According to the grandson of James Mulder Thornton, who bears the same name our grandfather served in the war between the states, a record of a James M. Thornton was found in Heard County and also in Cobb County Georgia. Which of these is the right record, hasn't been discovered yet, but if in fact he was the James in the 1860 census in Heard County with David W. Thornton then the
Heard County record is probably correct. A further search finds David living not far from James M. Bridges, who was James's father-in-law, so the assumption maybe should be that this is who we are searching for. As for valid documents, in 1867 a marriage to M. F. Bridges was found in Carroll County near Bowden, however, further research has proved that marriage license were issued in the
county of residence of the bride in the State of Georgia at that time, so his residence could have been elsewhere. The next document is the 1870 census with him residing in the household of James M. Bridges with wife Matilda and a girl, Gertrude. The next place he is found is in Rusk County Texas in 1880 census living near Henderson. Again quoting Mulder, the grandson, his father told him
all the children were born in Georgia, and they came to Texas when he was about eight years old. He remembered crossing the Mississippi River on a flatboat where the rail ran into the water. Sometime during the early 1880's their son David died and Matilda had to be committed, because in her grief of the loss she could not function. In 1891 a marriage record of a second marriage to a widow, Martha Carlile Truelock, to this marriage a son Paul was born, who is my father. No official records exist after the birth of Paul, but it has been talked about at the family reunions about him going to Winnie Wood Oklahoma and working for a man with the last name Mulder. Sometime around 1897-1899 he is supposed to have died in or around Beckville where his son Robert was living, however no gravesite has been found after three searches of the area. It has also been talked about that two of his brothers, came west ahead of him, one going to Arkansas, the other to Texas, however, it is my conclusion that it was the brothers of his father who preceded him west. It also has been said that he was related to the Matthew Thornton who signed the Declaration of Independence, however proof has not been found at this time. I have been told by my brother , Jimmie, that he, Paul, and James all share the same birthday, 0ct 20 1931, 1892, 1842, but I have not found any records stating the month of James's birthday. I have also heard that James's father fought in the Mexican War, either in 1836 or 1845-1848 no records of this have been found either. Upon reading more documents it is my conclusion that sometime between 1870 and 1880 his father-in-law for whom he was working died and one of his sons took over the farm since at that time women could not own property. His first wife Matilda had a brother who had came to Texas prior to the war and settled in Rusk County. During the reconstruction days after the war it was very hard to live if you were without land. After his coming to Texas, I have found no record of land taxes, so I would assume he worked as a logger since this is what many members of the family has done for a living in that area.