John Thornton

(1798 - 1821?(22?))

History in Words and Photos

02/24/13

THORNTON GENEALOGY PROJECT 2011

http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=172&p=localities.northam.usa.states.arkansas.counties.pike	John Thornton was born November 28th A.D. 1798. John Thornton & Mary Weaver was married October A.D. 1816. John Thornton departed this life November 24th A.D. 1821.

Reports of cases at common law and in chancery, argued and ..., Volume 1

By Illinois. Supreme Court

John Thornton, estate of Mary Weaver family?

http://books.google.com/books?id=vuwNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=%22John+Thornton%22+and+%22Mary+Weaver%22&source=bl&ots=Y0iOnKKaPE&sig=2bz138PI_lVB9jcvr2IiSIJ789M&hl=en&ei=NBuGTs7bGOOQsQLD0uWUDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22John%20Thornton%22%20and%20%22Mary%20Weaver%22&f=false

http://www.jenforum.org/thornton/messages/3508.html

Hi margaret John died in 1822. I don't know his age but in 1818 he was a minor. He went to court and it said I was a minor. He married a women named mary weaver who had 3 small children. I have a copy of a loan he made in 1822 just be for he died . and a copy of his probate. I can't fine his grave. He operated a gramshot in Jonesboro Ill. at the time of his death. He sold land to Jonesboro . but thats all I know. My Great Grand fathers name was John logan Thornton He was born in 1862. Hope it helps Gary

Jonesboro, Illinois

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonesboro,_Illinois

Jonesboro is a city in Union County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,853 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Union County,^[1] and was the location of the third of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, on 15 Sept, 1858.

Also, Jonesboro was the end point in the "Trail of Tears" of Indian displacement to the west!

http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r5/trltears.htm

History

The area was used extensively by prehistoric Native Americans. Individuals and small groups hunted game or gathered nuts within the Ozarks, but established their settlements closer to the Mississippi River or Clear Creek. Chert was mined (for making tools) at Iron Mountain, east of the Forest.

As settlers of European descent entered (around 1803), Native Americans were pushed south and west. In 1838-39 the Cherokee, Creek, and Chickasaw nations were forced by the U.S. Army to move from the southeast to reservations in Oklahoma Territory. They over-wintered at makeshift camps 4 miles south of the Forest's southern boundary. Bitter cold and starvation claimed hundreds of lives. The cruel trek came to be known as the "Trail of Tears." The State Forest's name memorializes the tragic event.

Trail of Tears, one of Illinois' state forests, is situated in western Union County, five miles northwest of Jonesboro and 20 miles south of Murphysboro. Just over 5,000 acres are within the State Forest.

3240 State Forest Road
Jonesboro, IL 62952
618.833.4910

Union County, Illinois

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_County,_Illinois

Union County was formed out of Johnson County in 1818, the same year Illinois joined the Union.

For its first year of existence, Union County included an area of unorganized territory temporarily attached to it.^[3]
In 1819, the additional territory became Alexander County, reducing Union to its current borders.

http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/histcountymaps/richmondhistmaps.htm

Richmond County

The land that would form Richmond County was ceded to the English by the Creeks in the Treaty of Savannah on May 21, 1733, confirmed and expanded by agreements of 1735 and 1736. By an act of March 15, 1758, the colonial legislature created seven parishes. The area of present-day Richmond County primarily fell within St. Paul Parish (see map). With the outbreak of the American Revolution, Whig forces took control of government in Georgia. On Feb. 5, 1777, they adopted the state's first constitution -- the Constitution of 1777. Art. IV of that document transformed the existing colonial parishes into seven counties, with Indian ceded lands forming an eighth county. Richmond County, which was second on the list and thus is considered Georgia's second county, consisted of all of St. Paul Parish. The county was named for the third Duke of Richmond, Charles Lenox (1735-1806), who was British secretary of state and sympathetic to the cause of the American colonies.

In 1790, Columbia County was created from the northern half of Richmond County (Ga. Laws 1790, p. 9).

Historical Maps

1777

1796

1822

1823

1830

1796

http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/histcountymaps/ga1796map.htm

Map of Georgia, 1796

http://www.usgwarchives.net/sc/maps/sc_1796.gif

http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gamaps/ga1751map.htm

1751 Map of the Carolinas and Georgia

http://www.tngenweb.org/cessions/

Includes maps of US Southeast