Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman

Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman (March 21, 1794 – June 9, 1885) was an American philanthropist. Born in Virginia, she became a prominent socialite and businesswoman in Augusta, Georgia, and was an early supporter of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Early life and career Emily Harvie Thomas was born on March 21, 1794, in Ashland, Virginia, to Edmund Thomas and Anne Thomas. In 1798, her family moved to Kentucky as her father became registrar of the Kentucky Land Office. Her brother Landon Addison Thomas was born the next year. She spent much of her childhood in Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1804, her father died, and Henry Clay, a friend of the family, became her legal guardian. In 1874, she donated new buildings as part of the church's relocation within the city, and several years earlier in 1870 she spent $26,000 in repairing the First Christian Church in Frankfort, which had suffered a fire that destroyed the building.

Among her other business ventures, she was a shareholder of the Georgia Railroad and owned many stocks in a manufacturing company by John Pendleton King. In 1874, she endowed Tubman High School in Augusta. Today, a middle school in the city bears her name.

Death and legacy Tubman died on June 9, 1885. She was buried next to her brother Landon in her family's lot at Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort. In 1994, Tubman was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement. That same year, the city of Augusta unveiled a statue of Tubman near First Christian Church.