Colonel T. A. Thornton, Calhoun County, AR

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SOURCE: Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.
Contributed by Carol Smith.
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Calhoun County, Arkansas - from Goodspeed's History of Arkansas

Colonel T. A. Thornton is a prominent planter of Calhoun County, and was born in Alabama in 1836, the third in a family of seven children born
to W. S. and Nancy (Moor) Thornton. October 5, 1844, his father came to Arkansas and settled at Chambersville, and was about the third settler
in the county. They went west to the end of the road, where they made their settlement in this county. Here he began farming by settling on a
tract of about 300 acres. He erected a home and made improvements, and in about 1847 or 1848, he started a store on his own place. This was
the first store in Calhoun County. He lived there until 1852, when he sold out and went to Camden, where he engaged in merchandising, until
18060, when he sold out and moved to Hampton, Calhoun County. Here he started an extensive store, and continued in this business until the
outbreak of the war. He then retired from business until after the war, when he engaged with a firm in New Orleans to sell goods through the
county; was soon after taken sick and died, November 7, 1867. His death closed an active business career. As an early settler and pioneer he is
well remembered throughout this section. The mother died during the war, in 1863. Our subject was reared on the farm, receiving his education
at the common schools and at home. At the outbreak of the war, he assisted in raising a company in this county, and was elected first lieutenant
of the "Esco Pets," Capt. Joe McCullough was ordered to the northwestern part of the State, and participated in the battle of Pea Ridge. He was
then transferred to the Eastern Division and was in most of the battles there, from Shiloh to Sherman's campaign. At Richmond, Kentucky, they
captured five times as many prisoners as the number of their men. He was captured at Nashville, but soon made his escape. At the close of the
war, he came back home, and in October, 1865, married Miss Mattie Pickett, daughter of W. J. Pickett. He now bought a farm and began farming.
From time to time, he has owned a farm of 300 acres, two miles west of town, 150 acres under cultivation. He makes a specialty of cotton,
averaging one half bale to the acre. He has a good orchard, and one of the best farms in this section. To the union of our subject and his wife
have been born eleven children, four of whom are dead, viz: William Frederic, Walter H., Ever, Jimmie, Velma, Vera and Vivian; and Mary, Virgie,
Charley and Harris, who are dead. Mr. Thornton is a member of the Wheel, and an active and enterprising citizen.