May Family Photos Descendants of Thomas & Dorcas Patton May More photos of their descendants Album for David May [1828-1864] More about David's family His oldest son Thomas May [1853-1933] More photos ready to be posted Febuary 2006 In 2005 I learned of the passion Thomas May had for his May family through the discovery of some family heirlooms and many photos and other records he collected throughout his life. In December 2005 I visited with his grandson, Charles William [Bill] May and took photos of some of these items, which I share with you in this series of web pages. Fred T. May ** See photos of the rifle of Thomas May, Sr. that was given to this favorite grandson ** Thomas May, the first child of David and Mary Bickley May, was only eleven years old in 1864, when his father was killed in the Battle of Cynthiana during Civil War. That tragic event left Mary [age 36] with seven young children to rear. David's father, Thomas May, Sr. [1787-1867] made special provisions for this family in his will. Young Thomas remained with this mother and cared for her until her death in 1907.                Will of Thomas May, Sr. In 1909, at the age 56, Thomas married Sally Little, a woman 34 years his junior, and within a few years they moved from Pike County to a farm he purchased in Clark County near Winchester, KY. He, Sally and their first child are in the 1910 Pike Co, KY census. He reared his own family and spent the remaining years of his life on his Clark County farm. An interesting account of Thomas during the years he lived on Robinson Creek was provided in 2002 by a descendant of Noah Newsom [b. 6 Mar 1865], who came to live with Thomas and his mother when Noah was only about eight years old. The following is an excerpt from the memoirs of Miriam Newsom Rosik, Noah Newsom's daughter. "When my father was big enough to work (I imagine about eight years old), he went to live with and work for the Tom May family, who were wealthy landowners in Kentucky. They lived close by where the creek turned into Robinson Creek. They had a beautiful home. Evidently, Tom May took a liking to my father because he sent him to school [the Sulphur Spring School] which was a blessing, since hardly any of his brothers and sisters ever went to school." According to the Noah Newsom family record, the May family lived at a place called Jones' Chapel, which was located at the mouth of Little Robinson Creek where it enters Robinson Creek. Jones' Chapel was a log church and in later years was covered in vines. When describing her own days as a schoolgirl, Miriam wrote: "There were three classes of people that went to our school. The Mays were the top class; we were the middle class; and the Tacketts were the lower class. I guess that once you are classed you must always stay in that class the rest of your life. We were always looking up to the Mays (The Willard May family--brother of Tom May who sent Papa to school) because they had better clothes and better food than we did, and they used better language. We never once resented their having these nicer things; we just thought that was the way it was." The Newsom account adds that after the death of Thomas' mother, he married Sarah "Sally" Little, who had helped care for his mother during her last years. Sarah, a half-sister to Noah Newsom by his mother's second marriage, was a beautiful girl, and after her marriage she was elevated from "middle class" to "upper class." In March 2006 the following information was sent to me regarding Thomas May, Sr. serving as a guardian of two Newsom boys in the 1830s. He was the grandfather of the Thomas May cited above. Harrison [Newsom] died by November 26, 1832, at which time a Court held in Piketon, Pike Co. KY, appointed Thomas May as guardian of Frederick and Porter Newsom, infant heirs of Harrison Newsom, dec. Pike Co, KY Dec Court 1832: An Inventory of the estate of the infant heirs of Harrison Newsom was this day returned to Court and sworn to by Thomas May, guardian for the infant heirs of Harrison Newsom and ordered recorded. 1. Thomas May b: 25 Jun 1853 Robinson Creek, Pike Co. KY d: 15 Feb 1933 Clark Co. near Winchester, KY, buried in the family cemetery there Age at death: 79 ...... +Sally Little b: 23 Feb 1887 Robinson Creek, Pike Co. KY m: 23 Jun 1909 Pike Co., KY d: 4 Feb 1965 Clark Co, KY, buried in Winchester Cemetery Age at death: 77 Thomas May 1853-1933 Sally Little May 1887-1965 Color portrait of Thomas & Sally More photos to be added Children & grandchildren of Thomas & Sally Little May 1. Helen Record May b: 26 Mar 1910 Pike Co., KY d: 2 Nov 2001 Kentucky, buried in Winchester Cemetery Age at death: 91 ...... +Marion Caswell Bedford b: 5 Apr 1906 m: 4 Aug 1930 Mt. Sterling, KY d: 21 Dec 1983 Age at death: 77 ..... Marion Caswell Bedford, Jr. b: 6 Aug 1931 d: 10 Jun 1997 Winchester, KY, buried in Winchester Cemetery Age at death: 65 2. Thomas May b: 24 Sep 1911 Clark Co., KY d: 29 Jan 1988 Winchester, Clark Co., KY Age at death: 76 ...... +Elizabeth Eubanks b: 4 May 1914 Butler Co., KY m: 14 Jul 1937 Paris, Ky. d: 12 Aug 1995 Winchester, Clark Co., KY Age at death: 81 ..... Carolyn May b: 28 Mar 1939 Winchester, Clark Co., KY ......... +Robert Young Russell, Jr. b: 19 Sep 1938 Greenville, SC m: 26 Aug 1961 Winchester, Clark Co., KY ..... Norma Jean May b: 18 Jun 1940 Winchester, Clark Co., KY d: 27 Jan 1994 Winchester, Clark Co., KY Age at death: 53 ......... +Robert Garland Tallent b: 26 Dec 1938 m: Nov 1962 d: 7 Mar 1989 Age at death: 50 3. Charles Woodrow May b: 18 Nov 1918 Clark Co., on a farm near Winchester, KY ...... +Willie Jean Gilbert b: 5 Oct 1924 Montgomery Co., KY m: 16 Sep 1942 Mt. Sterling, KY d: 9 Dec 1967 Ohio, buried in Glen Rest Cemetery at Reynoldsburg, OH Age at death: 43 ..... William Charles May b: 23 Nov 1943 Ohio ......... +Kathleen E. Pleimen m: 22 May 1965 ..... Joyce Ann May b: 16 Sep 1945 ..... Robert May b: 6 Sep 1946 Tennessee d: 13 Sep 1946 Tennessee, buried in Clinton, TN Cemetery Age at death: 0 ..... James Edward May b: 26 Aug 1953 d: 13 Jun 1976 Ohio, buried in Glen Rest Cemetery at Reynoldsburg, OH Age at death: 22 . *2nd Wife of Charles Woodrow May: ...... +Kline Ruth Virginia Baum b: 30 Jul 1918 m: 4 Dec 1976 4. Grace Cumming May b: May 1921 d: 26 May 1989 Winchester, KY, buried in the Winchester Cemetery Age at death: 68 est.