Brief Life History of Joel A.
When Joel A. Thornton was born on 3 July 1824, in Georgia, United States, his father, Jordan Thornton, was 37 and his mother, Jemima Thorne Mabry, was 32. He had at least 1 son and 1 daughter with Mary M. Speir. He lived in Coosa, Alabama, United States in 1850. He died on 15 November 1854, in Pike Road, Montgomery, Alabama, United States, at the age of 30, and was buried in Sheppard Cemetery, Elmore, Alabama, United States.
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Family Time Line
Sources (10)
- Joel Thornton, "United States Census, 1850"
- Joel A Thornton, "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950"
- Joel A Thornton, "Find A Grave Index"
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
World Events (6)
1825 · The Crimes Act
The Crimes Act was made to provide a clearer punishment of certain crimes against the United States. Part of it includes: Changing the maximum sentence of imprisonment to be increased from seven to ten years and changing the maximum fine from $5,000 to $10,000.
1832 · Worcester v. Georgia
In 1830, U.S. President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which required all Native Americans to relocate to areas west of the Mississippi River. That same year, Governor Gilmer of Georgia signed an act which claimed for Georgia all Cherokee territories within the boundaries of Georgia. The Cherokees protested the act and the case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, Worcester v. Georgia, ruled in 1832 that the United States, not Georgia, had rights over the Cherokee territories and Georgia laws regarding the Cherokee Nation were voided. President Jackson didn’t enforce the ruling and the Cherokees did not cede their land and Georgia held a land lottery anyway for white settlers.
1835 · Treaty of New Echota
A minority group of Cherokees including John Ridge, Major Ridge, Elias Boudinot, and Stand Waite, signed the Treaty of New Echota which ceded all Cherokee territory east of the Mississippi in exchange for five million dollars. The majority of Cherokees did not agree and 16,000 Cherokee signatures were gathered to protest the treaty. Boudinot and both Ridges were killed several years later by angry Cherokees for signing the treaty.
Name Meaning
English and Scottish: habitational name from any of numerous places throughout England and Scotland so called, from Old English thorn ‘thorn tree’ + tūn ‘farmstead, estate’. The placename is most frequent in northern England, especially Yorkshire, where there are at least 16 possible sources for the surname.
Irish: Anglicized (translated) form of Gaelic Mac Sceacháin ‘son of Sceachán’ (see Skehan ).
Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Draighneáin ‘descendant of Draighneán’ (see Drennan ).
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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