Francis Thornton II
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Francis Thornton II (1682 - 1737)

Colonel Francis Thornton II [uncertain]
Born in Stafford County, Colony of Virginiamap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , , , , and
Husband of — married 1703 in Snow Creek, Essex County, Colony of Virginiamap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , , , , and
Died at age 55 in Spotsylvania County, Colony of Virginiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 5 May 2011
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Biography

Francis Thornton II, the son of Francis Thornton and Alice Savage was born on January 4, 1682/3 [1] in Stafford County, Virginia and died 6 Feb 1737 (aged 54) in Snow Creek, Essex County, Virginia. Burial details are unknown. [2] Col Francis Thornton II was a Justice, a Burgess 1744-45 and Lt. Colonel of his Majesty's Militia for Spotsylvania County.

He married Mary Taliaferro in Virginia, about 1703/04.[3] The Thornton's were one of Virginia's many distinguished Colonial families and the Taliaferro's were one of the most ancient in Europe. The Taliaferro family of Tuscany, Italy, is said to have migrated to Normandy in the year 868, and whose descendant—a Taliaferro—was "among those present" when William the Conqueror successfully invaded Saxon England on Christmas Day, 1066.

Francis and Mary settled in Snow Creek, which was then part of Essex County, Virginia about 1703. The Thornton's neighbor was Francis' brother-in-law, John "of Snow Creek" Taliaferro Jr. and his wife, Mary Catlett. John Jr. was the son of John "the Ranger" Taliaferro who married Susan Smith.

Children of Francis Thornton II and Mary Taliaferro include:

  1. Mary (Thornton) Battaile (abt.1706-1757)
  2. Alice (Thornton) Taylor (1708-aft.1739)
  3. Reuben Thornton 1711–1768 m. Elizabeth Gregory
  4. Francis Thornton III (1714-1749)
  5. Rowland Thornton 1717–
  6. John Thornton (1719-1779)
  7. Elizabeth (Thornton) Meriwether Walker (1719-1774)
  8. Mildred (Thornton) Walker (1721-1778)

Thru their marriages, the Thornton siblings cwere connected to notable and prominent Virginian families: the Taliaferros, Catletts, Taylors, Battailes, Meriwethers, Gregory and Washingtons.

Research Notes

Various Land Records:

Name Francis Thornton
Date 24 Aug 1722
Location: Essex Co., VA
Property: 450 a. of land in Spts. Co. "on ye ridge that lies between ye branches of Massaponnax and the branches of Mattapony river"
Notes: This land record was originally published in "Virginia County Records - :Spotsylvania County, 1721-1800, Volume I" edited by William Armstrong Crozier.
Remarks Francis Thornton and Mary his wife of Essex Co. and Anthony Thornton and Mary his wife of Stafford Co. to Elizabeth Tapp of Spts. Co. Dated August 24, 1722. Rec. Septr. 4, 1722. 500 lbs. of tobacco. 450 a. of land in Spts. Co., "on ye ridge that lies be
Description Grantor
Book A [4]
Deed, recorded in Spotsylvania, dated 1722, by which Mary and Winifred Thornton relinquish the right of dower in 400 acres of land sold by Francis and Anthony Thornton.[5]
Name: Francis, Jr. Thornton
Date: 15 Dec 1739
Location: Spotsylvania Co., VA
Property: Indenture
Notes: This land record was originally published in "Virginia County Records - Spotsylvania County, 1721-1800, Volume I" edited by William Armstrong Crozier.
Remarks: Mildred Willis, late Mildred Gregory, now the wife of Henry Willis of Spts. Co., Gent. By Indenture Jany. 5, 1733. Between sd. Henry Willis of first part, sd. Mildred of second part, and John Washington of Gloucester Co. of third part, reciting a marria
Description: Grantor's Son
Book: C [6]
Deed recorded in Essex County dated March, 1703, from Francis Thornton, of Stafford, conveying to Francis Thornton, Jr., then of Essex (part of which later became Caroline), a tract of about 700 acres at Snow Creek.

Counties of Virginia

Stafford County was formed in 1664 from the upper portion of Westmoreland County. In 1776 the boundaries of Stafford and King George counties were greatly altered so that the dividing line ran from the Potomac River to the Rappahannock River rather than along the watershed ridgeline. The lower portion of Stafford became part of King George and the upper half of King George was transferred to Stafford's administration.
In 1720/21 parts of Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties were incorporated into Spotsylvania County. Spotsylvania encompassed all lands west to the Blue Ridge Mountains and was eventually divided into what is now called Orange, Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock Counties.
Orange County was formed on 1 Jan. 1734/35 from the western part of Spotsylvania County.
The current Culpeper County was formed from Orange County in 1749.
In March 1727 Caroline County was formed from three parent counties: Essex, King & Queen and King William.
In 1728 Fredericksburg was named a port and independent city for county of Spotsylvania in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Sources

  1. ↑ The Library of Virginia, Bible Records Collection; 29533, Thornton Family Bible Record, 1651-1758. http://image.lva.virginia.gov/Bible/29533.pdf
  2. ↑ Find a Grave Index (Unsourced) "https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54238369
  3. ↑ ancestry.com U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
  4. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2004
  5. ↑ Stanard, W. G. "The Thornton Family." 'The William and Mary Quarterly 4, no. 3 (1896): 157-64. doi:10.2307/1914948 JSTOR.
  6. ↑ Ancestry.com. Francis, Jr. Thornton in the Virginia, U.S., Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2004

See also:

  • Stanard, W.G. The Thornton Family "Colonial Families of Virginia:

Publisher" The William and Mary Quarterly: Publication date: 1896-01-01. https://archive.org/details/jstor-1914948/page/n1/mode/2up pp. 157-163.

  • Ancestry.com Genealogies of Virginia Families from the William and Mary College Quarterly. Vol. V. Section: The Thornton Family, Thornton-Taliaferro Thompson-Yates [database on-line]. Provo, Utah: ancestry.com publishing.




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Francis by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree: It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Francis:

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Images: 2
Thornton-Taliaferro
Thornton-Taliaferro
Thornton Falls Hill Historical Marker
Thornton Falls Hill Historical Marker


Comments: 18

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Fox-19194 John C. Fox
Mary Smith, wife of William Smith of Spotsylvania Co, , possibly a Thornton?

1725-1728 Spotsylvania County, Virginia Deed Book A; [Antient Press]; Page 103 Augt. 6, 1728. William x Smith of St. Geo. Par., Spts. County, planter, to Francis Thornton of St. Mary's Par., Caroline County, Gentl. 10 curr., 200 a. in St. Geo. Par., Spts. County, in the fork of Rappk. River. Witnesses: Robert Slaughter, James Taylor, junr.; Thomas Slaughter. Rec. Augt. 6, 1728. Mary, the wife of Wm. Smith, acknowledged her dower in the sd. land, etc.

1725-1728 Spotsylvania County, Virginia Deed Book A; [Antient Press]; Page 327 THIS INDENTURE made the Fifth day of August in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twenty eight; Between WILLIAM SMITH of the Parish of Saint George in Spotsylvania County, Planter, of one part and FRANCIS THORNTON of the Parish of Saint Mary in CAROLINE County, Gent. of the other part; Witnesseth that WILLIAM SMITH in consideration of the sum of five shillings currant money of Virginia to him in hand paid by FRANCIS THORNTON the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hath and by these presents doth bargain and sell unto FRANCIS THORNTON his heirs all that parcell of land containing two hundred acres lying in Parish of Saint George in County of Spotsylvania and in the Fork of RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER and bounded; Beginning at a white Oak and Pine in a line of AUGUSTINE SMITH, thence South fifteen degrees West one hundred poles to a Hiccorie and white Oak, thence North fifteen degrees East two hundred and eighty poles to the abovesaid SMITH's line, thence with his line South fifty five degrees East one hundred thirty three poles to the beginning; To have and to hold the land and premises hereby bargained and sold unto FRANCIS THORNTON his heirs from the day of the date of these presents dureing the term of one whole year paying therefore the rent of one ear of Indian Corn if the same be lawfully demanded to the intent that by virtue of these presents and of the Statute for transferring uses into possession, FRANCIS THORNTON may be in actuall possession of the premises and thereby be the better enabled to take a release of the inheritance thereof to him and his heirs; In Witness whereof WILLIAM SMITH hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day and year first above written Signed sealed and delivered in presence of R. NAPIER, WILLIAM signum SMITH ROBERT SLAUGHTER JAMES TAYLOR, JUNR. THOMAS SLAUGHTER At a Court held for Spotsylvania County August the Sixth 1728 WILLIAM SMITH acknowledged this his Deed of Lease for Land unto FRANCIS THORNTON, Gent., at whose motion the same was admitted to Record Test JOHN WALLER, Clk Cur

posted by John C. Fox
Moore-15841 Joyce (Moore) Hodges
Thornton-413 and Thornton-6448 appear to represent the same person because: Unknown Thornton 6448 created in GED upload.
posted on Thornton-6448 (merged) by Joyce (Moore) Hodges
Sparkman-72 Patricia (Sparkman) Thomas
Thornton-413 and Thornton-7655 appear to represent the same person because: Please merge. Thank you.
posted on Thornton-7655 (merged) by Patricia (Sparkman) Thomas
Jester-173 Lynette Jester
Please replace http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=0&pid=588. with a working ancestry link. All ancestry links that contain CitationRedir are broken.
posted by Lynette Jester
Lee-5956 Robin Lee
Thornton-477 and Thornton-413 appear to represent the same person because: same parents and birth, same wife, clearly intended to be the same person. Merge should be done and clean up of data and sources to follow.
posted by Robin Lee
Prisley-1 Fred Prisley
Thornton-477 and Thornton-413 are not ready to be merged because: There is no record that Francis Thornton and Mary Taliaferro had a daughter Lydia who married a Watts. Recommend the merge be postponed until a credible source for Lydia can be found.
posted by Fred Prisley
Stults-176 Stephanie Stults
Thornton-477 and Thornton-413 appear to represent the same person because: clear duplicates
posted by Stephanie Stults
Cook-11853 Dorothy Jean (Cook) Coakley (1944-2018)
Agree with Fred, let's get it cleaned before potential merge. Over 20 brother and sisters!
posted by Dorothy Jean (Cook) Coakley (1944-2018)
Prisley-1 Fred Prisley
Thornton-477 and Thornton-413 are not ready to be merged because: Thornton-413 is unsourced and would introduce multiple errors of incorrect father, undocumented daughter, and multiple duplicate siblings. Recommend cleaning up Thornton-413 before completing the merge.
posted by Fred Prisley
[Living Buckner]
There was quite a bit of flatly plagiarized text on here, and I'm still working on it. Please see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Copying_Text
posted by [Living Buckner]
[Living Buckner]
I'm pretty sure this profile is mixing up a couple different Francis Thorntons. I think maybe a couple of these past merges should have been rejected. There were several Francis Thorntons living in this area at around the same time, and they're notoriously easy to confuse.
posted by [Living Buckner]
Gilkeson-41 Tom Gilkeson Jr
Here is an interesting Article published in 2015: http://rappnews.com/2015/07/02/will-the-real-francis-thornton-please-stand-up/
posted by Tom Gilkeson Jr
[Living Daly]
Thornton-668 and Thornton-477 appear to represent the same person because: Duplicate
posted by [Living Daly]

Rejected matches › Francis Thornton (1651-aft.1726) › Francis Thornton (1681-) › Francis Abner Thornton (1897-1965) › Francis Thornton (1692-1737)

Featured National Park champion connections: Francis is 10 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 16 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 12 degrees from George Catlin, 12 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 19 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 13 degrees from George Grinnell, 22 degrees from Anton Kröller, 15 degrees from Stephen Mather, 20 degrees from Kara McKean, 12 degrees from John Muir, 13 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 22 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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