David William Thomas, Sr. | |
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Mayor of Minden, Louisiana, USA | |
In office 1936–1940 |
|
Preceded by | Henry L. Bridges |
Succeeded by | Floyd D. Culbertson, Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born | August 12, 1876United Kingdom |
Died | August 1, 1961 Minden, Webster Parish, Louisiana, USA |
(aged 84)
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic Party |
Spouse(s) | Divorced from Alice Singletary LeBlanc |
Children |
(1) Gwendolyn Singletary-Thomas Neitzel |
Alma mater |
Cornell University |
Occupation | Attorney; Journalist; Educator |
Religion | Southern Baptist |
(1) Of all Minden mayors, Thomas may have been the most unlikely – born in the United Kingdom, reared in Pennsylvania, a Cornell University graduate, and a journalist and educator in south Louisiana – all before he arrived in Minden. (2) Thomas seemed hesitant to commit to a single vocation until he began his law practice in Minden, a quarter century after having earned his law degree from Louisiana State University Law Center. (3) Thomas instituted a plan as mayor to pave all major streets within Minden. (4) Thomas made a practice of distributing Bibles to high school graduates in the city of Minden. |
(1) Gwendolyn Singletary-Thomas Neitzel
(2) Sarah Allen Thomas Fasce
(3) Singletary "Terry" Thomas Whipple
(4) David Thomas, Jr.
Seven grandchildren
Cornell University
University of Michigan
(1) Of all Minden mayors, Thomas may have been the most unlikely – born in the United Kingdom, reared in Pennsylvania, a Cornell University graduate, and a journalist and educator in south Louisiana – all before he arrived in Minden.
(2) Thomas seemed hesitant to commit to a single vocation until he began his law practice in Minden, a quarter century after having earned his law degree from Louisiana State University Law Center.
(3) Thomas instituted a plan as mayor to pave all major streets within Minden.
David William Thomas, Sr. (August 12, 1876 – August 1, 1961), was a Welsh-American "Renaissance man", journalist, publisher, university professor, poet, and attorney who served from 1936–1940 as mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of government of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.
A native of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, he was the son of David and Sarah Thomas. The Thomases entered the United States in 1883 and settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where young Thomas received his primary schooling. He was admitted to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, at which he received an Ivy League education. He is listed too as a 1904 graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, field of study unspecified in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.