Philip Evan Thomas, Evan W. Bell's great, great Grandfather, along with George Brown were the founders of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1827, the first railroad in the United States. Philip E. Thomas served nine years as its first president, he earned the title of "The Father of American Railways". Philip E. Thomas's daughter, Harriet, married Christy James Bell, Samuel D. Bell's grandfather. Philip Thomas's mother Rachel, was the daughter of Gerard Hopkins who's family include Samuel Hopkins and his son Johns Hopkins the founder of Johns Hopkins University.