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Thorne was born about 1639, presumably in Lynn, Massachusetts, and died in
Flushing, New York between 1698 and 1709. He married with New York license
dated May 9, 1664, Mary Parsell, daughter of Nicholas and Sarah Parsell.
Nicholas Parsell was one of the signers of the Flushing
Remonstrance (NYM:390 & Pearsall Fam., v.3, 1928, p1474-78).
Note: The name Parsell is also spelled Pearsall.
On May 12, 1664, the year of the British occupation of New Amsterdam, the General Assembly of Connecticut, in a futile attempt to annex Long Island, "accepted" as freeman, "if they accept it," ten residents of Flushing, including "John Thorne" and "Nicholas Persell," as well as a number of prominent residents of other Long Island towns (Colonial Rec. of Conn.:1:429-30). No other Thornes were named, and it may be presumed that William Thorne1 had died; that William Thorne2 (the eldest son) was in New York City and that this John Thorne was considered the head of the family on Long Island. On August 12, 1667, following serious disorders in Flushing, John Thorne and Joseph Thorne, (no doubt his brother), in company with "Nicholas parcell" and eleven others from Flushing, "presented themselves to the Governor, & gave their names to be ready to serve his Maty under his honors Command upon all occasions" (CDNY:14:598). The youngest brother, Samuel Thorne, was, perhaps, not yet of age. The "Valuation of Estates at Flushing 1675" shows "John Thorn" with:
The "Flushing Estimations, 29th Septr. 1683" show "John Thorne" with:
At this date the tax in the amount of nine shillings ten pence does not appear excessive. The confirmation of the original Dutch patent to Flushing by Governor Dongan on March 24, 1685, names "the present freeholders and Inhabitants of the Towne of Flushing," including Joseph Thorne, John Thorne and Samuel Thorne (G. Henry Mandeville, Flushing, Past and Present, 1860, p13-23). The Flushing Census of 1698 also includes three brothers, William Thorne (eldest son of William Thorne1) being recorded at Hempstead, and for John Thorne shows:
The "5" before Mary's name indicates the number of persons in the family, and the "3" in the last line the number of slaves. On June 22, 1670, "John Thorne of Flushing" conveyed "unto Anthony Field of ye aforesaid place...Fifty acers more or less situated by Mattagarison by within ye bounds of Flush aforesaid...it being fifty acre lott yt was granted to Wm Benfield...and bounded upon ye west by land of John Lawrence, easterly with the bay & fronting southerly to ye highway & running in lenth northerly near to ye meadows of ye aforsd Jon Thorne" (Queens Co. Deeds:A.85). Matthew Garrison's Bay, is now know as Little Neck Bay; the west shore, which is in Flushing, is called Bayside, and extends northerly to Willet's Point, where William Thorne1 is said to have settled. On March 19, 1684, John Thorne also conveyed to Anthony Field "all ye mead lyne to ye Southward of A Certaine tree markt upon ye south side AF and on ye north side JT," apparently the land between Thorne's meadows and Fields' previous purchase (Ibid.). Both deeds bear John Thorne's signature, but his wife's name is missing. The will of "John Thorn of Flushing," executed January 5, 1697, and proved June 21, 1709, leaves the use of all lands and goods to wife Mary during her lifetime, with the provision that if she remarries she shall have instead £100, and remembers children as named below. Son William Thorne is appointed "my hole and Sole Executor," and "my brother Joseph Thorne" and John Tullman are made trustees and overseers, thus still further identifying the Long Island Thornes as members of one family (WNYHS:2:26 cf. NY Co. Wills 7:416). Presumably all the children were born in Flushing, and in the order named in the will, which in the case of the last three is the same as that of the census of 1698. The first four had married and left home before the census was taken. Sons John and Joseph, and daughter Hannah, were later of record as members of the Society of Friends, and son William and daughters Mary, Elizabeth, and Sarah seem all to have been communicants of the Church of England. If John Thorne had any religious affiliation all evidence of it has apparently been lost. John Thorne had the following children:
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