In 1874, Thomas’ fam­i­ly moved from their farm in Tex­as to Ar­kan­sas. His fa­ther died lat­er that year, leav­ing him as the old­est son. Though he had his hands full sup­port­ing the fam­i­ly, he man­aged to be­gin at­tend­ing a vo­cal school at age 17, under Pro­fess­or T. A. Bridg­es; he lat­er stu­died un­der Ho­ra­tio Palm­er and George A. Good­rich. He be­gan a full time mu­sic ca­reer in 1890, and with Frank­lin Ei­land and John M. Greer, helped found the Trio Mu­sic Com­pa­ny in Wa­co, Tex­as, in 1892. He went on to es­tab­lish The Quar­tet Mu­sic Com­pa­ny in Fort Worth, Tex­as. A teach­er, com­pos­er, mu­sic compiler, and pub­lish­er for over 44 years, his works in­clude:

• New Ho­san­nas, with New­ton All­phin et al. (Ft. Worth, Tex­as: The Quar­tet Mu­sic Com­pa­ny, cir­ca 1921)
• Requested Songs New and Old, with J. W. Fer­rill (Fort Worth, Tex­as: The Quar­tet Mu­sic Com­pa­ny, 1932)
• Analytical The­o­ry of Mu­sic

Sources

Music

1. Glorious Gospel Train, The
2. Hallelujah, We Shall Rise
3. I Am So Glad Salva­tion’s Free
4. I’m a Child of the King