Wedding Certificate: John H. and Lizzie Kitchens Thornton

Dual Wedding in Sumner County: December 4, 1879

Northern Tennessee has long been the place for southern Kentucky Thorntons to head for quick, simple marriage ceremonies.  On December 4, 1879, Allen M. Thornton and his older sister, Margaret, took their respective partners to Sumner County to obtain licenses.  Afterwards, Allen headed westwards to Oklahoma, while Margaret Thornton Jones remained in southern Warren County, KY.  My 2nd great-grandfather would take his bride-to-be to Sumner County in 1880; my mother and father would marry next door in Robertson County, TN, in 1970.

Death Certificate: Elizabeth Smith Thornton

Perhaps the oldest member of the Thornton family to have ever lived in southern Kentucky, Elizabeth Smith Thornton (Oct. 1814 - Sept. 11, 1916) died in Simpson County, KY, just shy of her 102 birthday.  Her children often told tales that she was part Cherokee and would brush her teeth with ashes in the traditional manner.  Her birth location was unclear even to her children who reported her as having been born in Tennessee, North Carolina, or Virginia.  She married Robert Benton Thornton in 1840 and had ten children: William Frank, Margaret Jones, Polly Thornton (mother of Maggie Campbell Thornton), Elizabeth, Nancy, James Allen, John H. (my 2nd great-grandfather), Allen M., Thomas Benton, and Robert Franklin.

Death Certificate: Thomas Benton Thornton

Thomas Benton Thornton was born on December 15, 1862, to Robert Benton and Elizabeth Smith Thornton.  Between 1910 and 1920, Thomas departed southern Kentucky for Benton County, Indiana, where he worked on the railroad.  In his later years, he moved to Allen County, KY, where he married his second wife, the widow Fannie Calvert Cline.  His first wife was Jeanetta Watkins.  Thomas died on April 8, 1943, Allen County, Kentucky.  No issue.

Death Certicate: Margaret Thornton Jones