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.

William Virgil Thornton

William Virgil Thornton (1866-1955) is an important figure in the genealogy of southern Kentucky Thorntons. Born to James Allen and Lucy Laney Thornton, he was nevertheless very close with his uncle's family: his first bride was the daughter of a cousin, and several of his children would marry other relatives from the Robert Benton Thornton line. And, when William Virgil made the move to Hickory Flats, Warren County, KY, he and his family shared a farm with Benton's grandson, Jesse Benton Thornton, my great-grandfather.

In 1886 William Virgil married Margaret Adelaide Campbell, daughter of Robert Campbell and Polly Thornton. Even though some earlier children may have died young, there were at least eleven confirmed children: Maude Gertrude, Claudius Herschel, Eva Lena, Clarence Marshall, Berttina Mae, Goeble Bryan, Clifton Charles, Verna Violet, Vernon, Mary Alline (Nobie), and Char. Thornton.

Maggie Campbell Thornton died in 1914 from Tuberculosis; Clarence and Goeble would soon succumb to the disease also, dying in 1915 and 1917 respectively.

William Vigil remarried on August 24, 1918, to Bertha Louise Dobbs. They had four children, two of which survived infancy: John Wilson and Woodie Smith. Merle and Thomas lived less than two weeks each.
(Virgil posing with Vernon on the farm)

William Virgil Thornton with his son, John W. Thornton, in 1927.


















The family in Warren County: Virgil and Bertha with sons, John and Woodie...


















Another family shot, with unidentified others: kind of look like Bonnie and Clyde.












Maudie, Virgil, and Bertha.

Frances Kathleen Thornton

Fannie was born July 10, 1916, to Jesse Benton and Mary Susan Cooper Thornton. In 1940 she gave birth to a son, Donald Wayne Thornton, who died in 1945 from complications from surgery.

In 1947 Fannie married Virgil Anderson Rippy and had a son, Jesse Sammy Rippy (b: Feb. 25, 1950). (Pictured above) Fannie died in 2000, Bowling Green, KY.

John William Thornton

John William Thornton (1898-1991) was the son of John H and Lizzie Kitchens Thornton. He married three times. By Mary Susan Mink, he had a daughter, Dorothy. He then had a short marriage to Nellie ?, who died while very young. John and Nellie had one son: William Hayden Thornton.


Dorothy was raised in the household of Robert Monroe and Susie Mink Thornton (Corydon, Indiana).







Then, John married Susie Pearl Dixon and had three more children: Richard, Jane, and Jimmy Leon.



















A family picture from the early 1960s. The 1962 date has yet to be confirmed.











The family...

Distant Cousins: The Martha Elizabeth Thornton Family

Born around 1830 to John and Mary Polly Johnston Thornton, Martha met Theodore Gillett on a trip visiting family in Texas. They were married about 1855 and began a life traveling around the southwest, where Theodore and his brother preached in various towns. Martha and Theodore Gillett had ten children: Roswell, Kate, Samuel, Fannie Laura, Naomi, James T, Stephen Hudson, Harriet Fulton, Mary Gertrude, and Martha Elizabeth. Many of her descendents would be fairly prominent in their fields.

Ruth Gillett (b. June 17, 1915, d. May 6, 2006), Martha’s granddaughter, would be a pioneering aviatrix. After learning to fly in 1944, she experimented with various aircraft, including helicopters. She won the 1954 Powder Puff Derby, with co-pilot Ruby Hays, by racing from Los Angeles to Knoxville, and served as International President of the 99s, 1963-5, an organization of female pilots for which Amelia Earhart served as first President. In 1983 Ruth was inducted into the El Paso Aviation Hall of Fame and the Albuquerque-El Paso Ruth Deerman Scholarship was created in her honor, providing an award for the Future Woman Pilot Award. She sat on the board of the American Cancer Society chapter. She was married to Charles L. Deerman, a rancher in the El Paso area. Reportedly, her father, Otis Gillett, abandoned the family during the Great Depression and was a radio announcer in Flagstaff, New Mexico. Several of her siblings became prominent writers and/ or contractors. Ruth’s sister, Betty Jo Mings, is an acclaimed Christian poet. Her cousin, Ruth, also has a scholarship named after her: the Ruth E. Gillett Scholarship Fund at Andress High School, El Paso, Texas, where she worked as a teacher.

Another set of cousins, the twins Claude and Clyde Gillett became prominent chiropractors in California. Claude served on the faculty of the Southern California College of Chiropractic (1938). Clyde was on the faculty of the College of Chiropractic Physicians and Surgeons (1933) and operated clinics in Hollywood and Los Angeles. Clyde invented the Gillett Tonsil Suction and was the author of numerous papers, including “Adenoid vegetation,” the ear,” “examining the drumhead,” and “A manual of the eye, ear, nose, and throat.”

Military Thorntons: World War I

Sir Henry Worth Thornton, KBE, Major-General, British Army
* Awarded Distinguished Service Medal, USA; Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1919); Companion of the Legion of Honor, France; Companion of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
Samuel Cary Thornton, Grandson of Hon. Samuel W. Thornton, Buffalo County, Nebraska
Thomas N. Thornton
James Ervin Thornton
Robert Earl Thornton

Newspaper Clippings: Jesse Benton Thornton

Jesse lived such a long life (1885-1979) and had so many children in southern Kentucky that his birthdays and reunions often made the news. In the first, we see a notice celebrating the 25th anniversary of his second marriage (to Lillie Bell Goosetree Mathias). His first to Mary Susan Cooper lasted 36 years.


Jesse's siblings were also long-lived, with several reaching their 90s, although the record has long been held by his grandmother, Elizabeth Smith Thornton, who died at 101 in 1916!!!










A notice marking Jesse's birthday celebrations. Since his death in 1979, the family has met every Labor Day weekend.