Thomas THORNBURGH

  Noted events in his life were:

• Personal: letter, 1820, NC. In the June 1957 North Carolinian, in an article by Willard Heiss, a letter was printed that Thomas Thornbrough had written to his cousin Henry, son of Thomas and Martha Ballinger Thornbrough. Henry had removed to Warren County, Ohio in the Fall of 1814, and then to Wayne County, Indiana in March of 1820.

"2nd of 9th month 1820 My Good Frend
"I received thy Letter dated the 31st of the 7th month 1820 and at thy Request have read it to numbers of thy Good Friends in carrolinia, we all seemed to Rejoyce together to find that thee was moved to break in upon that solem silence that thee make mention of that has so long taken place among us & after a further pause I thought what if I was to speak a few words.
"It was very agreable to me to discover that thee had set they face new purchesward, and that thee had paid them Red Bretheren of the west a visit "I may inform thee I have had cimelar & increasing impressions of the kind myself and am inhopes if I attend properly to my business I may be favoured to persue my prospects in the course of a few months. I perceive thee has had a faint ide of our troubles in loosing our Son (Isaac) who was ceased last Christmas day with a violent complaint in his head whitch broke inside and fell in uppon his lungs and lived but four days to suffer the anquish of his pain, this was a triing seen indeed but I hope we stood resigned to say they will be done and not ours. my wife has Recently been attacted with a violent fever I have not had my Cloths off to go to bed for sixteen days and nights but by the help of a doctor and the aid of that phisition of vallue we think there is some hopes of her recovery.
"the flux and fever is very prevalent in our Land & many fresh Graves at new garden Meeting house; unkle john and aunt Bette (John & Elizabeth Thornbrough Farrington?) lives with Jesse (?) & prudence (Prudence Thornbrough Hunt?) the ould man is mostly confined to his bed and somewhat childish; Jane Macgrady looks ould & is vary weakly
"there is a Great ado here about moveing to the new country five familys started this week and more would go if they could get money but no money here: we had good crops of wheat and a Great prospect for corn we have plent of meat milk butter & chesse but distressing times for money but harvest times for the constables I was told by john hoskins lately that he had three hundred warrents put into his hands in one day and a number of Sails appointed and no biders; he had a sail in half a mile of my house sold one hundred dollars worth of property for nineteen & only Got the promis of money for that
"my mother siting by smoking her pipe of pese says do remember my love to them for I allways did love Henry & Becke; Daved & Vancy and their prety little daughter are also present desire to be remembered too; Mallekiah polle (Polly?) & their Little son have been very sick so that polle has not been to see her mother Since she had been Sick but once Jamy & wife is in tollerable health; my self wife & Joseph is all lthat is left now at home, so that if we could have money & health we have not much els to do but go and see you
"Farewell Mary & Thomas Thornburg."

It is difficult to identify some of the people in the letter. And the five families that he mentions starting north are not found in Quaker records at New Garden. Evidently Thomas never recovered sufficiently or did not accumulate enough money to go north since he died at New Garden in 1833. The letter is interesting in describing the hard times the people were having.

Thomas married Mary PERKINS, daughter of Joseph PERKINS and Ann. (Mary PERKINS died on 22 Mar 1841.)