Robert Bailey Thomas (1766 - 1846)

Born 24 Apr 1766 in Grafton, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Beaman) Thomas — married 1803 in Princeton, MA

Died 19 May 1846 at age 80 in West Boylston, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

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Biography

http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Inventories/Portraits/bios/133.pdf

Founder of the Old Farmer's Almanac in 1792

Editor and founder of Old Farmer's Almanac which began being published by Yankee Publishing, Inc in 1792. He served as the editor until his death in May 1846. At the time there were many almanacs published in the 18th century, but Thomas's was successful due to its accuracy. The second year of publication, distribution tripled to 9,000 and the cost of the book was six pence (about four cents).

Thomas had an interest in astronomy spurred in part by his father's large collection of books including Ferguson’s Astronomy. He studied solar activity, astronomy cycles and weather patterns and used this research to develop a secret forecasting formula, which is still used today. Other than the Almanac's prognosticators, few people have seen the formula. It is kept in a black tin box at the Almanac offices in Dublin, New Hampshire.

Sources

• Catalog Record #466397

Jumpbar Result Navigation 1 of 1 Online Version Help Icon Action Box More Info Navigation Sabin Americana Actions Action Navigation Print IconPrint Email IconE-mail Export IconExport Page Display Action Box ·Display with Static URL <Record View> ·Staff View Thomas, Robert Bailey, 1766-1846. The farmer's almanack, calculated on a new and improved plan, for the year of our Lord 1842 : ... Fitted to the city of Boston, but will answer for the adjoining states. ... / By Robert B. Thomas. ; [Four lines of verse] Boston: : Published and sold by Jenks & Palmer. Sold, also, by most booksellers and traders throughout the New England states., [1841] 48 p. : ill., map ; 21 cm. Bibliographic Record Display More About This Item Find Similar Items Holdings Information Status Call Number Location Actions Not Charged Almanacs Mass. F200 1842a Stacks Request

Record ID: 466397

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• Thomas, Amos Russell. Genealogical Records and Sketches of the Descendants of William Thomas of Hardwick, Mass. (F.A. Davis, Philadelphia and London, 1891) Page 12

• Old Farmer's Almanac

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Farmer%27s_Almanac

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 December 2018), memorial page for Robert Bailey Thomas (24 Apr 1766–19 May 1846), Find A Grave Memorial no. 9023492, citing Legg Cemetery, Sterling, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9023492/robert-bailey-thomas
• The Life and Times of Robert B. Thomas, Old Farmer's Almanac. Retrieved from: https://www.almanac.com/extra/life-and-times-robert-b-thomas