Thomas Flippin was the son of Thomas Flippin b. 1710 in Glouchester Co, Virginia. He served in Lord Dunsmore's War in 1774 as a volunteer of the Virginia Militia as a sergeant under Captain Thomas Buford. Thomas fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant and rendered material aid. During the American Revolution he served the Patriot cause as a teamster and wagon master. He married Rhoda McAdoo, daughter of John McAdoo. They later moved to North Carolina near the Holston River. This area later became Tennessee. In 1790 Thomas was appointed Captain of Hawkins Company Tennessee Militia by Governor William Blount of North Carolina. He was also appointed Captain of Jefferson Co. Tennessee militia in 1792 and 1793. He later moved to Barren County, Kentucky. In 1818 a portion of Thomas Flippin's land became the site of Pikesville, Kentucky. This town was later renamed Flippin in honor of Thomas' grandson James McAdoo Flippin. In the DAR Ancestor list Thomas' name is listed as Flippen.∼Thomas Flippin was born circa 1740 in Goochland Co., Virginia (now Cumberland Co.). His surname was spelled as Flippen on some records. His father Thomas was deceased by 1754, leaving young Thomas to be bound out* in 1758 to his first cousin, Thomas Bedford of Lunenburg Co., Virginia.

When Lord Dunmore's war broke out in 1774, Thomas served as a sergeant in Capt. Thomas Buford's Company of Bedford County and fought at the Battle of Point Pleasant. He returned home unhurt, and it was not long before another war for America's Independence began. Flippin, as a patriot to his new country, rendered valuable services as a scout and a teamster with wagon hire with which he would transport war materials and supplies from Bedford County to Fort Patrick Henry.

By 1775 he was married to Rhoda McAdoo of Augusta County, Virginia. Their children were: William (wife Polly Johnson), John (wife Nancy Neal), Nancy (husband Thomas Neal), Isaac (wife Nancy Watt), James (wife Isabel Brown), Elizabeth (husband George Goodman), Mary/Polly (husbands Icabod Clarke and Lodowick Goodall), Thomas H. (wife Elizabeth Baugh), Rhoda (husband Jesse Goodman), Jesse (wives Elizabeth White and Mary P. Bills), and Allen (wife Rosanna Baugh).

After the war, the Flippens moved to the area of North Carolina which later became east Tennessee (in 1796). Thomas obtained land grants in Greene Co., Tennessee and eventually found himself with properties in the counties of Hawkins and Jefferson. He was appointed by Governor Blount as a Captain of Hawkins Co. Tennessee Militia in 1790, and as Captain of Jefferson Co., Tennessee Militia in 1792 and 1793.

In 1787 Thomas Flippin and his group arrived from the Holston River settlement to the Big Blue Spring in Barren Co., Kentucky to explore the area. They returned to east Tennessee with good reports. It was not until 1797 when the Flippens moved to Big Blue Spring in the area of Warren County, Kentucky. They settled on Indian Creek where a town of Pikesville was officially established in 1818 on Flippin's land. Pikesville and the Flippin Family lands were located in Barren County, formed in 1798, until Monroe County was created from Barren in 1820. Thomas and his family were actively involved in the Pikesville community.

After the death of his wife Rhoda, Thomas married second to Jane Maconer/McCune on 24 Dec 1816 in Barren County. She was a widow with two children, Polly and Washington McCune. She survived Thomas.

Thomas was either visiting or living with his son Jesse who had moved to Henry Co., Tennessee (circa 1824) when he wrote his will on 1 Jul 1830 in Henry Co. He died sometime between 1 July to 1 December 1830 and is likely buried in Henry County, Tennessee.

Thomas Flippin was a true patriot, explorer, and a leader.

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*bound out -- for more information: https://www.orrt.org/extensions/boundchildren.pdf
(thanks to Beth Branson-Wiggins (48941911) for the link)

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For the history and genealogy of Flippin/Flippen Family lines generally, see the following in worldcat.org or familysearch.org:

1. Lemons, Nova A. John McAdoo of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. Dallas, Tex: N.A. Lemons, 1991.

2. Lemons, Nova A. Flipping Flippins: A Quarterly Devoted to Flippen Families. Dallas, Texas: N.A. Lemons, 1987.

To learn more about this Flippin Family's role in the history of old Pikesville, see the following items in the Special Collections Library, Western Kentucky University or at familysearch.org:

1. Arterburn, Charles R. A Forgotten Town Remembered: Pikesville of Monroe County, Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky: C.R. Arterburn, 2014.

2. Arterburn, Charles R. Old Pikesville Days: 1818 - 2018. Bowling Green, Kentucky: C.R. Arterburn, 2019.

3. Arterburn, Charles R. A Place Called Flippin: A Concise but not Exhaustive History with Sources Cited of the Community Variously Known as the Forks of Indian Creek, Pikesville, and Flippin in Monroe County, Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky: C.R. Arterburn, 2023.