Thomas was born in 1780 in Burke County, North Carolina. He was one of at least nine children born to John (b. 02/01/1757, d. 09/17/1833) and Sarah (b. ca. 1754, d. 10/17/1818) Stiles (Sarah's maiden name is unknown), who are buried in Sylva, NC. Thomas' father fought in the American Revolution, serving as a sergeant in the Continental Line.
Traveling with his parents, Thomas first moved from Burke to Lincoln County, then west to Haywood County. At some point, he married Jane (Mc)Cabe (b. ca. 1780, d. 184?), daughter of John Cabe, Sr. After marriage, Thomas and Jane moved to the southwestern tip of North Carolina, almost to the Tennessee line, and became the first white settlers in what is today the Persimmon Creek community of Cherokee County. Their son, John B. Stiles (b. 1802, d. 186?), and his wife, Mary "Polly" Cogdill, joined them on Persimmon Creek about 1843.
Thomas Stiles, primogenitor of all the Stiles with roots in Cherokee County, NC, died circa 1879.
Source: Cherokee County Heritage--North Carolina, Vol. I, page 450.