Thornton, James and Adeline Joyner

Mimi Lozano is the author of Black Latino Connection; it includes the history of the family of Kentucky native James Thorton (1835-1911) and his wife Adeline (1852-1940) Thornton.

James was born enslaved in Versailles, KY, gaining his freedom when he joined the Union Army in 1864. He and other African American soldiers were sentenced for an attempted mutiny; James received hard labor off the coast of Florida and was dishonorably discharged in 1866.

James Thornton and his sons moved to Kerr County, TX, where James married Adeline in 1871; she had been enslaved in Florida. They would become the first African American landowners in Kerr County. Together they had 13 children, some of whom migrated to Canada; their son David migrated to Guadalajara, Mexico in 1901.

For more see the Black Latino Connection website at somosprimos.com and contact Mimi Lozano.