When Calvin Foree Thornton was born on 25 November 1871, in Shelby, Kentucky, United States, his father, Daniel James Thornton, was 39 and his mother, Mary Hannah Mollie Brown, was 32. He married Elizabeth Bettie Judy on 28 June 1902, in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Grant, Kentucky, United States in 1930 and Magisterial District 2, Grant, Kentucky, United States in 1940. He died on 13 October 1954, in Owenton, Owen, Kentucky, United States, at the age of 82, and was buried in Poplar Grove Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery, Owenton, Owen, Kentucky, United States.