Henry Thomas was among the first permanent white settlers in Bureau County, arriving on May 4, 1828. He became the first farmer there, plowing the first furrow on June 10, 1828. He and his wife were the parents of the first white child born within the county on Jan. 15, 1830. In 1831 he became Bureau County’s first postmaster. During the Black Hawk War in 1832, the Henry Thomas home served as Fort Thomas, and he served with Stillman’s Army.