Eclectic Ann: Thomas

I found a family signature recently, so I thought he would make an interesting story.

Thomas.... quite the popular name in the Sinton family. Our family tree has 24 distinct Thomas' so far. The signature that I found is one of them.

Thomas Sinton was born in February of 1826 at Tamnaghmore House in Tandragee, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Tamnaghmore House had been the home of Sintons for several hundred years. He was the son of David Sinton & Sarah Green. They were a Quaker family, as were most early Irish Sintons. Thomas was educated at the Friend's School in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, a boarding school. In 1859, he married Elizabeth Buckby of Tandragee. They had eight children, all born at Laurelvale House, also the name David gave to the large linen mill that he bought in 1870.

Thomas served as a local magistrate in addition to running his linen mills owned by his Thomas Sinton & Co.. He built a village around the mill and named it Laurelvale, meant to house his linen mill workers. By the 1880's, the mill employed 700 people producing a very high grade linen. His other mills were located at Tandragee and Killyleigh. After Thomas passed away on Aug 20, 1887, his descendants continued to run the family linen mills. Thomas's will valued his property and effects at £112,716 11s. 4d. the equivalent of nearly £7,000,000 in 2009. His widow, Lizzie, dedicated a large stained glass window in the Mullavilly Parish Church in Tadragee to her husband's memory. He is buried at the cemetery at the Friend's Meeting House in Moyallan. The Laurelvale mill closed in 1944 when it was taken over by the Ministry of Defence to manufacture ball bearings for tank turrets.

In the 1970's the mill was destroyed by fire. The area of the mill and Laurelvale House itself were leveled for a housing development. The Sinton family did continue to operate the Tandragee Mill until 1996. Plans fell thru to make the property into a tourist and retail location and the Mill building was listed for sale in 2003 by Thomas's great grandson(another Thomas).

Linen mill owner, Thomas Sinton is your 3rd cousin 5 times removed. An interesting connection is that Thomas's brother John (also a linen mill owner) had a son David. The family came to Pittsburgh when David was age 3 in 1811. David settled in Cincinnati and became a millionaire from selling pig iron during the Civil War. His daughter Annie married and became the sister in law of Pres. Howard Taft. Sinton money helped finance Taft's campaign. (Remember the small photo of a woman that your dad had hanging on the chimney in the dining room? That's Annie). There is also a Sinton Ave in Pittsburgh. It is only 1 block long. I wonder if it was named for John or David?

I could add more but with 29 David Sintons in the tree, they are a story for another day. Along with the Williams and Johns and Sarahs and Marys......