Benjamin Jackson, father-in-law of both Squire Thomas Little and John[4] Little, died in 1806. Thereafter, it appears that the "Squire" divided his time between Jurist duties and improving his Pennsylvania land. The "Squire" also took care of the disposition of Benjamin's estate.

On 25 Jan 1811, he purchased 160 acres on Muncy Creek from John Lockard (Book 9, p. 316) and another 100 acres from Lockard on 6 Jun 1814 (Book 12, p.128).

In 1815, he purchased, from Joseph Doty (son-in-law of Squire's uncle Thomas) of New Jersey, 100 acres in Licking County, Ohio, paying $11.00 an acre. There was no house, the land was partially cleared, but it had a orchard. Before his move to Lycoming County, PA, Thomas also sold several products in Philadelphia from his farm including fruits and vegetables. According to his family, Thomas Little was never satisfied in Pennsylvania as the lands did not meet their expectations.. this comment is taken to mean the heavily forested area, although beautiful, was not suited to farming.

On 6 Oct 1815, Thomas Little purchased from Theophilus 560 acres on Bear Creek (No. 13 called Woodbridge) as well as 180 acres on Loyalsock Creek for a total of $1000 (Book 12, p.129).

By the time he moved to Ohio, Thomas "Squire" Little owned 1000 acres in Pennsylvania, 180 acres of which he sold to his cousin John Coryel Little (son of John[4]) in 1833 (Book 19, p.87). He retained ownership of the balance of land until 1857. He also held title to land in Monmouth County, NJ until he sold it a few years later to James Morris and Ferdinand Shibla.

During these years, he purchased two other farms of 100 acres or more in Licking County and used them as tenant farms. He and his son Theophilus raised prize pedigreed horses and bred Chester White hogs for sale. He was never a candidate for office, but Squire Little was politically active in that he was a Whig and interested in the election of Henry Harrison in 1836 and 1840. He was also a Captain of the Militia in Licking County for several years.

An excerpt from the old files of The Greenville Times, Ohio editorial page reads:

Source: Donald Campbell Little, 1951 Thomas "Squire Little by his wife Lydia had two children. Jane Little married Jarod P. Bancroft. Theophilus Little married Eunice Weeks. He was the surviving son of Thomas and became Theophlus, Sr., with the birth of his own son, Theophilus, Jr. Theophilus, Sr. and Eunice are buried next to his parents in the old Granville Cemetery in Licking County, Ohio.

In 1818, after setting up his own kiln, "Squire" Little built an 11-room house. It was the first brick home built in Licking County and in 1951 was still a showplace in Granville. Thomas, Theophilus[3], and grandsons Thophilus Jr.[4], and Henry Jackson Little voted for Abraham Lincoln for President in 1860.

There are nearly as many Littles named "Theophilus" in this story as their were "Johns" and "Thomases" in the earlier decades. For the sake of clarity, here is a small chart that explains who each of these men were in relation to one another:

Theophilus Little[1]
..+Maria Polhemus
.....1-Theophilus Little[2]
........+Elizabeth Holmes
.....1-Squire Thomas Little
........+Lydia Jackson
............2-Theophilus Little[3]
...............+Eunice Weeks
...................3-Theophilus Little[4]
......................+Sarah Taylor

Theophilus, Jr.[4] was born 23 May 1830 in the big brick house built by his grandfather. He married Sarah E. Taylor and had three sons: Clifford Taylor Little (died age 2 yrs), Edward Campbell Little and William Thomas "Will T." Little. They moved to Olathe, Kansas when Will T. was four years old. In 1871, they moved to Abilene, Kansas where Theophilus had established a lumberyard a year earlier.

During this time, Abilene was a wide-open cow town and was known best as the "wickedest town on earth." Elected as President of the Abilene City Council, Theophilus also acted as the police judge during the time that "Wild Bill" Hickock was the town marshal. As the acting Mayor of Abilene, Theophilus purchased the city cemetery. He is perhaps best loved and remembered for planting with his own hands the first of the shade trees that made Abilene one of the most beautiful small towns in the state. You can read his own recollections of the city in Theophilus Little and the Wickedest Town on Earth--Abilene, Kansas.

Will T. and Edward graduated and were both admitted to the Kansas Bar. Theophilus followed his son Will T. to the new territory of Oklahoma where he purchased land and became active in local affairs. In 1892, he was appointed to the first "Board of Regents" of the Oklahoma A&M College at Stillwater by Governor Abraham Seay. Theophilus, his wife Sarah and Edward Campbell Little are all buried in the Abilene Cemetery.

Edward Campbell Little was born 14 Dec 1858. Here are some salient facts in his life:

After the Spanish-American Was, he married Edna Margaret Steele, daughter of Leonard James Steele, and resumed his law practice in Abilene, Kansas. Edna wrote, Works of Jesus (Paul Elder & Co., San Francisco). She was also an active member of the DAR of some repute, and politically active until her death in 1943 at Kansas City, Kansas. Her father served in the Civil War and was a lineal descendant of John Steel, the founder of Hartford, Connecticut.

Edward and Edna moved in 1908 to Kansas City, KS, where he became an esteemed trial lawyer of note. While serving in the US Congress, he was Chairman of the Revison of Laws Committee of the U. S. House. He wrote the then current Code of the Laws of the United States between 1919-1924. (See Who's Who in America 1906-1924; Congressional Directory; Congressional Record, Index 1917-1924)

His son Donald Campbell Little, born in Abilene in 1901, had a no less illustrious career in law, politics and WWII, receiving the Bronze Star and 5 campaign stars. Little was also a Phi Kappa Psi, Delta Theta Phi (legal) and author. He was the grandson of Theophilus Jr., and descendant of Thomas "Squire" Little.

Donald was 53 when he wrote this account of the Little family. At that time, Susan Heim, the wife of John Wesley Little, was the family historian.

William Thomas Little (Will T.) participated in the land rush at the opening of the Oklahoma Territory. He wrote and printed the first newspaper in the newly opened Unassigned Lands. Named The Guthrie Getup, it came off the press on April 28, 1889. In his salutory statement he wrote, "The Guthrie Getup prances into the promised land at the head of the procession, and issues before one week after the glorious 22nd of April, 1889."

Little suffered the same fate as many of the lesser known '89ers; historians largely overlooked them. Where many of the land rush participants rushed in to grab a quick profit, Little and thousands of other participants stayed. They built homes, started businesses and raised families. From the very beginning they built Oklahoma history and wrote about it. During his lifetime he was an editor, reporter, historian, farmer, and arborculturist. In 1890, he compiled the new laws in the first volume of the Statutes of Oklahoma. In 1895, he was the newly elected representative of the territorial legislature. During his tenure, he introduced bills: to regulate oleomargarine; to help develope waterworks and other utilities in towns and villages; to improve the election process; to regulate pharmacists, and to establish a territorial insane asylum.

Little also took a strong interest in the new Oklahoma Historical Society which the Oklahoma Press Association started in 1893. During 1895, after the Oklahoma Press Association learned the University of Oklahoma incorporated the Oklahoma Historical Society, the two entities merged and soon after William Thomas Little became its custodian and curator. He developed the first archives, increased the number of documents and organized local meetings to collect local history.

During the next four years, he divided his time between the Historical Society and his home in Perry. He was the first Oklahoman to raise Tamworth hogs and the first to apply "shelterbelts" to his farm. He was elected VP of the American Forestry Association, representing Oklahoma. In 1889, he worked as a government land appraiser. In 1901, was appointed to the position of Postmaster at Perry where he persuaded the city fathers to plant trees in the local cemetery and convinced local school officials to start a tree nursery on unclaimed land on the edge of town. In 1902, he helped organize the Nobel County Farmers Instititute. In 1904, he published Oklahoma Farmer, a review for farmers and tree growers. Little was recognized by the leading forestry societies of his time for his unwavering position on planting windbreaks in semi-arid areas such as those that existed in western Oklahoma. To illustrate his point, he purchased several thousand seedlings and planted them as windbreaks -- especially on the grounds of the Perry Courthouse -- and throughout the town before he died.

William Thomas Little died in an insane asylum in Norman, Oklahoma at the age of forty-six years, the victim of an organic brain disorder. At his death, July 5, 1908, The Daily Oklahoman, one of the oldest newspapers in existence in Oklahoma today, wrote in part, "..He was altogether one of the brainiest men that ever lived in Oklahoma."

Will T. married Maude Jensen Heileman, daughter of the U. S. Indian Agent for the Ponca and other tribes in 1902. They were the parents of Sarah M. Little, who married Joseph Brandt, later President of the University of Oklahoma; and Edward Thomas Little, who became involved with the oil drilling industry in Oklahoma City. Grandson Joseph T. Brandt, USMC., fought at Heartbreak Hill in the Korean War and received the Purple Heart.