 He was an uncle to famed American Old West lawman Heck Thomas who helped bring down the Doolin Dalton Gang.Thomas was born in Clarke County, Georgia, to Edward Lloyd Thomas (surveyor) and Mary Hogue, the youngest of eleven children.He was a graduate of Oxford College of Emory University and served in the Mexican–American War from May 1847 until August 1848 as a second lieutenant in an independent company of Georgia mounted men.