Biography of R. Edward Thornton

R. EDWARD THORNTON has shown marked abilty in the
development of industrial enterprises of important order
and is now a leading exponent of the real estate business
at Princeton, Mercer County, with secure standing as one of
the representative citizens of his native county.

Mr. Thornton was born in Mercer County in December,
1860, and is a son of William M. and Eliza J. (Hatcher)
Thornton, both natives of Virginia, where the respective
families were established in an early day, the lineage of the
Thornton family tracing back to stanch Scotch-Irish origin.
William M. Thornton became one of the prosperous farm-
ers of Mercer County, and also did considerable work as a
photographist. In the Civil war he was a gallant soldier
of the Confederate service as a member of the Seventeenth
Virginia Infantry, under command of Colonel French. In
an engagement near Clarks, West Virginia, he received a
minor wound in his left arm. He and his wife were earnest
and zealous members of the Baptist Church, and Mrs.
Thornton was deeply interested in educational matters and
in furthering the social welfare of her home community.

The schools of his home district afforded B. Edward
Thornton his preliminary education, which was supple-
mented by his attending the Concord State Normal School
at Athens, Mercer County, and by a course in the Spencerian
Business College in the City of Washington, D. C. There-
after he taught three terms in the rural schools of Mercer
County, and then turned his attention to the mercantile
business, of which he became one of the most progressive
and successful representatives in this section of the state,
he having had at one time five stores in various towns in
Mercer, Summers and McDowell counties. In 1898 he
opened a clothing store at Bluefield, and later he sold this
business to his brother, who still conducts the same. At
North Fork and Athens and also at Princeton he estab-
lished clothing and men's furnish-goods stores, and at
Willowton and Lerona he conducted general stores. All of
these enterprises proved successful under his vigorous and
careful management, and in 1910 he sold all of these in-
terests and has since been a leader in the handling of real
estate in his native county. He is the owner of much
valuable realty in the county, and in addition to controlling
a general real estate business that is of broad scope and
importance he incidentally developed a prosperous insur-
ance business, which he sold in 1917. His operations are
conducted under the title of the Thornton Land Company,
and he has done much to advance civic and material develop-
ment in Mercer County. Mr. Thornton is a progressive and
loyal citizen, is an active member of the Princeton Business
Men's Club, is affiliated with the Blue Lodge and Chapter
of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife are active
members of the Missionary Baptist Church. In 1884, at
Wykel, Monroe County, was solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Thornton and Miss Laura Broyles, daughter of
Augustus and Rebecca Broyles. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton
have the enviable distinction of having one of the largest
and finest families of children in West Virginia, their chil-
dren being as follows: Samuel C., Minnie E., Cora D., Clark
M., Frank R., Ray S., Fred L., King N., Mae B., Effie H.,
Edward B., Buna L., Harry B. and Ben Hatcher. Samuel
married Mabel M. Carr and they reside at Princeton;
Minnie is the wife of J. M. Hines, of this city; Cora is the
wife of George E. Hilsheimar, of Princeton; Clark M., who
is engaged in the practice of law at Princeton, married
Katherine Duling and in the World war period he was a
musician with the Headquarters Company of the Fifty-
seventh United States Infantry at Camp Logan, Texas;
Frank R., who is not married and a resident of Princeton,
made a splendid record as a member of the United States
Marine Corps in the period of the World war; Ray S. gained
a commission as second lieutenant in the United States
Army in the World war; Fred L. was in service with the
merchant-marine of the navy and made one voyage to Brest,
France, before the close of the war; and King N. was in a
naval training school at the time when the war came to a
close. In the patriotism and loyal service of his sons Mr.
Thornton has further reason for pride in his remarkable
family of children.


From The History of West Virginia, Old and New, page 43-44

Submitted by Valerie F. Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>

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