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!
