J.C. Sloan (1913-1997)

Jay C. Sloan, grandson of Fernly Alexander and Mary Thornton Sloan, was born on January 17, 1913 in Simpson County, Kentucky, to Ben and Nannie Meador Sloan.  He married twice: first, to Eva Lois Roberts, daughter of John and Ella Stewart Roberts, and, secondly, to Eloise Shepherd.  J.C. died on October 24, 1997, in Avon Park, Florida.

Eva was born in 1914 in Simpson County, KY, and died in 1976.  J.C. and Eva had four children: Lloyd Dean (b. 1935), Barbara Elaine (b. 1937), Juandeline (b. 1939), and Eva Jean (b. 1940).

J.C. owned the Gulf Gas Station, Main Street, Franklin, Kentucky.

James Thomas Sloan

James Thomas Sloan was born August 9, 1873, to Fernly Alexander and Mary Elizabeth Thornton Sloan. He was a grandson of southern Kentucky Thornton pioneer, Allen Ellis Thornton and wife, Polly Ray Thornton. With his first wife, Victoria Aden (1876-1904), he had four children: Charles "Boss," Polly Jessie Kinnaird, Oma Arterburn, and Mayme Kinnaird. With his second, Victoria Mifflin (1872-1932) (pictured, below), he had three more children: Gladys Perdue Travelstead, Thurman Morris, and Lawrence. James died December 24, 1915.

Alma Estelle Sloan Dison

Alma Estelle Sloan was born in 1904, Simpson County, KY, to Allen W. and Lucy Meador Sloan. She was a granddaughter of Mary Elizabeth Thornton Sloan and a great-granddaughter of Allen Ellis and Polly Ray Thornton. In Sumner County, TN, on December 24, 1927, she married Rufus Dison (1902-1984), son of Will and Bertie Martin Dison. They had one daughter: Lucy Frances Dison. Estelle died on October 9, 1983.












































Estelle, Rufus, and Frances Dison.
























Lucy Frances Dison was born October 7, 1928; she died on June 19, 2006.

(Thank you to James Howard Rosdeutscher for submitting photographs of the Sloan, Dison, and Rosdeutscher families)

Children and Grandchildren of Mary Elizabeth Thornton Sloan

Edgar Hershel Sloan (1886-1962), son of Fernly Alexander and Mary Elizabeth Thornton Sloan, pictured with his wife, Nelle Johnson Sloan (1886-1983), daughter of Burrell and Mattie Roark Johnson, and Alma Sloan. Hershel and Nellie had three children: Marvin, Lila Sloan Smith, and Lorene Sloan Robey (1920-2002).

















Lila Sloan Smith was born February 19, 1919, and married Joe. C. Smith. They had three daughters: Bonita Carol, Mary Jo, and Nancy.
























In WWII Navy attire, Howard Rosdeutscher posed with David Sloan, son of Ben and Nannie Meador Sloan and grandson of Mary Elizabeth Thornton. David married Lena Brazzell.

Charles "Boss" Sloan

Charles A. Sloan was born January 24, 1897, to James Thomas Sloan (son of Fernly Alexander and Mary Elizabeth Thornton Sloan) and Victoria Aden. During his lifetime, he was known as a wild one, and his sister Mayme often referred to him as "hobo." Others called him "Boss." He drove the produce truck for his brother Lawrence who owned a produce market in Louisville, KY. Charles died on June 20, 1965, in Jefferson County, KY. His daughter, Loretta, attended the Sloan-Kinnaird Reunion in 2008. Charles is pictured on the right in both photographs below:

Charles married Anne...

Thornton Q & A

1) Where did our line originate?

Thus far, all the available research indicates that our Thornton ancestors were Scots-Irish immigrants who arrived in Pennsylvania/ Delaware (in what would now be the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area) in the mid 1740s. For current research interest, there are several counties: Lancaster, Chester, and Bucks. Owing to an increase in land prices due to the arrival of German immigrants, in the 1750s, many Scots-Irish immigrants accepted land grants in Virginia, North Carolina, and later South Carolina and Georgia. This was also favorable to the local gentry because the Scots-Irish acted as a buffer between prosperous farming areas and Native Americans.
Not surprisingly, the four confirmed DNA lines of our ancestors are found along this route: the McKelvey-Thorntons in Pennsylvania; the Thorntons of Pulaski, Virginia; Samuel Thornton’s line (Penn>N.C.>S.C.>Indiana/Illinois/Ohio); William Thornton’s (N.C.>Tenn.>KY). Samuel’s and William’s respective families also traveled with other prominent Scots-Irish families and cousins: Allisons (Ellisons), Rays (Wrays, Rheas), Simontons, Sloans, and Huffines.

2) Are we related to Mathew Thornton, signer of the Declaration of Independence?

Even though this is a pervasive family myth that has been passed along in several of the family lines, no one has proved a relationship. There isn’t any DNA evidence, and Mathew’s family tree indicates more of a York-Irish connection than Scots-Irish. My great-grandfather used to tell his children that we had originated with the arrival of two brothers from Ireland. I suspect this may partly explain why many have assumed the two brothers to be Mathew and his brother, Samuel. However, both of those lines are well researched, even though Samuel lived in Canada and had more than 22+ children!!! The only way to clarify our connections to other Irish arrivals is to encourage Thornton males to take the DNA test: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Thornton. Spread the word!!!

Sloan-Kinnaird Reunion: (Part II)

Sandra Harlan Osterbur, daughter of Rueben Kaye and Dorothy Kinnaird Harlan, with husband, Randall Osterbur.

Sandra's mother, Dorothy Mae Kinnaird, was the daughter Vinnie Lee and Mayme Sloan Kinnaird.

















The Lawsons, descended from Peggy Kinnaird...























After the meal, a small group of us headed to Blackjack Cemetery, Simpson County, KY, where many Thornton, Sloan, and Kinnaird relatives are buried.

Ann Tefteller poses beside the grave site of her grandparents, James and Victoria Eden Sloan.















Basil Griffith Park, Bowling Green, KY: site of Kinnaird-Sloan family reunion.

Sloan-Kinnaird Reunion: July 19, 2008

On a bright, sunny, albeit very warm, July day, the descendants of James T. Sloan's daughters and their Kinnaird connections gathered at Basil Griffith Park, Bowling Green, KY. My mother and I represented their Thornton cousins, by way of James's mother, Mary E. Thornton Sloan. Mary was the daughter of Allen Thornton, an area pioneer born in North Carolina in 1821!

Kathy Kinnaird Johnson made the reunion festive and welcoming...





















Kathy Johnson posing with her mother, Elizabeth Graves Combs, and Bob Combs, her step-father. Kathy is the daughter of Donald Lee Kinnaird who died in 1972.

Donald Lee was a World War II veteran who married twice: 1) Devearle Goodrum; 2) Elizabeth Graves.





















Kathy and Ann Tefteller, daughter of Lawrence and Jessie Sloan Kinnaird, looking over some remarkable Sloan-Kinnaird family photos.






















Loretta, daughter of Charles "Boss" Sloan, Kathy, and Sue Kinnaird Taylor, daughter of Lawrence V. and Martha Link Kinnaird, share a laugh...

Sloan/ Kinnaird: Thornton Cousins

Our Sloan connections descend from Mary Elizabeth Thornton (November 19, 1848-August 26, 1921), daughter of Allen Ellis and Polly Ray Thornton, and Fernly Alexander Sloan (April 20, 1850-May 5, 1918), son of Ben and Polly Cook Sloan. They had seven known children: James Thomas, Allen W., Ben, Florence Viteria, Alma, Edgar Herschel, and May. In honor of the upcoming Sloan-Kinnaird reunion in Bowling Green, KY, I am posting several photos from the James Thomas Sloan branch.

James T. Sloan (August 9, 1873-December 24, 1915) married Victoria Eden Bell and had four children: Charles A. "Boss," Polly Jessie, Oma, and Mayme. After Victoria's death in 1915, James married Margaret Victoria Mifflin and had three more children: Gladys, Thurman Morris, and Lawrence. James was buried in Blackjack Cemetery, Simpson County, KY, alongside of his Thornton and Sloan cousins.


















James Thomas Sloan's children: Lawrence and Thurman Morris (back row); Jessie and Mayme (middle); Gladys and Oma (front). Charles is not pictured.

Mayme and Polly Jessie married the Kinnaird brothers, sons of Elijah Blackstone and Mary Sowers Kinnaird. Mayme (June 9, 1894-February 24, 1966) married Vinnie Lee; Jessie (May 27, 1899-October 1980) married Lawrence Warder.



Vinnie Lee (February 20, 1894-December 9, 1955) and Mayme Sloan Kinnaird. They had three children: Lloyd Houston, Donald Lee, and Dorothy Mae. Jessie Sloan Kinnaird, pictured on the porch...





A family portrait: The proud parents and children. Lloyd, in his mother's arms, married Clara Ruth Turner. Donald Lee married Devearle Goodrum and, secondly, Elizabeth Graves; Dorothy married Rueben Kaye Harlan.




Photos donated by Kathy Kinnaird Johnson, June, 2008.

Tombstones: Greenlawn Cemetery

Located just east of downtown Franklin, KY, Greenlawn Cemetery is the largest in Simpson County and the final resting place of many family members.

William Hayden Thornton (1931-2004) was the son of John W. Thornton, son of my 2nd great grandfather, John H. Thornton. He was married to Peggy Joyce Crowder.




Ruby Viola Wright (1899-1978), daughter of Cassandra Thornton and King J. Wright, married Hobart Yokley (1895-1982) and had two children: Hughie Freeman and Dennie.







Hughie (1919-1988) married Ida Mabel Lightfoot (1922-2006) and had one daughter: Polly Suzanne Yokley Joiner.











Herbert Earl McReynolds was the son of George Baskel McReynolds and Minnie Bell Finn. In 1934 he married Lila Ruth Barnard; they had one daughter, Shirley Ruth McReynolds Brown.








George Baskel McReynolds was the son of Jacob Petway McReynolds and Margaret Thornton, daughter of Allen and Polly Ray Thornton.








Grave site of Minnie Bell Finn McReynolds, mother of Herbert E., Ida Mae, and Margaret Irene.








Margaret Irene McReynolds (1921-2006) married James D. Chaddock (1925-2008) and was the mother of Betty Caudill Kinney.

Tombstones II: Sloans, cousins of the Thorntons

The Sloans are a fairly plentiful group of Thornton cousins, descended from Mary Elizabeth Thornton (m. Fernly Alexander Sloan), daughter of Allen and Polly Ray Thornton. The above gravesites belong to four of her children: Edgar Herschel Sloan (m. Nellie Johnson), Ben Sloan (m. Nannie Meador), Allen W Sloan (m. Lucy Pearl Meador), and Alma Sloan.