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Last week, I posted about my trip to Alton, Illinois and the Thornton gravestones I found.
I am continuing my post this week.
I had been in contact with a very nice woman who did a look-up in the church records for me. She confirmed that my 4th great-grandmother, Sophia (Ross) Pottgen was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. It also listed a Frederick as being a relative of hers. Her father was Frederick Ross, so I assumed that it was him. I was right.
I would never have found this gravestone had I not known what I was looking for. It was really hard to read. Not only was the stone worn off, but there were bumps on it also. It made it very hard to decipher. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any dates off of it.
The stone was very close to the Thornton plot (on the right).
You can tell the cemetery is in the St. Louis area – notice the Budweiser building and trucks next door.
This is the ship that my Papa, Alphonso (Lonnie) Thornton was on as a Marine during WWII.
The amazing thing is that years ago, when we lived in San Antonio, we took a drive to Corpus Christi one day and stopped and went on an aircraft carrier turned into a museum (I believe the USS Lexington). Anyway, out in front of the entrance was the propeller to my grandpa’s ship. I thought that was so neat to have run into that by accident.
I bet that was a thrill.
The Thornton and Pottgen families settled in Alton, Illinois – just across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. While we were on our cross-continent tour in May, I managed to stop by and find the church that they were members of: SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church.
James Patrick Thornton (1824-1887) was my immigrant ancestor. He lived in Alton, but moved on to Nebraska in the 1870′s.
His brother Phillip and his family stayed in Madison county, Illinois. They were buried in Greenwood Cemetery in nearby Godfrey, Illinois. I believe that it is owned by the church.
Philip Thornton born in Ireland 29 Sep 1831 and died 10 Feb 1898.
Margaret Thornton born in Ireland 10 Aug 1829 and died 10 May 1888.
Here is their son, James Paul Thornton. Born 19 Sep 1858 and died 3 Jan 1925. His wife was Catherine (1865-1948).
And Philip’s son Edward Charles Thornton (1868 to 1906). His wife Albertine.
And Philip’s son Michael:
I will post my Pottgen findings next week….
[...] was able to make a very short, rushed visit to Alton last year. I ended up finding my ancestors’ gravestones, but didn’t have time to stop for [...]
