Barbour County AlArchives Biographies.....William Horatio Thornton May 8 1816 - January 27 1881
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 12, 2004, 8:33 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
DR. WILLIAM HORATIO THORNTON, "skillful physician, consecrated
Christian, cultivated gentleman, useful citizen, devoted husband and father,
ever faithful friend," the deceased subject of this sketch, was born near
Washington, Wilkes county, Ga., on the 8th day of May, 1816.
 The Thornton name was first introduced into this country by  two  brothers who
came from England to Virginia. One of these married a Miss Acre, of Virginia,
and a son of this marriage, John Thornton, moved to Georgia, where he married
Rebecca Carter. A family of twelve children were raised, five of whom became
physicians, Dr. W. H. being one of these, five, After graduating in the medical
department of the university of Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1838, the doctor
spent a year in Florida for the benefit of his health, and in 1840 located in
Eufaula for the practice of his profession, and soon became one of the leading
physicians of the state. He was married in Eufaula, on the 10th of April, 1845,
to Mary B., daughter of Gen. Reuben C. Shorter, and sister of Gov. John Gill
Shorter, and congressman Eli S. Shorter. This union was blessed with eight
children, four of whom are living, namely: Laura V., wife of G. L. Corner,
Eufaula, Ala.; Anna G., wife of G. H. Estes, banker and merchant, of Talbotton,
Ga.; Sallie C., wife of E. A. Graham, Montgomery, Ala.; Retta F., wife of C. A.
Locke, merchant of Eufaula, Ala. Dr. Thornton was never of very robust health.
His life, in fact, was one long battle with the grim destroyer, and nothing but
his indomitable will carried him through to a comparatively ripe age. His death
occurred, after a lingering illness at his home in Eufaula, at 2 o'clock on the
morning of the 27th of January, 1881. The announcement of the sad event caused
most sincere sorrow, not only in the community, but in the whole state, and the
last rites were performed amid a vast concourse of friends and admirers,
business being generally suspended, and the city board of aldermen and various
civic and social organizations attending. Dr. Thornton had been connected with
the city government of Eufaula for many years. In 1857 he was first called upon
to assume the duties of the office of mayor, and he was frequently requested to
serve the city in the same position, "and fearlessly and wisely did he meet each
demand made upon him." In recoguition of his public service the board of
alder-men instructed the clerk to inscribe a page in the minute book in his
memory. As president of the board of trustees of Union Female college for many
years, he did much to secure for that institution its enviable reputation, as
the following resolution adopted by the faculty and pupils, setting forth his
interest in the school, will show: That we feel that our institution has lost a
valued and constant friend, who for many years was ready at all times to advance
its interest and labor for its success. We shall long cherish a kindly
recollection of his zeal and public spirit." He was a chapter Mason, an emblem
of that organization surmounting the beautiful and costly monument erected to
his memory in the Masonic cemetery by his devoted widow, whose loving care keeps
beautiful this hallowed spot. Dr. Thornton was a most conscientious and skillful
physician. From a tribute paid to his memory in this regard by Dr. P. D. L.
Baker before the State Medical association, the following occurs: "As a
physician, Dr. Thornton was distinguished for the profound respect he
entertained for the high calling to which he had consecrated his talents and his
life, and for his untiring readiness to assist in maintaining the dignity and
advancing the interests of his profession. In his life-time warfare with disease
and death, the hand he reached forth to succor never trembled, and the mind that
devised the means of rescue never lost its equanimity."

   As a citizen, Dr. Thornton was universally esteemed. Of him the Eufaula Times
says: "He was noble in every impulse, true in every relation of life, genial as
a sunbeam, and generous beyond measure. His benevolence and charity knew no
bounds within the sphere of human want and suffering. In his church he was its
most liberal member, and as a citizen was most generous in response to all
appeals for the promotion of the welfare and progress of the city. As a
counselor or adviser, he was always consulted on important public measures, and
his wisdom and well-balanced mind were ever the admiration of those who knew
him." But it was in. his character as a conscientious Christian that the life of
Dr. William H. Thornton left its most vivid impress. Becoming a member of the
Baptist church of Eufaula in 1842, and of which organization he was a deacon
from 1858 to the time of his death, his usefulness was most marked. From the
report of a committee appointed to prepare a suitable memorial of his church
life and christian character the following is culled: "It was a sad hour for
this church when the great heart of Dr. Thornton ceased to beat, and no words of
ours can adequately describe the chasm that was left in this church and
community by his removal. As we study his life we learn more of the blessings of
the Gospel. It was the lesson learned at the feet of Jesus that inane him what
he was; that gave to his character that perfect equipoise. And it was a divine
wisdom that prolonged his life, made it lovely and beautiful, and filled it with
labor, and honor and blessings."



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama" Vol I, p. 462-464

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