his third son Robert Strothers Thom which is another compelling argument for this couple as our Scottish ancestors.

There are a few more bits of information that support my speculation on these relationships:

- Robert Thom, Excise Officer, had a daughter named Janet
- nephew Alexander Thom had a daughter named Marion

Alexander Thom's eldest son named one of his daughters Janet Marion Thom.

Glasgow was the primary port for the importation of Virginia tobacco into the British Isles and France until 1776. One can imagine that if Alexander Thom's brother and nephew were Excise Officers, so might have been earlier generations. If this were the case, it is possible that Alexander Thom was able to obtain passage on a tobacco ship headed back to Virginia following the uprising at Culloden in 1746.

To contact me send email to vphelps "at" earthlink.net
This information was first posted on July 7, 2000.

Virginia T. Phelps

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Family Photos

  • John Watson Triplett Thom (29 KB)
    First son of Alexander Thom. Watercolor image in lapel pin, approximately 1.5" X 2". Painted by an artist in Fredericksburg in about 1835.
  • Lucy Lewis Thom Taylor (28 KB)
    Daughter of John Watson Triplett Thom and Lucy Lewis. Wife of William Taylor.
  • William Alexander Thom (26 KB)
    Second son of John Watson Triplett Thom, surgeon to the 39th Va. Infantry and later on the staff of Jackson Hospital in Richmond during the war
  • Cameron Erskine Thom (17 KB)
    Third son of John Watson Triplett Thom, City Attorney Los Angeles, District Attorney Los Angeles County, CA Senator, Mayor of Los Angeles.
  • Joseph Pembroke Thom (19 KB)
    Fourth son of John Watson Triplett Thom, asst. surgeon in US Navy, founded the Hospital for the Women of Maryland, Speaker of Maryland State Legislature.
  • Dr. George Ross (23 KB)
    Grandson of John Watson Triplett Thom, son of William Buckner and Elizabeth (Thom) Ross.
  • John deHart Ross (34 KB)
    Grandson of John Watson Triplett Thom, son of William Buckener and Elizabeth (Thom) Ross, Colonel in Confederate Army.
  • Judge Erskine Mayo Ross (19 KB)
    Grandson of John Watson Triplett Thom, son of William Buckner and Elizabeth (Thom) Ross, Judge for U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals, founding member of V.M.I. Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
  • William Taylor Thom Sr., Jr., and III (20 KB)
    William Taylor Thom, Sr. was the grandson of John Watson Triplett Thom, son of John Catesby Thom and nephew of William and Lucy (Thom) Taylor.
 

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