Orson R. Thornton
Orson R. Thornton was born around 1846 in Warren County, Kentucky, to William and Isabella Thornton. His father was a Baptist minister who owned $3,000 of real estate and $1,200 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Warren County until the 1850s, when they moved to Perry County, Illinois.
Thornton enlisted in the Union army on December 8, 1863, and he mustered in as a private in Company A of the 81st Illinois Infantry on December 25. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. He was killed in action near Guntown, Mississippi, on June 10, 1864.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (3229) | Thornton, Orson R. | 1846 | 1864-06-10 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Private
- Rank out: Private
- Rank highest: Private
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 1
- (3700) [writer] ~ Orson R. Thornton to Margaret V. A. Thornton, 7 March 1864
People - Records: 2
- (3229) Thornton, Orson R. is the [sibling-in-law of] (3293) Harriss, Jordan Carroll Jr.
- (3230) Thornton, Margaret Valeria A. is the [sibling of] (3229) Thornton, Orson R.
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 1
- (900) [enlisted] [A] ~ 81st Illinois Infantry
SOURCES
1850 and 1860 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Databases of Illinois Veterans Index, 1775-1995, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com.
