Charles Randolph Thomas (1827–1891), father of Charles R. Thomas (1861-1931), was a U.S. Congressional Representative from North Carolina.
Thomas was born in Beaufort, NC, February 7, 1827; attended a private school in Hillsboro, N.C., and was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1849; He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1850 and commenced practice in Beaufort; moved to New Bern, NC, and continued the practice of law; member of the State constitutional convention in 1861; North Carolina Secretary of State in 1864-1865; appointed by the Governor president of the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad in 1867; judge of the superior court 1868-1870.
He was elected from North Carolina's 2nd congressional district as a Republican to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1875). Thomas was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1874. He resumed the practice of law in New Bern, N.C., and died there February 18, 1891.