W. Aubrey Thomas

Who was W. Aubrey Thomas?

William Aubrey Thomas was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.

Born in Y Bynea, near Llanelly, Wales, Thomas immigrated to the United States in 1868 with his parents, who settled in Niles, Ohio. He attended the public schools of Niles, Mount Union College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he majored in metallurgical chemistry.

He was an analytical chemist in Niles from 1886 to 1888, and was engaged in the iron and steel business. He served as president of the Mahoning Steel Co. and as Secretary and director of the Niles Fire Brick Co.

Thomas was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Charles W. F. Dick. He was reelected to the Fifty-ninth, Sixtieth, and Sixty-first Congresses and served from November 8, 1904, to March 3, 1911. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1910 to the Sixty-second Congress.

He moved to Alabama in 1918, and continued his interest in the manufacture of iron, steel, and firebrick. He served as president of the Jenifer Iron Co. He died in Talladega, Alabama on September 8, 1951, aged 85. He was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Youngstown.

Thomas became a Mason in 1887, and was the youngest Master in Ohio when he led his lodge for two terms. He became a member of the Elks in 1892, and was a Presbyterian.