Profile Text
Rhett – American Country Awards 2013 – Photo Credit: Andrew Evans / PR Photos
Birth Name: Thomas Rhett Akins, Jr.
Place of Birth: Valdosta, Georgia, U.S.
Date of Birth: March 30, 1990
Ethnicity: Lebanese (one eighth), German, Swiss-German, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
Thomas Rhett is an American country music singer and songwriter.
Thomas is the son of Paige Braswell and country music singer and songwriter Rhett Akins (born Thomas Rhett Akins). He was raised in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He is married to author, podcaster, and philanthropist Lauren Akins, with whom he has four children. He is a Christian.
Thomas’ paternal grandfather was Thomas Dempsey Akins, Jr. (the son of Thomas Dempsey Akins, Sr. and Edna Dean Jones). Thomas’ great-grandfather Thomas was the son of James Austin “Jim” Akins and Ava Jane Whiddon/Whidden. Edna was born in Georgia, the daughter of James Henry Jones and Laura Etta Downs.
Thomas’s paternal grandmother was Pamela Marie “Pam” LaHood (the daughter of George John LaHood, Jr. and Gonzalee “Gonza” Beam). George was the son of George John LaHood/Lahoud, Sr. and Mary Hanna, who were Lebanese emigrants, with Mary being from Jdita, Beqaa, Lebanon. Gonzalee was the daughter of Franklin Luther “Frank” Beam and Sarah Eleanor “Sally/Sallie” Baxter.
Thomas’ maternal grandfather was Willard Travis “Buddy” Braswell (the son of Willard Theodore Braswell and Mary Lurline Hutcheson). Thomas’ grandfather Willard was born in Texas. Thomas’s great-grandfather Willard was born in Arkansas, the son of Henry Bryant Braswell and Nettie Lee Beene. Mary was born in Arkansas, the daughter of Edward Minor Hutcheson and Mary J. Wyrick.
Thomas’ maternal grandmother was named Patricia Ann.
Thomas’ great-great-grandfather Franklin Beam’s patrilineal line can be traced to John Derrick Beam (Johann Dietrich Böhm), who was born, c. 1765, in Switzerland, the son of a German father from Hamburg, John Teter Beam, and a of Swiss mother from Geneva, Rebecca Reynolds, who likely was of German descent. John Derrick’s wife, Mary Hoyle, was the daughter of German parents.
Sources: Genealogy of Thomas Rhett (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Thomas’ paternal great-grandfather, Thomas Dempsey Akins, Sr. – https://www.findagrave.com
Thomas’ paternal great-grandfather, George John LaHood, Jr., on the 1930 U.S. Census – http://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Thomas’ paternal great-grandfather, George John LaHood, Jr. – https://www.legacy.com
Obituary of Thomas’ paternal great-great-grandmother, Mary (Hanna) LaHood – http://www.findagrave.com
Obituary of Thomas’ paternal great-grandmother, Gonzalee “Gonza” (Beam) LaHood – http://www.mclanefuneralservices.com
Genealogies of Thomas’ paternal great-great-grandfather, Franklin Luther “Frank” Beam – http://www.findagrave.com http://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Thomas’ paternal great-great-grandmother, Sarah Eleanor “Sally/Sallie” Baxter – http://www.findagrave.com
Obituary of Thomas’ maternal great-grandfather, Willard Theodore Braswell – https://pt.findagrave.com