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.

John H. Thornton's Siblings: William Frank Thornton

As the oldest son of Robert Benton Thornton, and older brother to my great-great-grandfather, William F Thornton came of age during the Civil War, possibly fighting on both sides in true border state fashion. He was the only Thornton to reside permanently in Jackson County, TN: the rest of the family migrated to Kentucky in 1848-49. Both his sons, James P. and Claud, were born in Simpson County, KY, and James P. Thornton's first wife, Sarah Pirtle, came from Simpson.

This is the family of James P.'s son, Cordell Hull and Hattie Medlin Thornton, with three of their five children: Charles Franklin, Burnetta Elizabeth, and Phillip Ann. Not pictured: Clella Bueanna and Linda Fay.

Can you spot Charles and Burnetta in this old class picture from Shady Grove Elementary, Jackson County, TN?

Burnetta is third from left on bottom row; Charles is second from right on second row...Look for the bright blond hair!

Clella Bueanna Thornton Martin and partner, Kenneth Heady.

Generation 1: North Carolina

Generation No. 1

1. William1 Thornton was born Abt. 1781 in North Carolina, and died Abt. 1859 in Simpson County, KY. He married Mary Elizabeth ? in North Carolina. She was born Abt. 1791 in North Carolina, and died in Simpson County, KY.

Notes for William Thornton:
By 1850 the William Thornton (69) household had made it to Simpson County, Kentucky, from where I would begin construction on this genealogy. In his household, we find his wife, Mary (59), as well as Margaret (30), Nancy (28), William H (23), and James (22). They lived next door to the Dinkins family from which William H Thornton would later find his wife, Martha J Dinkins. William and Mary's older sons lived nearby: Benton (37) and Elizabeth (27) had four young children, aged 2 to 10, and Allen (27) and Polly (22) had only Mary Elizabeth, 6 months old.



Children of William Thornton and Mary ? are:
2. i. Robert Benton2 Thornton, b. Abt. 1815, North Carolina; d. Aft. 1880, Warren County, KY.
ii. Margaret Thornton, b. Abt. 1819.
3. iii. Allen Ellis Thornton, b. December 10, 1821, North Carolina; d. April 29, 1899, Simpson County, KY.
iv. Nancy Thornton, b. Abt. 1822, North Carolina.
4. v. William Haywood Thornton, b. Abt. 1829, North Carolina; d. Bef. 1900, Allen County, Kentucky.
5. vi. James Allen Thornton, b. Abt. 1830, North Carolina; d. Bef. 1900, Simpson County, KY.
vii. ? Thornton, b. Abt. 1820. Female, listed on 1820, 1830, and 1840 Censuses