Joseph and Ann Armfield Thornbrough Advertisement

Joseph and Ann Armfield Thornbrough Family

Return to Woodward Home Page
Return to Edward and Jean Thornbrough Page
Return to Thomas and Sarah Ankram Beals Page

Joseph Thornbrough was the son of Edward & Jean Thornbrough of Armaugh, Ireland, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Ann Armfield's parentage is not currently known by us. There are numerous family files on Ancestry.com. Some attribute Ann's father as William Armfield, son of John Armfield, but he would have been only 12 when Ann was born and was more likely her brother. John Armfield and family are said to have come to Guilford Co, NC about 1750. Guilford County was not formed until 1770 so it was Rowan County, NC where they arrived. This is born out by Ann Armfield being received 3/7/1752 at Cane Creek Monthly Meeting in North Carolina, which would have been in Rowan County but in the section that later became Guilford. Apparently Ann was the only one in the family who became Quaker.

Joseph Thornbrough
born 1/7/1727-28 Pennsylvania
died 6/25/1800 Guilford Co, NC
burial New Garden MM

Ann Armfield
born ca 1732 Bucks Co Pa
died unknown

Marriage: probably about 1753/1754 in Rowan Co, NC. Ann condemned her marriage out of unity on 11/30/1754 at New Garden MM and was received back by the Quakers. Joseph was received by request at New Garden MM on 9/25/1756 so their marriage is not documented in Quaker records. We did not find it in the available civil records.

Children:
Jane Thornbrough born 10/21/1754; died 8/17/1763 Rowan Co, NC
Edward Thornbrough born 3/30/1757 Rowan Co, NC; married (1) Phebe Sumner (2) Keziah Wright on 9/1/1803 at New Garden Meeting
Joseph Thornbrough born 2/29/1759 Rowan Co, NC; married Rachel Brown
Ann Thornbrough born 11/22/1761 Rowan Co, NC; married Joseph Hoggatt 5/5/1784 at New Garden Meeting
Mary Thornbrough born 3/13/1764 Rowan Co, NC; married (1)Nathan Hiatt 2/11/1784 at New Garden (2) William Hodgson 12/29/1790 at New Garden
Margaret Thornbrough born 1/10/1767 Rowan Co, NC; married Stephen Hoggatt 3/8/1786 at New Garden
Elizabeth Thornbrough born 2/21/1769 Rowan Co, NC; married Hur Hodgson 12/3/1788 at New Garden
Isaac Thornbrough born 10/6/1773 Guilford Co, NC; married (1) Rebecca Hodgson 10/4/1792 at New Garden (2) Mary Ann Ring in Indiana

Records in North Carolina

Ann Armfield was received by request at Cane Creek Monthly Meeting in Orange County, North Carolina, on 3/7/1752. Joseph Thornbrough was received by request at New Garden Monthly Meeting, Rowan County, North Carolina, on 9/25/1756. Their marriage must then have been a civil ceremony and no record has been found. Because they both joined the Quaker faith, their children are listed at New Garden Monthly Meeting and most were married in the Quaker faith.

On April 20, 1756 the Court of Rowan County ordered that Joseph Thornbrough serve as Constable in Room of John Nix for the succeeding year. He was replaced by Joseph Barr on January 18, 1757. (The terminology in the second record is "that James Barr serve as a Constable in the Room of Joseph Thornbrough." We are not familiar with the use of the word "Room" in this context and would like to hear from anyone who could enlighten us.email on About Us Page)

The location of Joseph Thornbrough's land is shown on the Guilford County Map as not far from New Garden Monthly Meeting.

More on the children of Joseph and Ann Armfield Thornbrough

Many of Joseph and Ann Thornbrough's children were in the early tide of immigration to Ohio and Indiana. Most remained staunch Quakers and several participated in Quaker research that resulted in Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy. There are several fine genealogies on this family so we have included here only a minimum of the proven information that we have. We have quite a bit more information on most of the families and would be happy to share. If we live long enough we may eventually make pages for each of them.

Edward Thornbrough

Edward Thornbrough�s birth and death are recorded in Quaker records (be aware that some dates may have been transcribed from the Quaker form and some may not have been so you may see differences). He was born 3/30/1757 in Rowan County, North Carolina, as recorded at New Garden MM. He died 12/19/1839 in Randolph County, Indiana as recorded in Indiana Quaker records. He was buried at Cherry Creek Monthly Meeting burial ground. Edward was dismissed on 3/25/1780 at New Garden Monthly Meeting in North Carolina for his marriage out of unity (outside the Quaker faith) to Phebe Sumner. We did not find a civil record of the marriage and it is reported in some records as in 1779. The 3/25 date is simply the date he was dismissed for his action. Phebe was daughter of Robert and Phebe Beals Sumner and was born 5/18/1755. She died 8 Mar 1802 and is buried at New Garden burial ground.

At some point he and Phebe must have made their peace with the Quakers as their children are all found in Quaker records at New Garden MM. The children were: Sarah (b 8/3/1780, married David Hoggatt); Ann (born 1/27/1782, married Joel Elmore, probably second marriage of Joel); Elizabeth (born 12/6/1783, died young); Mary Margaret (born 6/27/1785, married Jacob Beals); Nathan (born 7/18/1787, married (1)Ann Unknown and (2) Rebecca Stout); Joseph (born 6/21/1789, married Rachel Beals); Phebe (born 10/2/1792, married James Haworth); Jane (born 5/16/1795, married George Haworth) (James and George Haworth were sons of James and Mary Rees Haworth); Edward (born 1/16/1798, married (1) Ann Hammer and (2) Nancy Mathews); Jacob (born 3/7/1801; married Rachel Hammer) (we were unable to determine if Ann and Rachel Hammer were related). We have used the children�s birthdates as given at Fairfield Monthly Meeting in Ohio - you may see some differences with other references. Note that Mary Margaret and Joseph married brother and sister Jacob and Rachel Beals, children of Daniel and Susanna Jackson Beals.

Edward Thornbrough married next to Keziah Wright on 9/1/1803 at New Garden Monthly Meeting. Kezia Wright was received by request at New Garden MM on 5/23/1803 so we do not have her parent�s names. There were several Wright families in Guilford County at the time so we do not know which one she belonged to. Since she was 33 years old at the time she might also have been a Wright widow. Her wedding certificate might be tracked down through New Garden Monthly Meeting to determine if parents signed for her. Edward and Keziah of Sandy Spring, were granted a certificate to Miami Monthly Meeting in Ohio on 9/27/1806 from New Garden MM. They were received on certificate at Miami Monthly Meeting on 3/12/1807 with children Ann, Mary, Nathan, Joseph, Phebe, Jane, Edward, Jacob, Hannah, and Keziah. Hannah, born 7/27/1804 (married Zachariah Beeson) and Keziah (born 1/13/1806 died unmarried in 1877) were children of Edward and Keziah. Shortly after their arrival in Ohio, daughter Rebecca was born on 6/30/1807 (married Jacob Beals, son of Curtis and Hannah Beals). Edward and Keziah had another daughter Rachel born 5/8/1810 in Ohio who later married Elijah Hinshaw in 1834. In the 1850 census in Randolph County, Indiana, Rachel�s mother Keziah and sister Keziah Jr are living with them.

Ann Thornbrough Hoggatt

Daughter Ann Thornbrough married Joseph Hoggatt, son of William and Hannah Beals Hoggatt on 5//5/1784 at New Garden Monthly Meeting. On 7/31/1784 Daniel Thornbrough was received at the request of his mother, Ann Hoggatt, at New Garden Monthly Meeting. On the same day Ann Hoggatt and her son, Daniel Thornbrough, received a certificate to Center Monthly Meeting. The children of Joseph and Ann Thornbrough Hoggatt are listed at Center Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina: Hannah, born 3/16/1765; Margaret, born 9/29/1786; John, born 7/29/1788; Nathan, born 1/25/1791; Jane, born 11/9/1792; Elizabeth, born 1/17/1795; Ann, born 3/13/1797. Son Nathan married Elizabeth Hunt 4/3/1811 at New Garden Monthly Meeting. On 5/25/1811 Joseph and Ann with the children listed except Hannah were received on certificate at Fairfield Monthly Meeting, Ohio, from New Garden Monthly Meeting. Son Nathan and wife Elizabeth followed on 6/27/1812. Joseph and Ann�s certificate includes another daughter Rachel as the last child. We have no further information on this family.

Mary Thornbrough Hiatt Hodgson

Daughter Mary Thornbrough married Nathan Hiatt, son of Christopher and Lydia Beals Hiatt on 3/11/1784 at New Garden Monthly Meeting. On 5/28/1791 Mary Hodgson and son Christopher Hiatt were granted a certificate to Center Monthly Meeting from New Garden. Christopher Hiatt died 1849 in Guilford County and is buried at New Garden Burying Ground. Mary Thornbrough Hiatt married (2)William Hodgson, son of Joseph and Margaret Hodgson on 12/ 21/1790 at New Garden MM. Their son Nathan�s birth is listed 10/12/1791 at Center Monthly meeting. No other children are listed and William died about 1815.

Margaret Thornbrough Hoggatt

Daughter Margaret Thornbrough married Stephen Hoggatt, son of William and Hannah Beals Hoggatt on 3/8/1786 at New Garden MM, Guilford County, NC. Their children are listed at Center Monthly Meeting, Guilford County: William Hoggatt, born 1/1/1787; Joseph Hoggatt, born 3/25/1789; Isaac Hoggatt, born 1/17/1791; Ann Hoggatt, born 1/21/1793; Hannah Hoggatt, born 12/18/1794; Phebe Hoggatt, born 8/26/1797; Stephen Hoggatt, born 3/2/1800; Edward Hoggatt, born 1/21/1802; Margaret Hoggatt, born 2/7/1804. Two additional children, John and Betsey are listed on a certificate dated 2/22/1817 from Fairfield MM in Ohio to New Garden MM in Indiana. Son Joseph and Stephen, and daughter Margaret accompanied them. Son Isaac Hoggatt had married Sarah Frazier 10/7/1812 in Highland County, Ohio. They were granted a certificate to New Garden Monthly Meeting in Indiana on 2/24/1816 with their daughters Elizabeth and Mary.

An interesting piece of information comes from a descendant about Elizabeth Hoggatt, daughter of Margaret and Stephen. Elizabeth married Darius Bond and second to William Hinshaw on 5/3/1850 in Richland, Henry County, Iowa. This William Hinshaw was grandfather of William Wade Hinshaw who prepared the many, many Quaker records and published them. There is a history and an obituary of William Hinshaw who married Elizabeth at http://www.rawbw.com/~hinshaw/cgi-bin/id?237 .

Elizabeth Thornbrough Hodgson

Daughter Elizabeth Thornbrough married Hur Hodgson, son of John and Mary Hodgson on 12/3/1788 at New Garden Monthly Meeting in Guilford County, North Carolina. Hur Hodgson and family is listed at Center Monthly Meeting as follows: Hur Hodgson born 5/16/1767, died 2/6/1851; Elizabeth, born 1769, died 10/17/1794; Mary born 7/2/1790, died 11/2/1807; Isaac born 3/19/1792. Hur Hodgson married second to Achsah Dillon and 9 children are listed for them at Center MM. On 10/21/1820 Isaac Hodgson, son of Hur and Elizabeth, was reported married to Hannah Leonard. On 12/16/1820 Isaac and Hannah received a certificate to New Garden Monthly Meeting in Indiana. We have not followed them further.

Isaac Thornbrough

Isaac Thornbrough married first to Rebeccah Hodgson, daughter of Joseph and Margaret Hodgson on 10/4/1792 at Centre Monthly Meeting in Randolph County, North Carolina. Rebecca died in 1832 in Randolph County, Indiana.

Isaac married second to Mary Ann Ring 1/16/1834 in Randolph County, Indiana. They are found in Stony Creek Township, Randolph County, Indiana in 1850: #48Isaac Thornburg, 76, farmer, born North Carolina; Mary Ann, 53, born New York. There are 125 Thornburgs living in Randolph County, Indiana, in 1850 and we have not attempted to sort them out.

The children of Isaac and Rebeccah are not documented in North Carolina Quaker records, but are listed at Fairfield Monthly Meeting in Ohio where they were received on certificate from New Garden Monthly Meeting in North Carolina on 2/29/1812 as: John, Joab, Elizabeth, Joseph, Job, Margaret, Isaac, Edward, and Alexander.

Opal Thornburg who was archivist at Earlham College is a descendant of this family and furnished information to Charles C. Thornburg III who published "A Discourse on the Thornburg Family". Her information is for son Isaac's son John Thornburg born 7/19/1793 and married Susannah Beals, daughter of Daniel and Susanna Jackson Beals, on 9/21/1815 in Clinton County, Ohio.

Information for a number of the other children was submitted for the same book by one Harold Thornburg but some of the dates don�t square very well with the sparse records available in Indiana. There are many, many records of descendants of the children included in Charles Thornburg�s book and the later generations may be more correctly documented.