Eli is my 2nd great-grandfather, born in Edgefield, South Carolina on 6 Feb 1806 and died on 7 Aug 1874, in Cedar Springs, which is on the boundary of Greenwood and Abbeville counties of SC. He is buried at the Hopewell Cemetery, Mount Carmel, McCormick County, as is his wife, Rebecca Rachel McComb (1812-1872).
The children of Eli and Rebecca are as follows:
- James Robert Thornton, 1838-1889. He married Martha Melissa Dickson.
- Mary Frances “Fannie” Thornton, 1839-1871. She married Patrick Noble Wilson.
- Mary “Minnie” C Thornton, 1841-1905. She married Samuel Abel.
- Joseph McComb Thornton, b. 1842.
- Martha Annie Thornton, 1848-1928. She married Hugh Wardlaw McCelvey.
- And my great-grandfather, Eli Thornton, 1858-1825. He married Annie Isabel Brown.
The parents of Eli remain a mystery though I suspect his mother to be Frances, aka Fanny.
Thornton Roots 