Henry Thomas
Henry Thomas (1874-1950s?) was a major pre-war country blues singer and musician. Born in Big Sandy, Texas, he began his musical career as an itinerant singer (minstrel), and recorded twenty-three songs from 1927 to 1929. During this time he was a musical hobo who rode the rails across Texas and possibly to the World Fairs in St. Louis and Chicago. Most agree he was the oldest African-American folk artist to produce a significant body of recordings. His projected 1874 birthdate would predate Charley Patton by a good 17 years.