Thomas Amis, son of John and Mary Amis, was born January 1, 1744 in North Carolina. Thomas married, first, Alice Gale, daughter of Thomas and Mary Gale, on January 27, 1763. In 1787 Thomas married, second, Lucy Haynes, daughter of Francis and Anna Haynes.

In 1775, before the State of Franklin was formed in 1785 and before Tennessee became a state in 1796, the area that would become Hawkins County, Tennessee was the frontier and was known generally as Watauga, where the grandparents of Davy Crockett settled in the area in what is today Rogersville, Tennessee near the spring that today bears their name. After an Indian attack and massacre, the remaining Crockett’s sold the property to a Huguenot named Colonel Thomas Amis.

Between 1780-82, Colonel Amis built a fort at Big Creek, on the outskirts of the present-day Rogersville which was then in Sullivan County, NC. During that same period, about three and one-half miles above downtown Rogersville, Amis erected a fortress-like stone house around which he built a palisade for protection against Indian attack. This is known as the Amis Stone House. Thomas Amis was the father-in-law of Rogersville founder Joseph Rogers.
In addition to his stone house, which also served as an inn for travelers, Amis established a tavern, general store, distillery, saw mill, and grist mill. The property was surrounded by a palisade for protection from possible attack by Native Americans.

Thomas Amis opened an Inn and operated a tavern, which became a public stage stop-over for many notables such as Andrew Jackson, Governor John Sevier, the elder Michaux, and Bishop Francis Asbury. The good Bishop noted in his journal that he spent the night at Amis’ tavern…was well entertained for his money, but that he rebuked Amis for bragging about how much money he made off of his brew. Evidently the two engaged in some heated debates, for Asbury commented that “it was out of necessity and not choice that he was there.”

The Amis House property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
During the Revolutionary War, on December 22, 1776, Thomas was commissioned Commissary for the Third Regiment, North Carolina Continental Troops, under Colonel Jethro Sumners, and given the rank of Captain.
Thomas Amis represented Bladen County, North Carolina, in the Provincial Congress in 1776, and in 1788-89, he represented Hawkins County, North Carolina, where his votes were in favor of separation of the western territory from North Carolina.

Thomas Amis’ Will was the first one recorded in Hawkins County, Tennessee. He and both wives are buried in Amis Cemetery near the stone house in which they resided, three miles above Rogersville, Tennessee.