Edward and Elizabeth Mendenhall Thornbrough Family
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| Edward Thornbrough born probably Chester Co, Pa died abt. 1799, prob Tn |
Elizabeth Mendenhall born 3/2/1751 Chester Co, Pa died after 1795, prob Tn |
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Married: 4/5/1769 New Garden Monthly Meeting, Rowan County, North Carolina
Children: Elizabeth Thornbrough born 10/7/1769 Rowan Co, NC; married John Starnes, Greene Co, Tn George Thornbroughborn 6/18/1771 Rowan Co, NC; married Sarah Moore, Greene Co, Tn John Thornbrough born 8/2/1773 Rowan Co, NC; married Suzanne Starns, Green Co, Tn Jeane Thornbrough born 9/17/1775 Rowan Co, NC Martin Thornbrough born about 1786 Greene County, Tn; married Milla Adkins in Tn There were no doubt other children: possibilities include Richard and Walter (more on this below) |
North Carolina RecordsThere is very little information in Quaker records for this family other than the marriage record which verifies the parentage of both Edward and Elizabeth, and the New Garden Meeting record that lists the birthdates of their first four children. We have discovered where Edward Thornbrough lived (See the Guilford Map page) thanks to Fay Clark who sent information from the will of Samuel Clark indicating his land adjoined that of Edward Thornbrough.There is an entry at New Garden Monthly Meeting on 8/31/1771: "Edward Thornbrough con for assisting those called Regulators with a gun." (See the Revolutionary War page for a definition of Regulators.) We believe this to be Edward, husband of Elizabeth, as he was the only Edward Thornbrough that was a member of New Garden Monthly Meeting at that time. Susan Jurban sent us some further information on this item from Colonial Records of North Carolina: "Jan, 1771 William Fields, John Fields, Joseph Robins, John Bell, Alexander Smith, William Thornbury, Edward Thornbury, on a Committee of Regulators to meet out punishment to a certain George Mabry, guilty of certain offenses." Tennessee RecordsWe find no further Quaker records of children for Edward and Elizabeth Thornbrough. We know that they moved to the Nolechucky area of Tennessee, part of the Holston River drainage area in early Hawkins County, Tennessee (later Greene and Jefferson County, et al). This is verified by two notations at Springfield MM, NC (established in 1790): "11/5/1791 Edward dismissed" and "12/3/1791 Elizabeth Thornbrugh, daughter of Edward dismissed (living on the Western Waters, Westfield, MM)" The Holston River area was referred to as the "Western Waters." Since there is no reason given for the dismissal it meant that they had not been attending meeting, and apparently the reason is that they had moved away. Westfield Monthly Meeting was one of the meetings receiving certificates from North Carolina for those people moving to the western waters. There was a small meeting for worship at Nolechucky, but no records survive from that meeting; we think it more likely that, given Edward's participation in the Regulators, that the family had simply fallen out of the Quaker faith, rather than attending the Nolechucky meeting.There are notations at Westfield Monthly Meeting under "Thornbrough" as follows: "1793, 4, 20 John, of Nolechucky, dis mou" (married out of unity, or out of the Quaker faith); 1793, 9, 21 Jane, of Nolechucky, dis"; "1793, 10,19 Elizabeth, of Nolechucky, dis"; "1795, 5, 23, George of New Hope, dis." This then accounts for the four children of Edward who were birthright Quakers. And again, with no reason given for dismissal it probably for nonattendance at meeting. The notation for John as married out of unity is interesting as he actually does not have a marriage record in Greene County, Tennessee until May 23, 1793 to Suzanne Starnes. The quotations above are from William Wade Hinshaw's collection of Quaker records and a simple error of transcription could make John's dismissal 4/20/1794 which would fit with the marriage to Suzanne. There is also a possibility that John had a brief first marriage with his wife dieing in childbirth, a not uncommon occurrence for young wives on the frontier. As to why there are no more records of children - we don't know - but we do know that what records there are have many missing parts. More on the Children of Edward and Elizabeth Mendenhall ThornbroughWith such scattered Quaker records for the family, and no family censuses including names of children until 1850, it is nearly impossible to reconstruct the family of Edward and Elizabeth Mendenhall Thornbrough. Elizabeth evidently had no fertility problems as she produced children every two years for the first years of the marriage as was the norm (allowing for nursing of a child before another was produced). In the normal scheme of things she would have continued producing a child every two years until her late 40's or early 50's.Susan Jurban has done a fine job of identifying the movements of some of the known children of Edward and Elizabeth, and identifying possible additional children. The marriage of daughter Elizabeth to John Starnes is documented in "Early East Tennessee Marriages," Sistler, 1987 and through tax records Susan has tracked them into Russell County, Virginia (just northeast of old Greene County, Tennessee), and descendants into Scott County, Virginia (between Russell County and the Tennessee border). Through tax records she has also traced both George and John "Thornbury" into Russell and Scott Counties, Virginia. George married Sarah Moore July 16, 1794 in Greene County, Tn. A Walter "Thornbury" also turns up in Russell County, Virginia (tax records) by 1810. It is almost a given that Edward and Elizabeth Mendenhall Thornbrough would have named a son Walter after Edward's father, so there is little doubt this is another child of theirs. Susan tells us that her ancestor Martin Thornbury married Milla Adkins about 1811 in Tennessee (a marriage record not found). Martin's death is recorded in "Pike County [Ky] Death Records" page 8, "Martin Thornsberry, 66 years, married, died 30 July 1853, birthplace: Tn, parents, Edward and Elly Thornsberry, cause, fever." She also tells us of records showing that Martin was in Grainger County Tennessee in the early 1800's. He stood bond on a marriage in August 1811 in Grainger County so there is a good possiblity he and Milla were married in Grainger County. Also found in Grainger County at the same time is one Richard "Thornberry" who married Angey Asher on 9/3/1804 in Grainger County. There is high probability that Richard, born about 1785 in Tennessee, was another son of Edward and Elizabeth Mendenhall Thornbrough. Susan has much information on descendants of Martin and Milla Adkins Thornbrough and would love to find cousins belonging to that family. Final Days of Edward and ElizabethThe next mystery we want to solve is where Edward and Elizabeth Mendenhall Thornbrough lived and died after their move to the Western Waters. We have a copy of the Will Book of Jefferson County, Tennessee, starting in 1792 (the formation date of Jefferson County) and find nothing for Edward there. In Susan Jurban's trek through Virginia tax records it does not appear that Edward ever lived there. There is an entry on a Web Site (Ohio River Valley Families Genealogical Database) indicating the family possibly moved to Kentucky and that Edward Thornbrough died 13 October 1790 in Randolph County, Indiana. There are inaccuracies in the family entries and no documention. This is a subscription data base and this one entry is so poorly done we do not recommend you subscribe unless you have use for large amounts of data that would be merely hints about Ohio River Valley families. The entry does include Martin Thornbrough as a son of Edward and Elizabeth but has no further information on him. As far as the possible death of Edward in Randolph County, Indiana, we do not give this much credence. Randolph County, Indiana, was set off from Wayne County, Indiana,in 1818. Wayne was set off from Clark County in 1811, Clark from Knox in 1801, and Knox County was formed in 1790. However, the migration of Tennessee families to the "Northwest Territory" as Ohio and Indiana was referenced in that time period began about 1806. The first census was taken in 1810. There just seems to be no earthly reason for Edward and Elizabeth to be there in 1790. There may be other children of theirs that went to Indiana but it would have been much later. There is an Edward Thornbrough in Indiana in 1820 but he was son of Joseph and Ann Armfield Thornbrough. Perhaps this led to the erroneous assumption of the place of death of Edward, husband of Elizabeth.There is good reason to believe that Edward Thornbrough died about 1800 in Grainger County, Tennessee. Susan Jurban found an article in "Ansearchin' News" Vol 38, #3 which included a transcript of a petition 17 Jan 1799 by inhabitants of Grainger County, Tennessee. Edward's signature was included. A similar petition in 22 August 1800 was signed by Martin and Richard Thornbury but not by Edward so we might assume he was deceased. We know that Elizabeth was alive in November 1795 when Elizabeth Thornberry served on a jury in Greene County, Tennessee. A note was included for her "proves 12 days, 200 miles traveling" indicating they lived a good distance from the Greene County seat of justice We would love to hear from anyone else with documented information on this family! Email Webmaster Nadine {email on the About Us Page}. |