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First Christian Church, Augusta, GA
~ Mrs. Emily ~ |
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Emily Harvie Thomas was born in Virginia on 21 MAR 1794 to the parents of Edmund Pendleton Thomas and Ann Chiles. Emily's father moved the family from Virginia to Kentucky when the land was little more than wilderness. He died in 1803 when Emily was still young naming Henry Clay as her guardian. |
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By 1818, Emily Thomas had made her way to Augusta, GA with Col. Nicholas Ware to visit cousins. It was here that she married Richard C. Tubman in June of this same year. Richard and Emily would spend winters in Augusta where Richard had plantations and investments, and they would spend the summers in Kentucky and Virginia visiting Emily's family. Richard died in 1836 leaving Emily to be sole executrix of his will and estate. |
| Mrs. Emily Tubman joined the Christian Church in Augusta soon after her husband's death. The small congregation had begun in Augusta in 1835 with Edward and Margaret Campfield and Dr. Daniel Hook (History of First Christian, Augusta, GA). Mrs. Tubman continued to manage her husband's estate with investments in the railroad and banking business and the John P. King Manufacturing Co. in Augusta, GA. She gave to many charities, and her generosity was overabundant when it came to churches and Christian ministry. She built two church buildings for her home church in Augusta with the first one becoming a high school for girls. The school was called Tubman School in her honor. |
Above the front door of the church is this beautiful stained glass window known as the Rose Window. |
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Her generosity spread much further than her own church. She gave money to churches in the Augusta area, the state of Georgia, as well as other parts of the country. During her lifetime and after her death, she continued to donate money to many schools and colleges.
All good things must come to an end, or so we are told. So it was with Mrs. Emily Thomas Tubman. She died in Augusta on 9 JUN 1885 at 91 years of age. Funeral services were held at First Christian Church before she bid her last farewell to her beloved city of Augusta on her way back to Frankfort, Kentucky. She is buried there in Frankfort in the Thomas family plot of the Old Frankfort Cemetery. There is a memorial inside First Christian Church, Augusta which translates from Latin into English, "If you seek her monument, look around." While Mrs. Emily is a lady who is truly missed, she also serves as a great inspiration to us all. |
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Please note that this is only a partial glimpse into the life of Mrs. Emily Tubman.
Photo credit of the young Mrs. Emily Thomas Tubman goes to Scott and the Restoration Movement website: http://www.therestorationmovement.com/tubman,emily.htm |
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