Maude Gertrude Thornton (1887 - 1951)

Maude Gertrude Thornton was born January 14, 1887, to William Virgil and Maggie Campbell Thornton (see William Virgil Thornton entry).  She was the granddaughter of James Allen Thornton and great-granddaughter of Robert Benton Thornton, pioneering Thornton brothers who arrived in southern Kentucky in 1849.  On May 18, 1907 in Sumner County, Tennessee, Maude married Dock Jones, son of Sydney Jefferson and Margaret Thornton Jones.  They had eight children: Clarence Noel, Lucian E., Carl, Howard Burnice, Albert Franklin, Alvin Leon, Harry C. and Marvin.  Maude Jones died on January 23, 1951, in Nashville, Tennessee.  In the above photograph, courtesy of the Jones family genealogy, Maude is pictured with her daughter-in-law, Tenito Crouch Jones.

Clarence Noel Jones was born March 27, 1917.  He married Tenito Crouch (pictured above with Maude).  In the above photo, Clarence is in Burma (current, Myanmar) in 1943, during World War II.  After returning from war, Tenito and Clarence raised their family in southern Kentucky.  They had five children: Clarence, Jennifer, James, Howard, and Michael.  Clarence died on January 1, 1978.

Addie Laura Thornton Shinn (1884 - 1978)

 Addie Laura Thornton was born November 21, 1884, in southern Kentucky to Allen M. "Tobe" and Sallie Miller Thornton. In the mid-1890s, Allen and family headed westward to Missouri and, then, Oklahoma, where Addie met and married John J. Shinn, son of John and Elizabeth Autry Shinn. They had five children: Agnes Frances Shinn Kelley, John J. Shinn, Lee Roy Shinn, Raymond James Shinn, and Betty Faye Shinn Trimm (all, except Betty, pictured below). After spending several decades in Oklahoma, John and Addie moved to Sutter, California, where Addie died on December 19, 1978.

The Shinns at John and Addie's Golden Wedding Anniversary (circa mid-1950s).

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).

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.

Death Certificate: Elizabeth Smith Thornton

Perhaps the oldest member of the Thornton family to have ever lived in southern Kentucky, Elizabeth Smith Thornton (Oct. 1814 - Sept. 11, 1916) died in Simpson County, KY, just shy of her 102 birthday.  Her children often told tales that she was part Cherokee and would brush her teeth with ashes in the traditional manner.  Her birth location was unclear even to her children who reported her as having been born in Tennessee, North Carolina, or Virginia.  She married Robert Benton Thornton in 1840 and had ten children: William Frank, Margaret Jones, Polly Thornton (mother of Maggie Campbell Thornton), Elizabeth, Nancy, James Allen, John H. (my 2nd great-grandfather), Allen M., Thomas Benton, and Robert Franklin.

Death Certificate: Thomas Benton Thornton

Thomas Benton Thornton was born on December 15, 1862, to Robert Benton and Elizabeth Smith Thornton.  Between 1910 and 1920, Thomas departed southern Kentucky for Benton County, Indiana, where he worked on the railroad.  In his later years, he moved to Allen County, KY, where he married his second wife, the widow Fannie Calvert Cline.  His first wife was Jeanetta Watkins.  Thomas died on April 8, 1943, Allen County, Kentucky.  No issue.