Allen "Tobe" and Sallie Miller Thornton Family

Above, we have Allen M. "Tobe" Thornton who married Sally J. Miller on Dec. 4, 1879, at a dual wedding with his sister Margaret (married Sydney Jeff Jones).  Allen was the son of Robert Benton and Elizabeth Smith Thornton.  In the mid 1890s, Allen and family headed west, first moving to Butler, Missouri, and then to Indian Territory, Creek Nation (present day, Oklahoma).  Sally passed away in 1907.  Allen died in 1939 and was buried at Odd Fellow Cemetery, Ponca City, Oklahoma.

Allen and Sally with children: Maggie, born July 1881, married William Thornton Darr; Addie Laura, born November 21, 1884, married John J. Shinn; Gertrude, born 1887, married 1)William Walter Looney and 2) James Murphy; James Ervin, born 1889, married Odessa McClain; Robert Earl (see entry), born 1894; Betty Lela, born 1899, married Harry W. Rairden, a member of the Osage Nation.

 Gertrude Thornton Looney Murphy.

James Ervin Thornton in military (WWI) uniform and his draft registration card (below), showing his birthplace as Bowling Green, KY.  James married Odessa McClain on April 18, 1911, in Oklahoma.  They had three daughters: Ruth, Mildred, and Elsie L. Thornton.  Sadly, James died shortly after the war, and Odessa married Stillman A. Wilkerson.  The family moved off to Texas where the three Thornton girls were later joined by their half-brother: Stillman A. Wilkerson Jr.  Stillman and Odessa met when Stillman was a roomer in the boarding house of her sister-in-law, Gertrude Thornton Looney (see above).

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.