John was born about 1591. John Thornton ... He passed away in 1646. [1]
John Thornton B:1634 Aquidneck Island Settlement, Rhode Island Colony d:-1695 (Married 1659-1664?) Sarah Thurston B1638-1692 providence, RI
"Notes for JOHN THORNTON B: 1634:
1648: Oct 12, one of the twelve members of the First Bapt. Church
1655: Freeman (of age 21)
1679: John removed to Providence and afterward kept up an active correspondence with the Reverend Samuel Hubbard, He was a warm friend of Roger Williams
1679: Jan. 10 Providence, wrote to Samuel Hubbard at Newport who replied "Please remember by respect unto Mr. Roger Williams" etc.
1680: Deputy
1683: Wrote to Hubbard to tell him of the death of Roger Williams.
1692: John Thornton appears on the membership role of the Sabbatarian Church in Newport, Rhode Island.
1692: Mar. 7. He made complaint with his son John, to the Town Council on behalf of his grandchildren,
Zachariah FIELDS' children, that they might be bound out to good places and educated."[2]
Notes
Immigrated abt 1634.
1639: He had 10 acres granted, being in the employ of John COGGESHALL.
1648: Oct 12, one of the twelve members of the First Bapt. Church. The first church(meeting house) was built at 'GreenEnd"; second, 1707, on the
Clarke burying-ground, on Tanner St., formerly called "Back St.", and SW
of Dr. John Clarke's dwelling; third, 1738, on Bull, now Spring st.,
measuring 30x40ft. and which was subsequently enlarged June 1773 to
55x40.(from New Eng. Families Gen. and Memorial: Vol. IV, William Richard
Cutter, author)
1655: Freeman
1679: Jan. 10 Providence, wrote to Samuel Hubbard at Newport who replied "Please remember by respect unto Mr. Roger Williams" etc.
1679: June 1 - taxed 2s 6 d.
1680: Deputy to the General Assembly
1683: Wrote to Hubbard to tell him of the death of Roger Williams.
1683: May 22, he sold to son Soloman for 33# 6s 8 d, 100 acres & commonage
1686: Apr 22, he and wife Sarah deeded son John 60 acres at Neutaconconut Hill, 3 miles from Providence.
1695, Aug 13: He made complaint with his son John, to the Town Council on behalf of his grandchildren, Zachariah FIELDS' children, that they might be bound out to good places and educated.
1692: Mar 7 - he deeded son James "for and in consideration of his care and diligence in providing for myself and his aged mother", 62 acres, all
right of land appertaining to homestead, together with my house, housing,
fencing, meadow ground, orchard, stones and timber, with all
appurtenances whatsoever, etc.--provided said James "shall provide
sufficient maintenance for myself and my wife during our natural life".
The land was bounded partly by James Thornton and partly John Thornton
Jrs' land. The grantor put his son James into actual possession,
together with the obligation to pay each of my children 2s 6d, and after
my decease, and to each grandchild, 1s., and if my wife would outlive
grantor, son James was to maintain her at any child's house if she wanted
to move.(Austin's Gen. Dic. of RI)
LIsted in "America's First Families" - John Thornton 1695 living Prov. RI 1-010F[3]
↑ "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:SYJ3-W8F : accessed 27 July 2019), entry for John /Thornton/; file (2:2:2:MM7F-4C1), submitted 14 May 2011.
Source: S-2086426673 Repository: #R-2142167956 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. Page: Ancestry Family Trees Note: Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=27183533&pid=222
This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.Thornton-1656 was created by Jeri Leonard through the import of Marshall Family Tree.ged on Feb 1, 2014. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included. It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:
Since there has been no response to the comments below providing a credible source for John's marriage to Sarah Thurston, I've detached her and created a profile for a wife named Sarah, surname unknown.
I've seen no credible evidence that John Thornton's wife's surname was Thurston. Sarah Thurston's marriage to John appears to be an internet fabrication and found its way here when the information was uploaded from a personal family tree. If someone knows of a credible source for identifying Mrs. Thornton as Sarah Thurston, or an origin for the claim other than personal family trees (such as those uploaded to familysearch.org, ancestry.com, rootsweb, etc.) please post, otherwise the connection should be severed.
I believe I've actually found where the mistake came from. On page 28 of "Lewises, Meriwethers, and their Kin", (Original data: Anderson, Sarah Travers Lewis (Scott). Lewises, Meriwethers and Their Kin. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995), it talks about James Lewis (I'm not sure when he was born, but his father was born in 1720). It says "He married Mrs. Sarah Thurston Thornton. She married three times, 1st: Thornton, 2nd: Lewis, 3rd: Tabb." Clearly, this Sarah Thurston Thornton would be have been born too late to be the Sarah married to the John Thornton on this page. I agree that the connection should be severed.
There seem to be some generation issues with this profile. John is shown as born 1634 which is 12 years before the birth of his father John in 1646. His mother Christian born 1569 would have been 65 at the time of his birth.