Jonas Thornton (1850-1932), son of Thomas Thornton, married Elanor Hughson (1853-1935). I believe the Hughson family came to Canada as loyalists and you can see this link in a previous post on the Hughson family.
Jonas was a farmer and businessman and in 1901 was elected to Parliament with a plurality of 40 votes. This election was declared invalid for some reason and he lost the next election by a handful of votes. But he did return to the House of Commons and served from 1908 to 1917. You can find a photo of Jonas on the House of Commons website. We have an August 1910 post card from Irma in Woodstock announcing that Benjamin and Jonas were traveling by train to the west coast and would stop in Broadview on the return trip.
Here is a summary of electoral success: 1896, defeated; 1900, elected; 1902, defeated; 1908, elected; 1911, elected. He was a member of the Conservative Party.
Children of this family were:
- Augusta Irene Thornton (1877 -1967).
-
John James Thornton (1880-). Married Gertrude Davey. John
homesteaded in Manor, Saskatchewan in 1922. For more on this
family click
Manor.
- Charles Thornton (1908-1980). Married Hazel Rowley (1912-)
- George Davey Thornon (1914-2008). Married Violet Potter (1920-2007) and had a daughter Sylvia Fraser (1946-) who had two sons.
-
Kenneth Thornton. (1909-). Married Elizabeth Crawford
.
- Ann Thornton. Married Arthur Stinner.
- John W. Thornton
-
Charles E. Thornton (1888-1970). m. (1) Iva H. Bryson,
(1886-1940) (2) Lena K. Taylor (1890-1968). (I have a
photo of grave stone for Charles).
- Bernice Thornton
- Velma Thornton
- Elizabeth Thornton
-
Viola Thornton (1890-1915). m. J.A. Stewart (who at some
point lived in Saskatoon). She appears to have been a steno
in the House of Commons, perhaps working for Jonas.
- Violet Mildred Thornton (1890-1915). Married David Geary.
First a photo of Jonas and Eleanor when quite young. (Taken in Bowmanville)
Notes on reverse say that this is Jonas Thornton and his wife Elanor. Not sure I believe it. Does anyone know? For a younger photo see Jonas.
Below: Post card compliments C.J.Thornton, perhaps from his first election. We have a more formal Christmas card from the House, but am unable to find it in the box.
This is the Photo of Jonas that appears on the Canadian
Parliamentary web site, thanks to his great great
granddaughter.