My Thornes (to whom I am not actually related) are the family of William H. Thorne (1831-1916), who were very close friends of my family for many years. William had a son named Cleveland May Thorne, b Nov 1883, who evidently died sometime before 1934 (probably unmarried), as my brother is in possession of a silver baby cup engraved: Cleveland May Thorne Dec. 25, 1884 William had two other children by his second wife, Ida Cleveland (also the mother of Cleveland May Thorne), one of whom was a daughter named Emily C[leveland?] Thorne, b 6 Dec 1877 in New York (probably in Yonkers), died Sep 1968 in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester, NY (her home). She never married. (Day of birth and death data from SSDI). Emily Thorne was a very good friend of ours all of her life. William H. Thorne's pedigree is: Samuel C.-6; James-5; Thomas-4; Joseph-3; John-2; William-1. William Thorne was b ca 1617 in England and came to New England about 1638 (admitted freeman on 2 May 1638 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony). He died between 1657 & 1664 in Jamaica, Queens, NY, thus establishing this Thorne branch as a Long Island family very early in the game. All info (except for family of William H. Thorne) is from: http://thorn.pair.com/williamthorne1/d48.htm#P48 and following links. I have not been able to find any blood connection between my Thayer family and this Thorne family. They lived in close proximity to each other in Yonkers, NY, in the early 20th century. Evidently the bond was friendship rather than a blood relationship. G. David Thayer Salem, OR USA (shortly to be of Sarasota, FL)

I am looking for the family of Matilda Thorn b. Dec 1852 in PA, probably Philadelphia. She was reputed to have lived, as a child, in Plainfield (NJ or PA?). According to her death certificate, she was born on 10 Dec 1852 and her parents were Edward Thorn and Anny Freeman. In the census, the parents were both born in PA. In November 1868, just before she turned 16, she married Lawrence Mead, a famine Irish immigrant, in Brooklyn, NY, according to her application for her deceased husband's Civil War pension. I have never found her in the 1860 census, never found her marriage in Brooklyn and never found her parents anywhere. She is truely a Thorn in my side. Frank