Edwin Ira Thomas at six months, 19 pounds:
During Edwin's childhood, the family lived on various farms. By the time Edwin was twelve, however, they had moved into the town of Adamsville, where Ira worked as the custodian of the local school. After Ira died in 1934, the two boys took over his job in order to support Ada and themselves.
When World War II broke out, Ada and Edwin moved from Adamsville to Columbus, Ohio. They rented, and eventually Edwin purchased, a house at 267 E 12th Avenue, near the Ohio State University Campus. Ada rented out the upstairs bedrooms. In the early years, many of her "boarders" were old friends and neighbors from Adamsville. She also rented rooms to students, and to single men.
The next photo was taken just across the street from the house on 12th Avenue. On the back of this photo, Ada has written, "Edwin and his Ford just before going to the Navy":
Christmas, 1942? The tree:
Christmas, 1942? Edwin, Ada and Raymond:
Edwin in his navy uniform:
After returning from the navy, Edwin, who was an expert pool player, opened a pool hall called (I believe) "Eddie's Billiards." It was in the 1800 block of N High Street, a few doors down from Long's Bookstore, and just across from Ohio State University.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the pool room flourished. Many of the men who frequented the pool hall were veterans, attending Ohio State on the G.I. Bill.
1950 was an important year for Edwin: In January, he married Carole Joanne Daley. Soon after their marriage, he purchased a four-family-row on E 20th Avenue, near the Ohio State Fairgrounds. Ed and Carole moved into the four-row, and Patricia was born in October. Soon after Patricia's birth, Edwin was severely injured in a car accident. In this photograph, he stands, on his crutches, in the back yard of the four-row:
Patricia in the backyard:
The family was still living at the four-row when William Eugene Thomas was born in 1953.
Edwin in the 1950s:
By the mid-1950s, Eddie's Billiards was no longer a flourishing concern. Times had changed, and old-fashioned pool halls were no longer in fashion. The student population was changing, also: the older veterans were being replaced by younger students who lived in fraternities and played pool at the new Student Union building, constructed in 1957, almost directly across the street from Eddie's Billiards.
Ed and Carole divorced in the 1950s. Ed sold the four-row to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Carole and Patricia and Bill went to live in this house, at 2435 Bretton Place, in the Columbus neighborhood of Linden:
Ed remarried, to Connie Stamper. The next picture was taken at Christmas, 1959, in their home at 805 S. Ohio Avenue. From left to right: Ada Thomas, Linda Stamper, Connie Stamper, Ed Thomas, Bertha Stamper:
Ed and Connie closed the pool room and opened the "C&E Grill" at 984 Livingston Avenue. The next picture, taken in June 1966, shows Edwin tending bar:
