Thursday, March 6, 2014

Samuel Thornton son of William Thornton, my Thornton Family Breakthrough

Today is a great genealogical day for me, possibly the best.  I have been struggling with my Thornton ancestry almost from the beginning.  According to everything I have read, my Thornton line descends from James Thornton, father of Matthew the signer of the Declaration of Independence, through his son Samuel. The line went:  James, Samuel (1), Samuel (2), Samuel (3), John, Paul, my father. My problem was finding any kind of documentation on Samuel (1). In one of my many posts on my Thornton ancestors I speculated that the real father of Samuel (2) was not Samuel (1) but rather his brother William.  Today, I believe that I have found the documents which prove this relationship.

While looking at the probate records from Thornton, New Hampshire, I checked the probate of William and there it was.  The document was one in which the heirs of William Thornton acknowledge receipt of something or other and it was signed by William's children: Samuel, Dorcas and William. Dorcas, who later became Dorcas Durgin, has long been believed to also be a child of Samuel (1).  Yipee! Samuel is the son of William. 


I will, of course, be posting much more about this discovery, but I was so excited by this finding that I had to put it into writing immediately.  

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