Thomas Bandy was the son of George and Christina Slinkard Bandy and the grandson of Richard Soloman and the great grandson of Richard and Jane Cummings Bandy. Richard Bandy was born in Liverpool, England in about 1700. His family were French Huguenots that left France in the 1600's . In the early 1700's, many of the Huguenots in England moved to Northern Ireland to unite with the Presbyterians from Scotland. Here, Richard Bandy met Jane Cummings who was Scotch-Irish. They were married in about 1730 and moved to America. They settled in Bedford Co.,Virginia. George Bandy grew up in Bedford County and married Christina Slinkard. During the American Revolutionary War they owned a flour mill and George must have been in the Virginia Militia because his children said he was hated so much by the Tories that they threatend to kill him and his family and burn the mill down. George and Christina fled to North Carolina and left the mill running. The mill burned anyway. They later sold their land in Virginia and stayed in North Carolina. Thomas was born and grew up in Lincoln County and married Rebecca Goodson in 1809. Thomas was a Sergeant in the Lincoln County Militia during the War of 1812. After Thomas' mother died in 1830, he moved his family to Lawrence County, Arkansas. They had a 600 acre river bottom farm near Calamine and attended the Strawberry Presbyterian Church. Thomas was a believer in education and all his children attended the Shady Grove School near Jesup. Thomas and Rebecca's children were all born in North Carolina. They were: Malinda Harriet, Henry Wilson, Nancy Hider, Susan Maranda, Martha Emily, Mary Ellen, David Pinkney and Robert Sidney. Information provided by Madeline Bandy Mc Clure