Life History

Notes

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  "Roger Gregory.  Son of Richard Gregory (i).  Born about 1690; died prior to 1732.  Married Mildred, daughter of Lawrence Washington.  On the 17th of May, 1736, Roger Gregory and Mildred, his wife, deeded the Mt. Vernon estate to Augustine Washington.  They were then residents of Stratton Major Parish, King and Queen County.  The witnesses were William Aylett, John Washington, and Lawrence Butler.
  
  Issue: Frances, who married, September 3, 1736, Francis Thornton (see Thornton Excursus); Mildred, who married, October 28, 1740, John Thornton, and
  Elizabeth, who married four times:
  first, April 29, 1743, Henry Willis, son of Colonel Henry Willis (who had married her mother);
  second, Reuben Thornton;
  third, Doctor Thomas Walker, the Explorer, and
  fourth, Colonel Alcock, of the British Army.
  Mildred Gregory, the elder, was the godmother of General George Washington."
  --  Peyton Neale Clarke, Old King William homes and families; an account of some of the old homesteads and families of King William County, Virginia, from its earliest settlement (Louisville: John P Morton And Company, 1897), p 58, https://archive.org/stream/oldkingwilliamho00clar/oldkingwilliamho00c
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  Augustine, second son of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner; married for his second wife, Mary Ball; their oldest son was George Washington (President of the United States); their only daughter, Betty Washington, was the second wife of Colonel Fielding Lewis, by whom she had a numerous progeny, notable in themselves and their descendants.
  
  Mildred, the only daughter of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner, married, first, Roger Gregory, by whom she had three daughters, Mildred, Frances, and Elizabeth, who married three brothers, Colonel John, Colonel Francis, and Reuben Thornton; she married, secondly, Colonel Henry Willis, the founder of Fredericksburg, by whom she had a son, Colonel Lewis Willis, and a daughter, Anne, who married Duff Green.
  
  --  Peyton Neale Clarke, Old King William homes and families; an account of some of the old homesteads and families of King William County, Virginia, from its earliest settlement (Louisville: John P Morton And Company, 1897), p 75, https://archive.org/stream/oldkingwilliamho00clar/oldkingwilliamho00c
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  1736, Francis Thornton and Frances Gregory [He was of Fall Hill, near Fredericksburg.  She was a daughter of Roger Gregory and his wife Mildred Washington.]
  --  Virginia Marriage Records, Spotsylvania County, 1726-1744, by W G Stanard, Genealogical Publishing (Baltimore, 1984), p 553
  
  Frances Gregory & Francis Thornton  Married 3 September 1736
  --  Virginia Marriage Records, Spotsylvania County, 1726-1744, by W G Stanard, Genealogical Publishing (Baltimore, 1984), p 551
  
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  Col Francis Thornton, III
  BIRTH 1712 Essex County, Virginia, USA
  DEATH 7 Apr 1749 (aged 36-37) Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA
  BURIAL Thornton - Forbes - Washington Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg City, Virginia
  
  Born at "Snow Creek" in Essex County, died at "Fall Hill" in Spotsylvania County.
  Birth date is usually given as 7 Apr 1714, but the headstone inscription says he died "in the Thirty Eighth Year of his age", i.e. age 37 and therefore was born between 8 Apr 1711 and 7 Apr 1712.
  Married September 3, 1736 Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
  
  Parents:
  Francis Thornton 1683-1737
  Mary Taliaferro Thornton 1685-1741
  
  Siblings:
  Alice Thornton Taylor 1708-1739
  Mildred Thornton Walker 1721-1778
  
  Children:
  Francis Thornton 1737-1795
  William Thornton 1742-1818
  John Thornton 1743-1822
  
  Inscription:
  Here lies the Body of FRANCIS THORNTON Who departed this life the Seventh of April Anno Dom One Thousand Seven Hundred And Forty Nine in the Thirty Eighth Year of his age.
  
  Maintained by The Meriwether Society, Inc, Originally Created by P Fazzini Dec 2011
  --  Find A Grave Memorial 82218856, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82218856/francis-thornton
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Sources

• 1. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 2. Archive.org
• 3. Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850