John Wilson Thornton Passes Away

Last surviving son of William Virgil Thornton:

Mr. John Wilson Thornton, age 84 of Franklin, died Thursday, October 20^th, at his residence. Crafton Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. A graveside service will be held Sunday at 2pm at the Woodburn Cemetery where military honors will be conducted by the Simpson County Honor Guard. A native of Simpson County, he was the son of the late William Virgil Thornton and Bertha Dobbs Thornton. He retired after 37 years working for the Lenk Company. He served in the Army in the chemical warfare division during the Korean War and was a lifetime member of the American Legion Post 62. He was preceded in death by his wife – Margaret Dallas Thornton. Survivors include 3 sons – John Anthony Thornton, Thomas Wilson Thornton and Bobby Joe Thornton all of Franklin; a daughter – Marsha Thornton of Bowling Green; 5 grandchildren – Amanda Gomez of Nashville, TN, Samantha Rachel Thornton of Portland, TN, Dustin Hunter Thornton of Morgantown, KY, John Michael Thornton and Katherine Haley Thornton both of Franklin and 3 great grandchildren – Tyler Wade Perry and Jacob David Gomez both of Nashville and Emma Jo Thornton of Portland. There will be no visitation.

Robert Earl Thornton (1894 - 1987)

 In early 2011, I began tracking Allen M. "Tobe" Thornton, a son of Robert Benton who disappeared from southern Kentucky with his new wife, Sallie Miller, in the late 1800s.  On the 1900 Census, I found a Tobe Thornton in the Creek Nation area of Oklahoma, but did not connect Tobe to Allen until I noticed that his daughter named him Allen M. on the 1930 Census.  His approximate age and state of birth matched what one would expect from the missing son.  I later confirmed that he was our southern Kentucky Thornton through a World War I registration of his son, James Ervin Thornton, which listed the birthplace as Bowling Green, KY.

In August, 2011, I sent a letter to an address I located of his descendant, Les Thornton.  Les submitted these photos.  In the first, we have Robert Earl Thornton, Allen's son, and most likely named after Allen's father.  Robert E. Thornton married Dot Edith Louthan and had four children:  James Allen, Martha Sue, Hal Ervin, and Eugene Wendell.

 In the above photo, we have James Allen Thornton's family members.  James is on the right side, wearing a blue shirt, next to his wife, Jo Nell Moore Thornton (red sweater).  On the far right, we see Mark Allen Thornton standing just behind his son and daughter, Matthew Marcus and Jaymi Milene.  Jaymi's daughter (white shirt), Avery, stands in front, directly in front of her great-aunt and James's daughter, Kathy Jo Thornton Horn-Ammons.  Kathy Jo's sons and daughter stand to her immediate right:  Travis Ethan, Bobbye Jo, and Thaddeus Michael.  Thad's wife, Angela, stands directly in front of him.  Les's family appears next (see below).  Finally, in the far left of the photo, we see James's son, Luther "Luke" Jay Thornton, and family. Leah Michelle (white blouse), his daughter, stands directly in front of Luke; her brother and his wife, Wesley Allen and Jill Thornton, conclude our introduction.

Above, we have our family contact, Les, and his family: wife, Stacey Leanne, and daughter and son, Haley Nicole and Clayton Tell.  Thank you, Les!

Thornton Careers: Singer based in Hong Kong

In this advertisement for a performance at the Skylark Lounge, Hong Kong, we have four Americans who have performed throughout Asia as members of Metro.  One of the members is Kevin Lyle Thornton (far left), son of Jimmy L. and Rebecca  Thornton of Franklin, KY.  Jimmy is the son of John W. Thornton, a brother of Jesse Benton.  Kevin earned a music education degree from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY.

Metro recently performed at the Miss Hong Kong Pageant and have been signed by Sony Music.  Aside from Kevin, the other members are Sean Oliver, Eric Monson, and Michael Lance.