Thornton, Mark Binns. b. April 6, 1893, American Fork, Utah (Idaho); Parents Nathan Moroni Thornton (1855-1935) and Sarah Singleton (1863-1900); Education through 4th Grade; Married Mary Alice Idle (1893-1928) on February 16, 1914 in Cassia, Idaho, 3 children James Nathan "Nate" Thornton (1915-2011) Charles M. Thornton (1919-1970?) and Bernice Alice Parks (1916-2003); Widowed 1928; Coal Miner, Farmer, and Longshoreman; CP 1932, unit organizer; Received Passport# 25648, San Francisco series, on March 15, 1937 which listed his address as 908 Divisadero Street, and 1332 Leary Street, both San Francisco, California; Sailed March 27, 1937 aboard the Paris; Served with the Albacete Auto Park and July 1937 until he was repatriated with the Quinto Cuerpo de Tren; Mechanic and Driver, was in charge of tires for the 5th Corps and introduced measures that greatly increased the tire wear; Returned to US after landing in Quebec, Canada on September 11, 1938 aboard the Aurania; He then crossed into the US; WWII Civilian Longshoreman in Portland, Oregon; Post war he continued working as a longshoreman into the early 1950s, bought and ran a farm raising Turkeys outside of Fresno, California; Retired in the early 1960s and spent time around Death Valley; d. February 17, 1974, Inyo, California, Cremated and ashes scattered in Death Valley; Father of fellow veteran James Nathan Thornton.

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Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6 Delo 572, ll. 32 (fiche); Harriman, ARP survey response filled out by Nate Thornton; L-W Tree Ancestry. Code A

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Family Bonds: American Fathers and Sons in the Spanish Civil War, By Chris Brooks and Lisa Clemmer, The Volunteer Blog, February 27, 2018.

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Photograph: Mark Thornton shortly after his return from Spain, Georgia Weaver.

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