Unknown County GaArchives Biographies.....Thornton, Vincent R. 1806 - 1856
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 3, 2005, 3:56 pm

Author: J. H. Campbell

VINCENT R. THORNTON

  Vincent Redmon Thornton was born in the year 1806, in the neighborhood of
Bethesda meeting-house, Green county, Georgia. His father, Redmon Thornton, was
a member and a deacon of Bethesda church, and was esteemed by his brethren and
the community as a good man and worthy deacon.

  The neighborhood was at that time rude and unrefined, and, though he received
from his father Christian instruction, young Thornton grew up a rough and
boisterous youth. After a preparatory course of instruction in the schools of
the country, he was sent to Franklin college, at Athens, where, however, he did
not more than complete the studies of the sophmore class. At college he was not
particularly studious, and his boisterous manner gave him a bad name. I have
heard him, however, contradict the traditional reports that he had been
habitually vicious or michievious.

  After leaving college he lived on the plantation with his father, except a few
months which he spent in Greensborough reading medicine in the office of Dr.
James Foster. But his tastes and habits equally disinclined him to a
professional life, and he returned to the country, where he married and settled
on a plantation.

  The year 1828 was distinguished in Georgia as a period of general revival; and
the church at Bethesda, sharing largely in the gracious influences of the
spirit, Vincent R. Thornton became a regenerated man, and, having related his
experience to the church on the 19th of April, was baptized on the 18th of May
of that year.* Notwithstanding his youth, he was almost immediately elected and
ordained a deacon, and in the fall of the same year was sent as a delegate to
the Georgia Association.

  *0n a baptismal occasion, during the revival that year, the pastor, Jonathan
Davis, was (without knowing it,) timed by a distinguished lawyer, a
Presbyterian, according to whose watch over sixty were baptized by Davis in less
than fifteen minutes. "At that rate the twelve apostles"—this was the comment of
the jurist—"on the day of Pentecost, would have baptized the whole three
thousand in a little over an hour;" and he went on his way unbaptized.

  He was soon licensed to preach, and in the course of two or three years was
ordained. Concerning his ordination, rather a singular story is told by Dr.
Sherwood. A Presbytery was called by the Bethesda church to ordain Thornton and
another young brother. When the Presbytery asssmbled, objection was made to the
ordination of the former, because the brethren were afraid that he was too
learned. There was certainly no ground for such an objection. But the ordination
did not take place at the time first appointed, though I think the postponement
was for a different reason from that assigned by Dr. Sherwood. The brother who
was to be ordained with Thornton had given rise to some fear as to his fitness
for the ministerial office, and it was thought best for all parties not to
proceed until the matter was more fully decided. A few months afterwards
Thornton was ordained, and I think the other never was.

  The revival spirit, of which mention has been made, continued several years,
and the ministers in that region of Georgia were indefatigable in labors.
Thornton being young, zealous and in easy circumstances, and blessed with a wife
who was anxious to assist him as much as possible in his ministerial duties,
entered heartily into the work. His missionary journeys, then called "tours of
preaching," were numerous, arduous and very successful. He delighted ever
afterwards to talk of that period of toil and blessing.

  These were the forming years of his ministerial character, and his
associations and labors at this time developed him into what he was in his riper
years. He was much in company with Jesse Mercer, was a favorite of that great
man, and learned much from him. Without any of the graces of oratory, as learned
in the schools, Thornton was an orator by nature. He spoke with an ease which I
have never seen surpassed. His voice was singularly melodious, and had great
compass and power. He had the simplicity of a child, and his feelings were both
ardent and tender. His fluency was so great that I never saw him at a loss for a
word, and though his words appeared to be unstudied, they were selected so well
that no study could have made a better choice. He was a man of few books, but
first among them was the Bible, and next to it he prized and studied the works
of Dr. Gill. As his heart fully received the doctrines of grace, so he had a
mind which was able clearly to unfold them. When in the proper frame, (for he
was a man of impulse and variable temperament,) he gave those doctrines a form
and breathed into them a spirit which showed them, to be indeed a gospel of
power and life.

  In one of the preaching tours to which I have referred, a member of the first
church he visited, being pleased with his sermon, determined to go with him to
his second appointment and return home the next day. But the second sermon
pleased him more than the first, and he concluded to go on and see if the third
would be as good. He decided it to be better, and he determined to stick to the
preacher to the end of the trip, which extended to the borders of Alabama. He
declared himself richly paid for his trouble, and though at the end he could not
tell which sermon excelled, he declared they were all best.

  He served a number of churches for a greater or less length of time. Of Smyrna
he was pastor four years; Baytown, twen-two years, embracing very near the whole
period of his ministerial career; Crawfordsville, six years; Phillips' Mill,
twelve years; White Plains, three years; Washington, five years; Madison, ten
years; Bethesda, seven years. I should have said pastor "so called" for all his
labors were on the once-or-twice-a-month schedule.

  The members of these churches always remembered his services with pleasure,
and delighted to have a visit from him. Under his ministry revivals were
frequent, and he was very successful in building up the churches to which he
preached. Perhaps in Madison his labors were most successful in this respect.
When he commenced preaching there, the church was small and feeble, and in the
course of ten years they were able to support a settled pastor. When they
reached that point he left them, because neither he nor his wife were willing to
live in a town.

  While he was an earnest supporter of missions in general, he took especial
interest in the missions to the Indians, and for several years acted as a
voluntary and unpaid agent of the Indian Mission Association, (afterwards merged
in the Domestic Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.)

  As has been said, he was in easy circumstances; having inherited a moderate
competency from his father, which was increased by some property received with
his wife. His churches generally paid him what was considered a liberal salary.
In the management of his affairs he was economical and prudent, without being
mean and niggardly. At his home he dispensed a liberal farmer-like hospitality,
being always glad to receive his friends, and enjoying their society and
conversation with rare zest. But he required a conformity to the usages of his
household, which to some was a serious impediment to the enjoyment of his
hospitality. An instance may be stated in reference to that most excellent and
distinguished brother, Dr. A. C. Dayton, author of Theodosia Ernest, etc. The
first time he visited Georgia, he came as a Bible agent. After spending a day or
two at Penfield, he was advised to go to Thornton's, who could give him full
information in regard to the churches in Burke and Jefferson counties. Thornton
received him gladly, and enjoyed his society. But at eight o'clock he had
worship and went to bed, dismissing Dayton in about these words, "Brother
Dayton, you can go to your room up stairs, where you shall have fire and
candles, but I always go to bed at eight." Theodosia went to his room well
enough pleased with his part of the arrangement and sat up pretty late writing.
"What was his horror, however, to be disturbed next morning by a servant coming
in at four o'clock to make a fire, summoning him to prayers and breakfast. About
two months afterwards, having finished his tour in the lower counties, Dayton
again visited Thornton, was again gladly welcomed and kindly entertained, and
was once more sent to bed at eight o'clock and called up at four. That day, a
little after sunrise, as good brother Davis, of Greensboro, (whose house was a
free Baptist hotel,) was going to breakfast, he heard a call at the gate. It was
from Dr. Dayton, who had come nine miles from Thornton on one of the coldest
winter mornings. " Brother Dayton, I am glad to see you. Breakfast is just
ready; come in and eat with us." "Well," replied Dayton, "I ate breakfast last
night at brother Thornton's, but I'll take a little more, as it's morning now."
Dayton never went to Thornton's again, though the latter never knew that it was
his anti-lucan repast that drove him off. Thornton's health was usually good,
even to robustness. In person, he was rather below the ordinary height, stout
and built for strength, and he early became corpulent. In November, 1854, he had
a paralytic stroke, which attacked him soon after preaching at White Plains.
From this attack he never fully recovered. Though he soon got able to go about,
he never regained his former distinct utterance, and never more undertook to
preach. He continued, however, to labor in the Master's cause, and became the
faithful, zealous and efficient superintendent of the Sunday-school at Phillips'
Mill, where he had been the revered and eloquent pastor. It was a most affecting
sight to see the profound preacher, upon whose lips large congregations had so
often hung, now devoting himself, with painful and labored and often indistinct
articulation, to the instruction of children. Yet, even thus, he was doing good
and magnifying his office. Stricken and afflicted as he was, he was more deeply
seated in the affections of his brethren than when he preached with the greatest
power. There was a pathos in his broken utterance and an eloquence in his
tottering form that was never felt when his words flowed most sweetly, and his
person swelled with the majesty of his sublimest conceptions.*

   *The last time he met with the Board of Trustees of Mercer University will
never be forgotten by those who were present. As he entered the room, the
members simultaneously rose to their feet and pressed around him, endeavoring in
vain to restrain their tears. It was the last time some of us ever saw
him.—[AUTHOR.]

  A second paralytic stroke in April, 1856, closed his useful life. He died the
day after the attack, without having been able to speak. Once he tried to say
something to his wife, but failed. A pencil was put in his hand, but he could
not use it, and the dying thought is known only to God. Was it a farewell token
of affection to those he loved so well? Was it a last testimonial to that
sovereign grace, whose fullness he was so soon to enjoy? For months he had known
that his life hung by a thread, and, expecting that his death would be sudden,
he lived daily watching for the Master's call.+ I saw him twice within a short
time before his death, and on both occasions he requested me to preach at his
funeral, and made known to me the text he desired me to use. It was
characteristic both of his theology and his experience: "I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day:" 2d Timothy, i. 12. He directed his grave to be
covered by a plain slab, inscribed only with his name and the simple expression
of his confidence in Him whom he believed: "I shall rise again"

+ Rev. N. M. Crawford.


  At the next session of the Georgia Association the following-mention was made
of him by the committee on deceased ministers, the report being written by H. H,
Tucker, D. D., then President of Mercer University: "Endowed by nature with a
mind of remarkable power, he had enriched it with large stores of that knowledge
which is above all knowledge most useful to a preacher of the gospel. If his
intellectual endowments were not varied, they were certainly profound. Some one
has remarked, that 'a man of one book is always to be dreaded.' If thorough
acquaintance with a human production so arms a man for the conflicts of life,
what must be the power of him whose one book is the Bible? Brother Thornton was
emphatically a man of the Bible. Few other books claimed his attention; yet he
had one other favorite. The writings of the learned John Gill were his constant
study. Perhaps few men have ever made themselves so thoroughly familiar with the
voluminous works of that author as the subject of this notice. As might be
inferred from what has just been stated, brother Thornton was a zealous advocate
of the precious doctrines of grace. There are those who love these doctrines,
but who preach them in a form half disguised, as if to apologize for what some
are pleased to call their severity. Brother Thornton preached them boldly. The
most startling issues to which they give rise he did not avoid, nor half avoid,
but stated them fully and fearlessly, and met them with surprising ability and
ease. Perhaps the most remarkable feature in his preaching was the apparently
effortless manner in which he explained and defended, with irresistible
argument, the great doctrines of the cross. He has gone to his reward, but we
dare to believe that he has not changed his theology. Grace was his theme while
among us, and grace is his theme now that he is among the angels." Fine as this
eulogy is, its best quality is its truth.

  If Thornton had always, or generally, been in private what he so generally was
in the pulpit, it would have been impossible to overstate his power for good;
but, unfortunately, he was not so. His character was not round, but full of
points, and, unhappily, evil was often prominent. As before said, he was often
rude and coarse, frequently light, and sometimes petulant. He was firm even to
obstinacy, and sometimes exhibited this disposition on light and improper
occasions. Mr. Mercer was, perhaps, the originator of a saying which became
proverbial. On one occasion, when Thornton had announced his position, (an
unwelcome one to some of the brethren, who wished to remonstrate with him,) Mr.
Mercer overruled them, and said, "Brother Vince has got his mule in him, and it
is not worth while to say anything to him." But, after all, from an intimate
acquaintance with the men, I am convinced that Thornton was not a whit more
obstinate than several of his compeers, who escaped the reproval, and frequently
joined with others in speaking of "brother Vince's mule." They had more of the
suaviter in modo, but just as immovable in fixedness of purpose. Yet, with all
his foibles, faults and eccentricities, every one had confidence in Thornton's
piety, and was willing to make allowance for the perversities of his nature and
the defects of his training; for, through all was seen the depth of that work of
grace which so often and so richly cropped out above the defects of his earthly
nature.

  I have spoken of his occasional coarseness, yet I have seen him frequently in
the presence of ladies, and never have I observed in him, at such times, any
deportment unbecoming a gentleman in the most refined society. Mingled with his
other elements, he had a native regard for the feelings of others, which led him
to avoid what he believed would be offensive. I have never known a man in whom
so many opposite qualities contended for mastery.

  It is said that, to find out a man's true character, you should travel with
him. If this is true, Thornton stood the test admirably. I took several journeys
with him, both in public and private conveyances, and I never traveled with a
more pleasant companion. He was always willing to conform to the wishes of his
fellow-travelers, and if, at any time, he had a preference, after stating the
grounds of it, he would leave the decision to the others. He had an unfailing
fund of anecdote, grave and gay, pathetic and humorous, to beguile the tedium of
the road, and not unfrequently the full gushes of his deep religious experience
would enrich the hearer.

  A few personal reminiscences and anecdotes may be of use in illustrating his
many-sided character:

  "I saw, for the first time, Vince Thornton, (as he was then called, and
continued familiarly to be called to the day of his death) when he was in
college in 1822. I was then but eleven years old, and being timid and shy, was
very unfavorably impressed by his rude and boisterous sporting. I did not see
him again till the summer of 1843, two months after I united with the church at
Antioch, in Oglethorpe county. A general meeting brought Thornton there. I was
very powerfully attracted by the excellence of his sermons. From that time our
intercourse was frequent and our friendship uninterrupted. At that meeting an
incident occurred illustrating one of his peculiar traits. One day, Jonathan
Davis, then in the zenith of his power and popularity, had preached a most
impressive sermon on the text, 'Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men.' After that sermon, the pastor, B. M. Sanders, exhorted and invited
mourners to come forward. Thirty or forty presented themselves. Recess was taken
for dinner, and Thornton was appointed to preach in the afternoon. He tried to
beg off, but of course Sanders held him to the appointment. He took for his
text, 'Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?' His first words
were, "God has an elect people," and then went on to preach on the doctrine of
election, a sermon, as I thought, of unsurpassed ability. At its conclusion,
brother Sanders exhorted again, but it required much effort to get only five or
six to come forward. As Thornton came out of the church, he said to a friend, 'I
told you how it would be; I knew I would put out all of Jonathan's fire.' In
fact we had reason to believe that he selected his theme because he suspected
that the fire of the morning had been, as he said, 'all foxfire.'

  "Fifteen months afterwards, I was brought into collision with Thornton at the
Association, held that year at Antioch. He held the appointment as preacher of
the missionary sermon. The difficulties which, six months afterwards, led to the
organization of the Southern Baptist Convention were then approaching a crisis.
Thornton rose in the body, on Saturday morning, and after graphically explaining
the condition of things, and predicting the coming rupture, emphatically
expressed the opinion that no money could be raised to be sent to the Nothern
board, and moved that the missionary sermon be dispensed with. The Association
remained silent, and the moderator was about to put the vote, when I, though one
of the youngest, and personally acquainted with but few of the members, rose and
made a short but warm speech in opposition to the motion. Brother Stocks and
others followed on the same side, and the motion failed. Thornton, however, was
excused from preaching. W. T. Brantly was appointed in his place, and succeeded
in spite of the predictions, and, probably, partly in consequence of them, in
obtaining a very large collection. After the session in which the vote was
taken, I was surprised at being approached by several brethren who thanked me
for my course, particularly as they said, no other member would have dared to
oppose Thornton. We staid together that night and occupied the same room, and he
was most cordial in his bearing towards me. This is worthy of notice merely
because he was considered by some impatient of opposition.

  "Some years afterwards, he floored me in the Association about as badly as I
did him in the foregoing instance. I had made a motion in which I felt great
interest. Some opposition was made, but it was evident that the body was with
me. Thornton, who was moderator, waited till the debate appeared to be closed,
and then, instead of putting the vote, he left the chair and made a speech in
opposition to my motion. I saw that the effect was instant and decided, and
though I made the best fight I could, my motion was lost. I regretted the
result, but thought no more about it. During the recess for dinner, a brother
told me that Thornton was looking for me, and presently I met him. He wanted, he
said, to apologize for his interference, and to express the hope that I would
not be hurt with him. Of course I replied that no apology was needed; when no
offense had been, intended or received. But I mention the incident as showing
his tenderness towards the feelings of those whom he liked.

  "Riding in a carriage with him and J. Q. West, after the Association at
Warrenton, in 1850, had adjourned, driving rapidly, we passed the blackest
negro, I think, I ever saw, glossy, jet black, making a perfect contrast with
his ivory teeth. As usual, on the breaking up of public meetings, we were in a
jovial mood. Thornton, who saw the negro first, was affected by his ludicrous
appearance, and addressed him with a boisterous laugh, calling him 'snow-ball.'
Sitting where I was, I could see the poor negro was mortified, and I immediately
said, 'Brother Thornton, you ought not to have spoken to the negro in that way.
You have hurt his feelings, which, perhaps are as tender as either of ours.' He
sobered down at once: 'Well,’ said he, ‘it was wrong, I am sorry for it; and, if
I could meet him again, I would ask his pardon.' And so he would, in all honesty
and humility. Indeed, I have never known any one who received reproof more
kindly than Thornton, when administered in kindness.

  "I will mention one incident, illustrative of his conscientiousness and
fixedness of purpose. Like most of our ministers, he was in the habit of
smoking. While preaching to the church in Madison, he staid one night with the
family of Dr. J. The doctor was not at that time a member of the church, but his
wife was regarded as one of the best women in the community. After dinner,
knowing that the doctor, who was absent, smoked, asked the lady for a segar.
There were none in the house, and the minister went to his room. A few minutes
afterwards a servant knocked at the door, and coming in, handed him a dozen
segars neatly rolled up in brown paper. Upon inquiry, it was found that the
mistress had sent the servant to the grocery, Sunday as it was, to buy the
segars for her much-loved pastor. The conviction at once crossed his mind that,
through a desire to accommodate his taste for, at best, a useless luxury, a good
sister had been induced to give her countenance to a desecration of the Lord's
day, and he determined that he would never smoke again. The segars, unopened,
were laid on the dressing table, and left there; and Thornton used tobacco no more.

  "At one of his regular appointments, he had preached (no unusual thing with
him,) a sermon full of the strong meat of the gospel. Some one reported it, of
course very imperfectly and probably incorrectly, to the Methodist preacher in
charge at the place, and it was soon whispered around that next Sunday the
preacher would answer Thornton's sermon. Preach he did, and commented on the
'Baptist doctrine' with all his power, though he was far inferior in talent to
the Baptist. Of course it was taken for granted that Thornton would reply. A
week of excitement followed, and the town was all agog for a hot theological
discussion. When the Baptist pastor arrived Saturday evening, the brother with
whom he put up reported what had occurred, and told him it was expected he would
reply to the Methodist preacher the next day. Thornton said nothing. The next
morning the church was crowded, and every one was full of expectation to see how
a man of Thornton's known ability, and somewhat irascible temper, would meet the
unprovoked attack made upon him in his absence. After going through the usual
preliminary service, the preacher quietly took his text, 'Remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy.' Never was a congregation more disappointed, never were a
people more reproved, never the brethren better pleased! The Methodist preacher
was conquered, and nobody ever again spoke of his onslaught but to laugh at it.
Thornton's sermons were not attacked again in that place.

  "In the early history of Mercer University, there occurred a difficulty
between the President, Otis Smith, and the "Resident board" of trustees,
(afterwards substituted by the Prudential Committee,) of which B. M. Sanders was
chairman. Thornton sustained Smith, who was a connexion by marriage and an
intimate personal friend. The strife was bitter and protracted. The result was
that Smith left the institution, and Thornton, in disgust, resigned his seat
both in the board of trustees and the executive committee of the Convention. The
alienation between him and Sanders was complete, and continued several years. At
length Thornton was re-elected both to the trusteeship and the committee.
Gradually he and Sanders resumed their personal intercourse, and the old wound
was healed. Soon afterwards, Sanders was prostrated by the disease of which he
lingered until his death. During his illness, Thornton one day said to me, 'I
can never be sufficiently grateful that brother Sanders and myself have become
reconciled, for if he had died while we were alienated from each other, I should
never have forgiven myself for allowing so good a man to die without being my
friend.1

  "Thornton was destitute of ambition. Instead of seeking, he shunned,
'pre-eminence.' He was several times, against his will, elected moderator of the
Georgia Association. The first time he seriously offended his friends by his
speech on taking the chair. He began by saying most ungraciously, 'Brethren, I
do not thank you for the office, for I do not want it;' and then there was
nothing in the few remarks that followed, or in his manner, to take away the
sting. But, at the close of the meeting he reinstated himself by his few words
of farewell. He said, 'Brethren, when you elected me your moderator, I did not
thank you; but I thank you now; not that I value the office, but the kindness
and affection and confidence, which prompted you to vote for me, are to my heart
above all price.' And he spoke to them in a strain of tenderness which melted
all hearts.

  "Thornton was not a student. His sermons for the most part were studied while
riding on his plantation or to his appointments. In this way he had the analysis
and the train of argument firmly fixed in his mind; but, for the filling up and
the clothing of the thought in words, he relied much on the inspiration of the
hour of preaching. But that rarely failed him; never in my hearing. His sermons
(for I have heard him preach more than once on the same text,) on ‘Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect,' and on Romans viii. 2, preached at the
Georgia Baptist Convention, at Griffin, in 1848, were fair specimens of his
preaching.

  "What he was as a preacher, his contemporaries know and appreciate, but
posterity will have no other memorial of him than may be found in the imperfect
accounts that his brethren may leave, for he wrote nothing. I do not think that
he ever wrote an article even for the periodical press. Various causes conspired
to produce in him a disinclination to write, but perhaps the strongest was a
natural indolence, which inclined him to take his ease, except where action
seemed to promise some definite result. If he had taken pains to cultivate the
art of writing, I believe his written style would have equalled what Dr. Tucker
so happily calls 'the apparently effortless manner' of his preaching. But as he
did not take the necessary pains, it is, perhaps, fortunate that he wrote
nothing, for he has left nothing to impeach the universal testimony of the
generation that knew him, who, with one voice, pronounce him unsurpassed as a
preacher among the men of his day. For myself, whenever I recall the sermons I
have heard him preach, I think of Luke's description of Apollos: 'An eloquent
man, and mighty in the scriptures.'"


Additional Comments:
From:

GEORGIA BAPTISTS: HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
BY
J. H. CAMPBELL,
PERRY, GEORGIA.


MACON, GA.: J. W. BURKE & COMPANY. 1874.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
J. H. CAMPBELL,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.


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