John Thornbrough of Pennsylvania >
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John Thornbrough Family
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John Thornbrough was the son of Edward and Jean Thornbrough of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We do not know the name of his wife, as a marriage is not found in Quaker records. A Thornburg Genealogy says he married a Davis sister (brothers Thomas and Robert married Davis sisters). If so she was daughter of John and Mary Davis, and her name was probably Hannah or Mary. (John Davis wrote his will in 1729 and had unmarried daughters Hannah and Mary.)




John Thornbrough
born after 1713 Pa
died probably Pa
Unknown Davis
born unknown
died probably Pa


>Married: probably Pa

Children:
Thomas Thornbrough married Diana Piat
James Thornbrough
John Thornbrough

Family Information

The information on this family comes from Charles C. Thornburg III, A Discourse on the Thornburg Family (1979). We do not normally put up pages based solely on family genealogies, especially when they do not reference primary sources. However, there are a few clues extant that lend some credibility to the Thornburg information, so we are including the family here in the hopes of locating a descendant who can shed more light.

First, John Thornburg is named in his father's will, �I give Jean my Beloved Wife...the Pleace that we now live one untell my son John comes to the Age of one and Twenty Years and then he shall have it�� Two things are suggested by this bequest. (1) John had not yet reached the age of 21 by 2/13/1734 when the will was written, hence the birthdate given above as after 1713. (2) John Thornburg was probably the youngest son, as it was customary to leave land to the youngest son if the eldest did not receive it for some reason (eldest son Thomas already had his own land as indicated by tax lists.) If land was left jointly to the widow and the youngest son as in this case, it would assure that the widow could remain on the land for the longest possible time and be cared for. We find nothing for John at Birmingham Monthly Meeting, or in the Chester County Quaker Meetings. We have not pursued Quaker meetings in other locations. John did not sign his brothers' marriage certificates at Birmingham meeting in 1729, because he was under 21 years of age. Charles Thornburg II states that John remained in Pennsylvania while most of his brothers and sisters went to North Carolina. This probably because John had inherited the land of his father. There is a John Thornburgh living alone in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1790. Northumberland was set off in 1772 from part of Lancaster County so could be this John or one of his descendants.

Children of John Thornbrough

Charles Thornburg III who wrote the Thornburg family genealogy, was a descendant of John�s son Thomas. He states about John�s son Thomas: �His son, Thomas, came to Robinson Township, Allegheny County (at that time, Washington [County]), Pennsylvania about the time of the Revolution and established the Thornburg farms.� ��The Thornburg farms, at one time consisting of over one thousand acres when established by the founder, Thomas Thornburg, in the last portion of the eighteenth century and early years of the nineteenth, was situated in the beautiful Chartier�s Creek valley.� Thomas served in Captain Jos Cianna�s Company, 2nd Batallion, Washington County Militia which was ordered to rendevous 4 March 1782. Thomas left a will dated September 15, 1831 and died in 1833. The will is included in the Thornburg book.

Thomas�s brother James is listed along with him in the 1790 census in Allegheny County. James of Findley Township in Allegheny Township filed a will dated February 6, 1829.

Thomas Thornbrough married Diana Peat [Piat], daughter of Jacob Peat and they had eight children: Jacob, Samuel, John, James, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Margaret, and possibly another son Joseph who died in infancy. There is much information on these descendants in the Thornburg book.




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