Bio-Minerd, AmyTilburyThorne

Amy (Minerd) Tilbury Thorne was born in July 1831 near Scio, Harrison County, OH, the daughter of John and Barbara (Shaeffer) Minerd Jr. As a girl, she and her parents were pioneer settlers of western Ohio and eastern Indiana, and later, as an adult, she was one of the first of our known cousins to migrate to the great city of Chicago.

In 1840, when Amy was a young girl, she and her parents left Harrison County. Using "a good team of horses and a substantial wagon," a newspaper once said, they traveled across the state, a "very tedious and slow" journey. The family settled in Van Wert County, OH, and in 1845 moved to a farm along the Ohio state line in Allen County, IN.

On April 4, 1844, Amy married Elihu Tilbury ( ? -1853?) in Allen County, IN. They may have resided just across the state line in Van Wert County, OH, and had two sons, Corwin D. Tilbury and Mentzer Tilbury.

Sadly, Elihu died after just several years of marriage. Recalling the event much later in life, son Corwin wrote: "When my father died I was taken on horseback by uncle Jim to grandfather's, I on one horse and M.E. on another with my mother and that was my home until my mother married again six years later. So do you wonder why I feel as I do about that old farm?"

By about 1859, Amy was re-married to her second husband, Jacob Thorne (1823- ? ), a native of Ohio who was nine years older than his bride. They went on to have three children of their own -- Naomi "Leona" Thorne, Annette "Nettie" Blood and Willis Thorne.

When the federal census was taken in 1860, the Thornes resided in Bourbon, Marshall County, IN, where Jacob labored as a lumberman. That year, Jacob's 18-year-old daughter or sister Susan Thorne lived under their roof as a "housemaid."

By 1870, Jacob had found work in Chicago as a carpenter, and the family moved to the Windy City. The census of 1870 shows the family in the city's Fifth Ward, with son Mentzer working as a "clerk in store" and Leona, Nettie and Willie in school.

Amy's townhouse residences in Chicago -- The location of the building at left is unknown, while the photo at right is of the Thorne home at 4217 Vincennes Avenue

They lived in townhouses in Chicago, always outfitted in Victorian furnishings, judging from old photographs. Amy is believed to be seen at right -- seated in her Victorian-style home in Chicago in the late 1800s.

When the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city from Oct. 8-10, 1871, the Thorne residence was out of range of the conflagration, and thus spared from any damage.

Amy's father lived to the ripe old age of 98. When he died in 1898, Amy was living in Chicago. She and all but one of her living siblings attended the funeral. The terms of the father's will stated that she was to receive a cash payment of $100 within four years.

The 1900 census of Cook County shows Amy living with son and daughter in law Will and Jessie Thorne, and daughters Leona and Nettie, on Vincennes Avenue in the Hyde Park section of Chicago.

By 1910, daughter Nettie had married druggist Isaac W. Blood, but the couple made their home with Amy on Vincennes Avenue.

Amy passed away in Chicago on Jan. 30, 1916. Son Corwin was with her at the end. He later wrote: "Mother coul dnot be induced to eat for a period of nearly a month before she passed away."

She was laid to rest in Chicago's Oak Wood Cemetery, located at 1035 East 67th Street. Her obituary is believed to have been carried by the Chicago Sun-Times, containing her maiden name of "Minerd," the first known publication of the family name in this venerable Chicago newspaper. Nothing further about her is known. The date of her death is provided by the website of the Illinois State Archives.