by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com
REUNION:
WHEN: MAY 31, 2008
WHAT: THORNTON REUNION
WHERE: Robber's Cave State Park, Pavilion # 6 (by the swimming pool) This is a different pavilion than last year.
The menu is potluck, so bring your favorite dishes. Tea, plates and utensils provided.
Contact ALBERT THORNTON 918 297 3013 or TERESA COLLINS 918 297 2004
SOME HISTORY:
Robber's Cave State Park is located just outside Wilburton, Oklahoma (southeast OK, Latimer County).
Generally this reunion attracts a large number of Thorntons from various states. The reunion involves the Thorntons descended from William Walter Thornton and Mary Jane Thornton. William Walter Thornton is the brother of my grandfather, John Sherman Thornton. They were both sons of James Monroe Thornton.
William Walter Thornton died young leaving a large family in Alabama. Several of his children migrated west with branches of his line ending up in Texas and Oklahoma as well as Alabama. One of William Walter Thornton's sons, Henry Walter Thornton and his wife Johanna Murphy Whitaker Thornton, lived near the Robber's Cave region of Oklahoma. And it is the Oklahoma group, the Thorntons and the Whitakers, who sponsor this excellent annual reunion at Robber's Cave.
Robber's Cave State Park has a real-life connection to robbers including the famous Belle Starr. Often at the reunion, out-of-stater guests stay at the Belle Starr Lodge and the get-together begins on Friday evening at the lodge. In 2003 I attended this event and had a great time meeting cousins and learning about my Oklahoma and Texas relatives.
I knew I was among Thorntons the minute I walked into the lodge; all the women were beautiful and all the men had big ears. They were all "true" Thorntons!
If you plan to attend, the lodge is small and has limited rooms. Check their web site through the Oklahoma parks for availability --- there is, however, lodging available in several of the surrounding towns. I recommend the Bell Starr Lodge; we had a most enjoyable stay.
Besides visiting and sharing genealogical information on Friday evening and all day Saturday at the reunion, the food was out-of-sight for the Saturday spread at the park. Come prepared for some good eating!
Members of the John Sherman Thornton family who attend may enjoy taking a side trip to Stringtown, OK. It was there that John and Rebecca's eldest daughter, Mittie, married John Allen Gant in 1904. John and Rebecca and their children left Alabama and settled in the Indian Territory near Stringtown in 1902.
Pittsburg (in Pittsburg County OK) is close to where John and Rebecca and their children lived for a few years when my father, Garfus, was an infant. Sweetie and I found both Stringtown and Pittsburg easily the late afternoon of the reunion in 2003.
Another side trip well worth the effort is to Heavener Runestone State Park (near the small OK town of Heavener close to the Arkansas/Oklahoma state line). The purported runestone there is so interesting --- there may be a Viking runic inscription on the stone from 600 to 900 A.D.
If you attend the reunion, know that you will have a great time visiting and meeting relatives. The Thorntons of Oklahoma are true Southerners --- warm and friendly and hospitable. Go and have a good time.
MYSTERY PHOTOGRAPH:
About 1905, Henry Walter Thornton married Johanna Murphy Whitaker in the Indian Territory. He is shown below seated. One of his wedding guests was "Uncle John from Alabama." Henry and Uncle John were photographed at the time. Neither the Oklahoma nor the Alabama branch of the family know for certain if the man standing by Henry is John Sherman Thornton, my grandfather as a young man. Family legend states that John was in Indian Territory at the time but no one knows for sure if "Uncle John from Alabama" was John Sherman Thornton --- nor if this mystery wedding guest was "Uncle John" although it is strongly believed to be. The photograph was made in Brugler's Studio, Iron Bridge, P.O. McAlester, Indian Territory. This copy of the photograph was given to me by Connie Thornton Greenway of Oklahoma. (Click to enlarge image)
More about this photograph will be published later in Hill Country.
More about this photograph will be published later in Hill Country.
4 comments:
Does the Thornton's have Cherokee in their blood lines? Even if you don't, I'm suggesting that you take a few extra days and see Oklahoma and head north toward McAlester, but make Muskogee your first "real stop". They have a beautiful Botanical Gardens and the 5 Civilized Tribes Museum is located on the way to he gardens. They have all of the books that lists the people who made the rolls going from the AL/MS and other states on the "Trail of Tears" march west. They will permit you to see these books (1 at a time), but you must handle them wearing the white cotton gloves. I learned from this experience to pack a pair of cotton gloves in my purse when we travel for just in case!
The Cherokee Heritage Museum is located north east of Muskogee on hwy 62 at Tahlequah. It is a must as there is a village located there to show their ways of early life when they reached Indian Territory. We saw this in April 2005 when the Dogwoods were still in full bloom, both pink and white. Fort Gibson is located between Tahlequah and this is a restored fort, not created for the tourist. The musueum at Tahlequah is something that I cannot describe, other than to say if makes you think you are either in a fog or in a dream. Everything is stark white with the Indians being an ashen color.
Whether you make it to just the reunion or take the side trip to see the state, have a safe journey. Bettye
Thanks Bettye for this information.
TERRY
Of course, Belle Starr was famous for an alleged affair with Cole or Jim Younger of the James/Younger gang, before she married Sam Starr and moved from Missouri, where she was born, to Oklahoma. She's one of those interesting strong woman of the old west.
Cheers.
RANDALL, There is a "whole bunch" of interesting folks in and around that part of the nation --- Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr Starr AKA Belle Starr was one of them.
TERRY
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