The Cochrane & Allied Families
Cochranes from Scotland to Colonial Virginia (c 1760), to Kentucky (1811), to Kansas (1859) and beyond. Allied families to the United States from England, Scotland, Ireland and Switzerland.
THORNTON, Col. Francis III
1714 - 1748 (34 years) Has 79 ancestors and 10 descendants in this family tree.
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Name THORNTON, Francis [1, 2, 3, 4] Prefix Col. Suffix III Birth 7 Apr 1714 Essex County, Colony of Virginia, UK 
[1] Gender Male FindaGrave Memorial ID 82218856 Land-Purchaser 21 May 1738 Orange County, Colony of Virginia, UK [3] purchased from John HADDOCK, 200 acres, in the fork of the Rappahannock River and Mountain Run, which he gave to his daughter, Elizabeth Meriwether, - Role: Purchaser
Col. Francis THORNTON Jr. was living in Caroline County. On the same date, Thomas and Elizabeth MERIWETHER, living in Hanover County, sold this land to Francis THORNTON III of Spotsylvania County, Elizabeth's brother, for £60. Located at 38.4513N and -77.7628W, this land before 1734 was in Spotsvlvania County, was in Orange County in 1738, and present day it is in Culpeper County.
Death 11 Nov 1748 Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Colony of Virginia, UK [5] Age 34 years Burial Thornton, Forbes & Washington Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA [5] Address:
Thornton, Forbes & Washington Cemetery
Fredericksburg, Virginia
USA- Find A Grave website (http://www.findagrave.com/): Memorial #82218856.
Person ID I3802 Cochrane Genealogy Last Modified 17 Aug 2025
Father THORNTON, Col. Francis Jr., b. 4 Jan 1681/82, The Hills - Thornton Family Home, Gloucester County, Colony of Virginia, England d. 6 Feb 1736/37, Snow Creek - Thornton Family Home, Essex County, Colony of Virginia, UK (Age 55 years) Mother TALIAFERRO, Mary Elizabeth, b. 11 May 1685, Powhattan Plantation, James City County, Colony of Virginia, England d. 1 Aug 1741, Snow Creek - Thornton Family Home, Essex County, Colony of Virginia, UK (Age 56 years) Family ID F317 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family GREGORY, Frances, b. Abt 1718, Colony of Virginia, UK d. 22 Jan 1790, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA (Age 72 years) Marriage 3 Sep 1736 Spotsylvania County, Colony of Virginia, UK [1, 2, 5] Age at Marriage He : 22 years and 5 months - She : ~ 18 years and 9 months. Children 1. THORNTON, Col. William d. Yes, date unknown2. 
THORNTON, Mary d. Yes, date unknown+ 3. THORNTON, Mildred, b. 22 Jun 1736, Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia, UK d. 28 Oct 1804 (Age 68 years)4. THORNTON, George, b. 6 Dec 1737, Colony of Virginia, UK d. 30 Apr 1781, Virginia, USA (Age 43 years)5. THORNTON, Francis IV, b. 1738 d. 1795, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, USA (Age 57 years)6. THORNTON, Col. John, b. 1743, Spotsylvania County, Colony of Virginia, UK d. 22 Feb 1822, Culpeper County, Virginia, USA (Age 79 years)Family ID F1532 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 29 Apr 2016
- Role: Purchaser
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Event Map 
Birth - 7 Apr 1714 - Essex County, Colony of Virginia, UK 
Marriage - 3 Sep 1736 - Spotsylvania County, Colony of Virginia, UK 
Land-Purchaser - purchased from John HADDOCK, 200 acres, in the fork of the Rappahannock River and Mountain Run, which he gave to his daughter, Elizabeth Meriwether, - 21 May 1738 - Orange County, Colony of Virginia, UK 
Death - 11 Nov 1748 - Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Colony of Virginia, UK 
Burial - Address:
Thornton, Forbes & Washington Cemetery
Fredericksburg, Virginia
USA - - Thornton, Forbes & Washington Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA = Link to Google Earth
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Sources - [S635] The Meriwether Society, Inc., Society - Meriwether, ((http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~meriweth/ : 2015)), 10 Jul 2015, accessed 10 July 2015), ID #: I37949, Francis Thornton III; Various Meriwether Society sources.
- [S634] Holdridge Ozro Collins, Book - Washington Family Genealogy (Hathi Trust), (Los Angeles, California: The Society Sons of the Revolution in the State of California, 1900.), 18 Jun 2015, p 12.
- [S639] Newsletter - Meriwether Connections, 18 Feb 2021, Wells, Kathy Cave and McStravick, Jennifer, "Looking at Multiple Counties and Multiple Sources to Prove a Fact," Vol. 40 (No. 1, January-March 2021): p 6-9.
Original source: Organe County, VA Deeds, 1738, p 336-343.
Deed - Orange Co., VA - Francis Thornton II - [S1164] Magazine - William and Mary College Quarterly - Series 1 & 2 (JSTOR), 30 Jun 2025, W. G. Stanard, "The Thornton Family," Vol. 4, No. 2 (Oct., 1895), p 89-93; digital images, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/ : accessed 30 June 2025).
Thornton Family - [S141] Cemetery Records - Find A Grave, (http://www.findagrave.com: n.d.), 10 Jul 2015, accessed 10 July 2015<, Memorial #82218856, Col. Francis Thornton III.
- [S635] The Meriwether Society, Inc., Society - Meriwether, ((http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~meriweth/ : 2015)), 10 Jul 2015, accessed 10 July 2015), ID #: I37949, Francis Thornton III; Various Meriwether Society sources.