Thornton Family History

The Thornton family migrated from England to the Virginia Colony around 1660. In the next 200 years they traveled to North Carolina, Kentucky and Missouri. The narrative on the following pages tells of their travels and life. It gives the history of the Thorntons and their relatives: written not with just names, dates, and locations but as a story to reconstruct a history of a family. The pages are divided into sections to ease loading time. You can begin reading on the first page or continue through or skip to the section that most interests you.
The photo below was taken around 1905 at J.C. Thornton's family farm in Clarksdale, Missouri.

The bearded gentleman who appears on each Thornton page is Jeremiah Todd Thornton, father of J.C. Thornton.

Nelson Family History

The Nelson Narrative is written in the same style as the Thornton Narrative with more emphasis on the story than family data. It traces Nelsons from Kirby Malham, Yorkshire, England to Stafford County in Virginia. They migrated to Missouri over the same route as the Thornton family. There are still some mysteries with family members, particularly with the Reynolds history. The below photo is Franklin Nelson's farm taken in 1929.

Kissiah Grant is pictured on the narrative pages.