Mary Rootes Thornton was born in
Bourbon County, Kentucky, February 9, 1815. Her father was Peter Thornton of
Caroline County, Virginia. Her mother's maiden name was Rowe. There were five siblings in this family: Sally Tunstall (Thornton), Mary Rootes (Thornton), Thomas; Callender, and Read. She was raised and educated by her uncle, Hon. John Rootes Thornton (1786–1873). He was a prominent lawyer and a member of the
Kentucky House of Representatives (1844), and
State Senate (1829–33; 1833–37). On April 24, 1839, she married Rev. Paradise Lynn McAboy (1814–1839), of
Washington,
Mason County, Kentucky, a young
Presbyterian minister. She was widowed four months later when the husband was killed by the falling of a large flour mill at Murphysville, Mason County, Kentucky, on August 29, 1839. McAboy's signature, “M. R. M., Roseheath, Ky.," was well known at intervals for thirty years to readers of the
Louisville Journal,
Paris Citizen,
Paris True Kentuckian,
Memphis Enquirer,
Presbyterian Herald of
Cincinnati, and other newspapers and monthlies. She resided in the Thornton homestead in
Paris, Kentucky where she entertained many distinguished men in the ministry of the church and state. It was
George D. Prentice, who, while visiting her, named her homestead, "Roseheath". McAboy died at "Roseheath", Paris, April 5, 1892. ==Selected works==