Around 1845 Thomas married Elizabeth Tison, daughter of Noah D. Tison, Sr., and first cousin to Thomas's stepmother, Nancy. I haven't yet found a marriage record for them in either Washington or Emanuel county. Thomas may have been the first Heath to make the move to Emanuel, with Daniel possibly remaining in Washington County till after his son William's marriage there in 1847. By the 1850 census Thomas and Elizabeth had moved on to Wilkinson County though the rest of the Heaths stayed in Emanuel. Daniel apparently died sometime after 1854.
By 1860, Thomas and Elizabeth had made their way to Pulaski County. The Nancy Heath living two doors down from them in that census, in the household of Griffin and Sarah A. Heath, is Daniel Heath's widow, even though the age (40) is all wrong and it shows South Carolina as her birthplace. Griffin was apparently Moses's middle name, as this is clearly Thomas's half-brother Moses G. Heath (sometimes shown as Moses J. Heath), who married Ceney Ann Forehand in Pulaski County on 20 Aug 1857. Griffin Heath is 27 in this census; he has two kids - John Daniel, 2, and Samuel Malachi, 6 months. Griffin Heath died in 1862 but in the 1870 census his 12-year-old son Daniel Heath and 8-year-old daughter, Mary Heath, are living with their mother Sena Bradley and grandmother Letta Forehand. Griffin's widow had obviously remarried around 1866 but must have been widowed again by the 1870 census.
Isaac T. Heath, Thomas's other half-brother, married Martha Roland in Pulaski County on 16 Jul 1857. In the 1860 census for Pulaski, Isaac, Martha and their 2-year-old daughter, Nancy, are living in the household of Thomas's sister, Elizabeth Johnson, who married Henry Johnson on 20 Mar 1851 in Emanuel County. Next door to them is Thomas's other sister, Polly Ann Thomas, who married John Thomas in Emanuel County on 30 Nov 1853 (as Mary Heath). Though one record says that Isaac Heath survived the war and was paroled, his compiled service record shows that he died in Nov 1862. His widow Martha married Silas Smith on 3 Jan 1866 and their household in 1870 includes Isaac's 12-year-old daughter, Nancy Heath.
Nancy Tison Heath's sister Mary married Joseph H. Anderson 16 May 1844 in Emanuel County and she is also living in Pulaski in 1860. Her and Nancy's father, John Tison, is part of the household.
Thomas enlisted in 4th Regiment, Georgia Cavalry in Wrightsville (Johnson County) on 20 Sep 1863, but was transferred to 12th Battalion, Georgia Light Artillery on 1 Nov 1863. This is the same regiment that his brother William was in. Thomas was wounded at Monocacy Junction on 9 Jul 1864 and captured the following day. He died at the prison hospital in Frederick, Maryland on 28 Jul 1864 and was buried in grave #268 (or #272, depending on the record) in Mt. Olivet cemetery.
Children with Elizabeth Tison:
- William D. Heath, b. ca 1846
- Winford Heath, b. ca 1848
- John Ira Heath, b. ca 1850; m. Sarah Elizabeth Wynn
- Noah Griffin Heath, b. 29 Jan 1853; m. Julia Ann Anderson
- Jacob Thomas Heath, b. 22 Apr 1855; m. Mary Catherine LaFavor
- Henry Hugh Heath, b. 17 Jul 1858; Dollie A. Unknown
- George L. Heath, b. ca 1861
- Lucinda Heath, b. ca 1863
- Dorinda V. Heath, b. ca 1865
