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Katie Thornton
During the war, John Thornton took Katie and Henry out to Fort Scott, Kansas. Henry Thornton was in the army until he sustained a knee injury that prevented him from walking, after which he was sent home before the army left Fort Scott. The family, including Katie’s mother, Lydia Ross (who had been enslaved to Lewis Ross), then departed for Garnett, Kansas.
Katie and Henry’s oldest child, Maggie Curls, was born in Kansas. The couple returned to Lightning Creek in the Cherokee Nation in September 1866 with the families of Peter Meigs, Caesar Smith, and David Mayes. The family first visited Mose Whitmire’s house for a few days. Then, with the help of Lewis Right, Nels Wrought, Aaron and Mose Whitmire, and Ransom Woodall, they built their house on the spot where Bill Madden later lived, directly in front of Mose’s house. Katie lived at the home for four to five years, and later they sold it to Harry Still, who subsequently sold it to Bill Madden.
Harry Still recalled seeing Katie in the Cherokee Nation in the fall of 1866. He remembered Katie and Henry living with their children Maggie and Joe and a stepson, Billy. Henry passed away in 1895. Katie’s eldest child, William, died in Tahlequah, and she faced the death of another son, Billy, shortly thereafter.
Katie applied for enrollment on the Dawes Roll for herself and for two minor children, Millie and Emma, and testified that they were born in the Cherokee Nation. Katie is not on the 1880 or 1896 census, but can be identified on the Kern-Clifton and Wallace Rolls. All of their names appear in the Kern-Clifton Roll.