Charles Thornton

[Annette7]

Well at least I found an interesting W T Thornton!! Lol.

Annette

[rosie99]

Well at least I found an interesting W T Thornton!! Lol.

Annette

You could be right in your assumption though       

[Lisa in California]

It appears that the mining accident that involved Chas. Thornton occurred on June 5, 1901 ("Deep Vein", Foster).

Recorded in the June 29, 1901 Centerville Daily Citizen was "decree for divorce was ordered and signed" for Thornton vs. Thornton.
http://centerville.advantage-preservation.com/content/centerville-daily-citizen-1901-06-29-page-4
While this "open court", according to the newspaper report, was a continuation of a prior session, it seems odd that the divorce would have been signed if Mr. Thornton has passed away.  Perhaps it was for a legal reason for Clara Thornton, or perhaps the court session was held prior to June 5 and not reported until June 29?    Or, perhaps there were two Thornton families in the area filing for divorce?

Have you tried to follow up on his involvement in the United Mine Workers of America, or the I. O. O. F. lodge?
http://centerville.advantage-preservation.com/content/centerville-daily-citizen-1901-06-07-page-1
The newspaper report stated that he left a wife but no family.   

[jstuber]

We have written for the death certificate.  Hopefully that adds information to prove one way or the other whether the person that died in the coal mine is the same person who married Clara Marshall.  The mismatch in ages is the primary difference.  The fact that a Charles Thornton is married with no children is explained if he married again without getting a divorce form his first wife.  His record of misdeeds in Appanoose County suggests he might do it

I'm afraid the UMW and I.O.O.F are no goes.  Here's the UMW statemnet:

http://www.umwa.org/?q=faq/i-am-looking-information-about-ancestor-who-worked-mines-and-was-member-umwa

The likelihood of I.O.O.F records existing is extremely slim.  He is noted as living in Hiteman, Iowa.  That too is in Monroe County near the mine he died in.  It was a small company town and hasn't existed for decades, probably longer.  Coal mining peaked in the late 1910's, and most of the mines closed by the 1950's and all were gone by the early 60's.  The  towns just faded away.

Thanks again for everyone who helped on this.  I'm not doing this for myself but helping someone else.  I'll point her to this thread and let her take it from there.

[Lisa in California]

Another possibility is that Charles and Jennie were not actually married, but told people they were (if that wasn't previously mentioned).

I was helping a friend with a tree and in 1910 the husband and wife were living in separate residences (they were still in the same town, but living several blocks away from each other).  One spouse told the census taker that they were divorced and the other spouse told the census taker that they were widowed.  I guess one could say what one wanted to in those days, or the enumerator made a mistake.

[jstuber]

That wasn't previously mentioned. 

And yes, I consider that a possibility as well.  I've seen cases like that also. 

There's no record of a marriage of Charles to his presumed second wife that I could find and Iowa was quite good at recording marriages in that time frame (if they were married in Iowa).

[Lisa in California]

I tried a somewhat brief search for Jennie after 1901, but didn't find her anywhere.  Jennie could have been a nickname, which makes the search even more difficult.  I was hoping that if I could find her, there might be clues for Charles.   

[jstuber]

He gave a specific date and place for his birth in the 1900 census, 8/1865 in Victoria, Australia.

I searched the Australian birth records on ancestry and there's no birth recorded anything close to what he said.  One never knows how complete those types of records are, but there are 9 Charles  Thornton's born in the decade he said, none in 1865, none with the middle initial S. and none with the parents' name he gave.

Yup - neither Charles nor Jennie appear after 1900, excepting his divorce and death.