Searching for information on Louis Peter Thomas, born 1884ish and immigrated to America in 1906ish. He came from Megara, Greece and settled in Utah where he married Ester Kimber. Family myth is that our last name was originally Toumpanaries, and it was changed to Thomas because no one could pronounce his last name. But, I've also seen Tupinarious and a number of other spellings. I have no other information except on the Kimber side and their children. Any help would be welcome.

There is a book, The Peoples of Utah, edited by Helen Z. Papanikolas, that chronicles the earliest ethnic groups who settled in Utah. Chapter 13 is entitled, "The Exiled Greeks" that gives a fascinating account of early Greek settlers in Utah. The book was published in 1976 by the Utah State Historical Society, 603 East South Temple, Sale Lake City, UT 84102; Library of Congress Catalog Card # 76-12311; SBN 0-913738-26-3. Perhaps you can obtain it through an inter-library loan. You might also contact the Utah State Historical Society for futher help. There is a lot of genealogical activity in Utah -- have you tried locating a marriage record for Louis and Ester, or searching for information on Ester Kimber's family? I suggest starting at www.familysearch.org.
Carol Kostakos Petranek

Carol:

Are you doing "look-ups" in this book? If so please check to see if George Rahan is in your book. He owned a sheep herd. He was from Skotini, Argos, Greece. He would have been my husband's uncle.

Thank you.

Ann

Ann,
There are just a few names listed in this chapter. It is more a general history of the earliest Greek settlers. Unfortunately, Rahan was not listed. However, in rereading this chapter, the author states "In the twenties, almost all Greeks became American citizens....In Greek Towns, a few sheepmen's wives were still carding wool, not through necessity but through habit."

If most became citizens, that information would be in the 1920 and 1930 census records - if they were naturalized, the citizenship column would read "NA"; if not, it would read "AL" (for alien). If you can find your ancestor in either the 1920 or 1930 census, then definitely send for his/her naturalization papers. They are filled with all the vital information you are seeking. I just found information for a dozen of my Greek relatives through their Petitions for Naturalization and Declaration of Intent, which were filed in Brooklyn, NY. You would need to find out which National Archives office has the records for Utah (it would be one of the intermountain west states).

Hope this helps....
Carol

Carol:

My interest was if they were listed in the book. In the early years, '50's, we were in touch with them. Thanks for this information.

Ann

Hi Carol,
Thank you for the reply and the book information. I will definitely look that up.

I have quite a bit of information on Ester Kimber's line in Utah, and Louis Peter Thomas when he was married to her (including the censuses from 1920, 1930 and a WWI draft card) and I know that he survived the Castle , but prior to 1920, Louis Peter is a mystery. There were so many Louis Peter Thomas's that immigrated in 1906ish, and none that I can find from Megara. We're not even sure that he immigrated with the surname Thomas, and any version of Toumpanaries that I look for doesn't seem to exist.

We know he came over with his brother (no one knows his name) and that this brother opened a Greek restaurant in Murray, Utah, but with no name....

I'll look into the resources you suggested though. They sound very informative.

Thank you very much.

Oh, how I understand what you're saying! Would you consider trying to write to the Greek Archives office that covers the area of Megara to inquire about the Toumpanaries surname? When I did so for the surname Kostakos and Papagianakos in the area of Sparta, I received copies of "Town Registers" (sort of like a local census) that had entire families listed by surname. I am headed out of town for the weekend, but if you would like to try to do this, we can discuss this further when I return next week.

Carol

That's a wonderful idea! I would be very interested in exploring what the Greek Archives have to offer. This side of my family is such a mystery and I so want to know more. So yes please! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to whatever you have for me.

Thanks!

Edit of earlier post: "we know he survived the Castle Gate coal mining disaster", not "we know he survived the castle".