Thomas was among the lucky land owners in the Mexia, Texas, oil field.
His father, Boss Thomas, was an early Alabamian who migrated and re-settled in Texas.
As a young boy, while attending the Sardis Primitive Baptist Church, Mexia, Limestone County, Texas, he felt a calling to preach the gospel.
The excitement of booming fields in three counties fostered crime and social problems that forced Governor Pat Morris Neff, on January 12, 1922, to order martial law for Justice Precinct No.
But the boom rolled on, and at the end of 1922 the fields showed a markedly increased combined yearly yield of nearly 34.8 million barrels of oil.
Thomas came to Oklahoma with a vision of establishing a model community, Summit, for African-Americans, located on the Jefferson Highway (U.S. 69), 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Muskogee.
A cotton gin was under construction, and workmen were working around the clock to have it finished for the fall crop.
He had built a $12,000 house on a nearby hill and was reserving adjoining lots for additional better class homes.