William Thornton (Virginia burgess)
| William Thornton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 20, 1717 Gloucester County, Virginia, USA |
| Died | 1790 (aged 72) Brunswick County, Virginia, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Planter, Politician |
William Thornton (December 20, 1717 - 1790) was a planter and public official in Colonial Virginia. Thornton served as member of the House of Burgesses for Brunswick County from 1756–68 and as justice of the county and of the quorum as early as 1760 and as late as 1774/5. Thornton was the great-grandson of William Thornton who arrived in Virginia from England as late as 1646 settling in Gloucester County, Virginia. He was through his paternal line a cousin of fellow burgesses, Francis Thornton of Spotsylvania, Presley Thornton of Northumberland, George Thornton of Spotsylvania, William Thornton of King George and William Thornton of Richmond County, Virginia. In addition to his fellow burgesses he was a distant cousin of the future Presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor.
William Thornton was born in Gloucester County, Virginia to Francis Thornton (1692 – 1737) and Ann Sterling. His father was a wealthy planter of Petsworth Parish, where the Thornton family had been established since the 1640s. Thornton's mother was Ann Sterling a daughter and heiress of Peter Sterling, a colonial surgeon and planter. Peter Sterling was first recorded in 1670 as 'Peter Sterling Gent.' owning approximately 1000 acres in Baltimore County, Maryland. By 1671 Sterling was in Gloucester County, Virginia and where he gave power of attorney to Thomas Long to oversee his landholdings and legal matters in Maryland. Sterling's daughters Ann (later Mrs. William Thornton) and Mary (Later Mrs. James Clack) were orphaned by 1711 and appear to have prudently managed their father's estate adding 400 acres on Horn Harbor Creek through a land patent for the importation of nine women to the Colony. Thornton’s father would go on to inherit the lands of his grandfather and would serve as a vestryman of Petsworth Parish. As part of the planting elite he was afforded an education far above that of most colonial Americans. Though it is not precisely known where he received his education it is likely he attended the College of William & Mary, as currently no records indicate he was sent to England as a number of sons of Virginia planters were. He married his first cousin Jane Clack on June 25, 1736 at Ware Parish. The church had been built by her paternal grandfather, an Oxford educated Anglican minister during his tenure.
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