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Thomas was born in 1882. Thomas Dickens ... He passed away from a heart attack in 1968.
(additional info)
Thomas married Mary Minerva Lieblong 8 Mar 1905 and they had seven children. Mary and their eldest daughter Pearl became ill in the early 1930s and their second oldest daughter (early 20's at the time) Connie Lee Dickens took up the task of caring for them until they both died in 1936 (Mary d17 Feb 1936 and Pearl d15 May 1936).
Thomas at age 53 was made a widower and lost his eldest daughter Pearl within 3 months of each other, but he still had two children under the age of 20 (aged 12 and 11), and he remarried Menter Vilula Langston who became a loving step mother to the kids, and they also had three more children giving Thomas a total of 10 children.
Menter passed away on 17 Feb 1965 making Thomas a widower twice over.
Thomas passed away from a heart attack three year later at age 85.
Thomas Jackson Dickens' birth dates vary, taking grave headstone as authoritative with supporting information as follows:
1. 22 Aug 1882 - The grave headstone for Thomas Jackson Dickens in Thorn Cemetery, Greenbrier, Faulkner County, Arkansas. Also at this Findagrave link is his death certificate listing he died of coronary thrombosis (heart attack), had previous coronary thrombosis six weeks prior, and had coronary athlerosclerosis (high cholesterol/blockage) 3 years prior. Worthy to note the confirming physician was Thomas' and Mary's nephew, Dr. Keller Lieblong M.D. There is yet another discrepancy for Thomas' age and date of birth as it states on the 5 May 1968 death certificate that Thomas died at age 86 with a date of birth as 22 Aug 1881. Interpreting as a math error.[1]
2. 1884, no month or day - Loyd N. Sybert, 2009 geneaology report 'Descendants of Charles Lieblong', [2]
3. 22 Aug 1883 - US Draft Registration card filled out on 12 Sep 1918 lists same 22 Aug, but birth year as 1883 with a current age of 35. Draft registration card lists his spouse as Mary M. Dickens, address as "2 Greenbrier, Faulkner, ARK", and he signs his full name "Thomas Jackson Dickens." Considered potention of this birth year variation being intentional on the part of Thomas in efforts to look younger for the draft as coincidentally the date of his draft card was the same 12 Sep 1918 date as the beginning of the third US Draft registration which expanded the age range from those turning 21 after 5 Jun 1918 to age 31, to all men aged 18-45. [3]
While Thomas wasn't 45 or anywhere close, it is plausible that neither he nor the draft registering agent knew exactly what the third draft registration was raising the max draft age as this was the first day of the 3rd WWI draft registration where they were raising the age. Even today, what gets echoed in press and media doesn't always equate to what ends up enacted by Congress so maybe they had heard the max age was being raised to 35, 40, or 45. Congress in fact raised the maximum draft age to 45. Regardless, if Thomas wanted to be eligible to fight for his country, he may have fudged his birth date year a little in case the third round draft was capped at 35. A lot of maybe's, but it's not the first case of a patriotic American lying about his age to be eligible to serve his country in time of war. Ultimately, it leads me to give this theory as to why the draft record lists his birth year as a year younger than all other birth date records a plausible consideration and lean towards his grave headstone dates as his more accurate birthday. [4]
Biography info:
The story of Mary Minerva and Pearls' illness and death, as well as Thomas' second marriage to Menter Vilula Langston was discovered in the obituary of Connie Lee "Bimby" Dickens-McVay. [5]
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