Finding Your Folks: Bringing Haywood Thornton home

We’re going to leave the Byrams and Tidwells temporarily and move southeast from Fairburn into northern Fayette County. Heading toward Fayetteville on what is now Ga. Highway 92, we find the Hopeful Community and the home of the Thornton family of the early 1800s.

If they were still here, the community would probably be all a-twitter at a development which has just taken place. After 142 years, someone is attempting to bring a Thornton family member home and bury him beside his wife where he belongs. After 142 years in a Rock Island, Illinois prison grave, Haywood Thornton may be coming home to Fayette County. For this effort, we can thank Diana Muir, a professional genealogist living in Smyrna, who starting the ball rolling with a simple message on the Fayette County Rootsweb mailing list. It said:

“Hi everyone, I spent the entire day last Friday working on the Herod Thornton genealogy line, of whom Haywood was one of his sons. Haywood fought in the Civil War and died while imprisoned in Rock Island Prison. He is buried in Rock Island, Illinois in the CSA cemetery.

After learning about his family and finding out that his wife died of a broken heart 3 months later, leaving 6 orphans, I began to think of how it must have been to die so far from home, without family and friends.

Therefore, I have petitioned the county of Rock Island, Illinois to remove his body and reinter it in Fayette County, hopefully in the Thornton Family Cemetery, next to his wife.

Whom would I ask for permission to do this, on the Fayette County end? Still waiting for a response from Rock Island, but I have high hopes.

“Dr. Diana J. Muir, AMDG, Inc.”

I might point out that although Diana has Thorntons in her pedigree, she has found no connection to the Fayette Thorntons. She is doing this out of the goodness in her heart. Ironically, her Thorntons are from Rock Island.

A little background on this Thornton family from page 188 of the Fayette County Heritage Book (story submitted by Suzanne Thornton Coker of Atlanta) tells us that the founder of the Thornton family in Fayette was Herod Thornton who moved from Johnston County, N.C. to Georgia about 1828 and settled in the Hopeful Community. Herod purchased Land Lots No. 254, 255 and 256 in northern Fayette County. Later, Haywood, Herod’s son by his second wife, owned lot 251, which is closer to the Kenwood Community.

Haywood grew up in Fayette County and married Mary Jackson in 1847. Mary was the daughter of Jordan and Letha Smith Jackson who had also migrated from Johnston County, N.C. to Fayette.

Haywood and Mary appear in the 1850 Fayette County census with two children, Herod, age 2, and Jordan, age 4(?) months.

In 1860, their family had grown to include five children, Herod, Jordan, Elizabeth age 9, Haywood age 7, and Bennett age 5. One more child, a daughter, Mary, would be born to Haywood and Mary before Haywood went off to fight the cause of the Confederacy.

Quoting from Suzanne’s story in the heritage book, “Haywood Thornton served in Co. F, “Clayton Dragoons,” 2nd Georgia Cavalry, CSA, organized in Clayton County. Captured in January 1864, he was confined in the Union Prison in Rock Island, Ill. from May 1864 to October 1864, when he died. He is buried in Grave Number 1587.”

Mary was grief stricken and died two months later in December of 1864. She is buried in Thornton Cemetery No. 2 on the Jackson farm in Land Lot 252. (Source: Fayette County Cemeteries book.) The youngest child, Mary, was only four years old when her mother died. The children lived with Haywood’s brother, Herod Thornton Jr., until 1880 when they are shown living together, but on their own, next door to their brother, Jordan and his wife, Mary.

The story is a heartbreaking one but was probably repeated over and over in many locations throughout the South from 1861-1865. However, maybe we can give this one a better ending. Diana has received the go-ahead from the Rock Island folks, but needs permission from a direct descendant of Haywood’s to disinter his body in Illinois and reinter it here in Fayette County. She said she would love to see a complete petition of names.

Of course I immediately called my dear friend Carolyn Cary and she said she would call Scott Gilbert, head of the Fayette County SCV to see what steps had to be taken here.

There is another Fayette County Confederate son buried at Rock Island — Wyatt Appleton Harper — whose family is buried at Bethany. I did a story on Wyatt’s family in the Bethany series last year. His daughter married John Fowler. Wyatt is in grave number 1095 at Rock Island. Since Wyatt was from Bethany and Haywood was from Hopeful, I would be willing to bet that they were well acquainted. Perhaps we might make this a double ceremony. My hat’s off to Diana for coming up with such a thoughtful and generous idea.

If you are a descendant of Haywood Thornton or Wyatt Harper and would be willing to sign papers releasing their remains to be reinterred here, please contact Diana by e-mail at dianamuir@amdg.ws. I hope those of you who get involved will keep me informed of the progress on this unbelievably wonderful project.

In turn, I will let all of our readers know how things are going.

Stories about your ancestors who lived on Atlanta’s south side are always welcome. Send stories to jkilgore@thecitizen.com or JodieK444@aol.com. Mail to

The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214. All letters and e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.