The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 230 MARVIN H. THOMAS. Among the successful agriculturists of Yakima county who have attained their prosperity entirely through their own efforts and are therefore entitled to honor and distinction is Marvin H. Thomas, who now has a fine ranch of sixty acres on the Tieton. He located here in 1907 and has made profitable use of the past years to develop his land, so that the ranch is a very valuable one today. Mr. Thomas was born in Marshall county, Indiana, August 25, 1854, a son of Samuel S. and Mary Magdalene (Linard) Thomas, natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland respectively. They were married in the Keystone state and subsequently took up their residence in Ohio, where the father as a railway contractor assisted in building the Pennsylvania Railroad. Later they removed to Indiana where he helped to lay out the town of Bourbon and also built the first sawmill in that section. In subsequent years he turned his attention to agriculture and became quite successful along that line. He also bought and sold farm properties acquiring run-down land, which through his labors he put in fine shape and then disposed of at a good profit. He and his wife died in Indiana. Both were members of the Brethren church, to which they were very devoted. Marvin H. Thomas was reared under the parental roof, attending the public schools of Indiana in order to acquire an education. Laying aside his textbooks, he turned his attention to carpentering and became very proficient along that line. As a millwright he engaged in the manufacture of sash and doors and also engaged in building barns, in his native state until 1898, when he decided to seek his fortune in the far west and made his way to Tacoma, Washington, where he worked for others for some years. Later he assisted in organizing a factory for the manufacture of washing machines, churns and similar products. In the spring of 1899 he trade his way to Alaska and for four years he remained in the far north, being occupied with railroad construction work during that period. The fall of 1903 found him in Seattle and there he continued in sash and door manufacturing until 1905, in which year he came to Yakima county, buying one hundred acres of rich land on the north fork of the Cowiche. Later Mr. Thomas spent two years in Seattle and when the Tieton irrigation project came into existence and brought the necessary water to his ranch he moved upon the property, which he had acquired in 1907. Since that time he has given his undivided attention to its cultivator although he has now sold forty acres of the tract, retaining sixty acres. The land is largely devoted to hay and grain but he also has three acres in orchard. In 1910 Mr. Thomas met with a rather serious accident when upon taking a rifle out of his wagon, the weapon was discharged the bullet lodging near his heart, where it has remained ever since. Mr. Thomas was married August 2, 1910, to Martha A. Linse, a sister of Samuel D. Linse, of whom more extended mention is made on other pages of this work, and a daughter of Fred and Anna (Berg) Linse, pioneers of Minnesota, who there farmed until the family removed to South Dakota in 1881, the father taking up land in Day county. In 1902 he brought his family to Yakima county, where he now makes his home on a seven acre farm near Nob Hill. Mrs. Thomas was largely reared in South Dakota and Yakima county. Mr. Thomas had been married before and by his first union had a son and two daughters who are still living. Burt Ellsworth, the eldest, is successfully engaged in engineering in Seattle. Winifred Pearl married Frank E. Brown and they reside at White Horse, Alaska, where she holds the position of librarian. Sarah May married Edward A. Kennedy, their home being in San Francisco California, but Mr. Kennedy is now in the service of his country wearing Uncle Sam's uniform. There were two other children of Mr. Thomas' first marriage but both have passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are highly respected members of their community and have many friends. They are welcomed in the best homes of their neighborhood and at their own fireside cheerfully and generously extend hospitality. He is a member of the Church of God, to which denomination he is devotedly attached, and in politics he is a republican, being more or less allied with the progressive wing of that party. Prosperity has come to him as the result of untiring industry, close application, foresight and his inherent honesty, which has guided him in all of his business transactions. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.