John was born on August 24, 1830. He was descended from a pioneer family which had settled on a farm on the Cumberland River near Nashville, Tenn. , during the latter part of the eighteenth century. James Thomas, his father, after marrying Ellen Meneese, left the farm to enter the saddlery business in Nashville, and there John was born and grew to manhood.
After attending preparatory schools in Nashville and at Georgetown, Ky. , he entered Union University, Murfreesboro, Tenn. , where he graduated in 1851 with the highest honors in his class.
He served as instructor in Union University, Murfreesboro, Tenn. , from 1851 until ill health forced his resignation in 1854, and then operated a hotel at Murfreesboro until 1858, when he became local agent for the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. In this position he played an important part in the transportation of Confederate troops during the early months of the Civil War, and in 1863 he was made custodian of the rolling stock and records of the road. In order to save this property from the Federal forces he took all movable materials to Augusta, Ga. , and later to Wilmington, N. C.
After the close of the war his promotion was rapid. He became auditor and paymaster in 1865, division superintendent in 1868, general superintendent of the enlarged system which became the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway in 1872, general manager in 1883, and president in 1884, which position he held until his death.
In his work as an executive he quickly gained a reputation for honesty and integrity which won the respect of his business associates, while his spirit of sympathy and good will toward the employees of his company made him one of the most popular and most beloved railroad executives of his time. These qualities, combined with his energy and efficiency, enabled him to place his road in a leading position in Southern transportation development.
He was an active worker in church circles, and among his outstanding contributions in that field were the organization and financing of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly as an intellectual and recreational center in the Cumberland Mountains. Records show that during the later years of his life he was the most liberal man in Nashville in his support of charitable organizations; but while his gifts were large they were always made unostentatiously, and it is believed that at the time of his death he was a comparatively poor man.
He died in Nashville in his seventy-sixth year.
His most important service to his state, aside from his railroad activity, was rendered as president of the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition which was held in Nashville in 1897. Serving without salary, he directed the organization, managed the finances, and acted as host with such success that the Exposition closed free from indebtedness.
He was twice married; first, in 1852, to Elizabeth Thomas of Murfreesboro, who died in 1886; and second, May 14, 1891, to Evalina DeBow of Nashville. A son and a daughter were born of the first marriage; the son survived his father.
