WINDOW TO THE PAST by Peggy Smith Hake: Cornelius W. Thomas (called Uncle Neal) was born in Camden County, MO on April 5, 1843. He was a son of John and Elizabeth Thomas who lived in Camden County in the 1840s. John Thomas died prior to 1850 and Elizabeth then married Samuel Brooks. She had a daughter by Sam Brooks (Eliza Brooks) who was a half-sister to Cornelius. Although a history of Camden County states that it was in existence by 1833, it does not appear to have been included as a separate county in the 1840 census (according to Ancestry.com). Would it have been included in Pulaski County? Paddy