Thornhill Plantation, Greene County, Alabama

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OVERVIEW

By 1860, Thornhill was home to a Black community of at least 156 enslaved men, women, and children, making it one of the larger enslaved communities in Greene County, Alabama. Their labor sustained a plantation encompassing more than 2,000 acres near Forkland in Alabama’s Black Belt. Cotton dominated agricultural production, but the people of Thornhill also raised corn, oats, potatoes, livestock, and other provisions necessary to sustain the plantation community. The two story frame mansion occupied by the enslaver’s family featured a mahogany spiral staircase that was built by carpenters who were brought from Virginia.

Moses Thornton, born about 1810 in Virginia, appears in the 1870 census in Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama, about age 60, working as a farm laborer and living with his wife Betsey. By 1880, he was living in York Beat, Sumter County, where he was recorded as a farmer with his wife Patsy Thornton. Records connect Moses to Beverly Thornton, a relative who in spite of a society that outlawed Black literacy had become literate, according to Virginia Freedmen’s Bureau Records. An older man named Mark Thornton, born about 1772 in Virginia, lived immediately next to Moses in Sumter County, Alabama in 1870. Mark Thornton’s record suggests Black family roots at the Thornton family’s Fall Hill plantation in Virginia. The emerging history of the Moses Thornton family suggests that Thornhill should be understood as one point within a much larger geography of a Black community that was moved from Virginia to Alabama.

56 people were enslaved by James Innes Thornton in 1840, 97 in 1850, and increased to 156 by 1860. Many of these people likely lived as families spanning several generations. Some may also have shared family histories extending back to Virginia: Thornton came to Alabama from slaveholding family at Fall Hill Plantation, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and historical accounts describe him bringing enslaved workers and carpenters from Virginia to Alabama.

The physical landscape at Thornhill reflected both forced labor and Black domestic life. Historical documentation describes log dwellings along a ridge behind the mansion; at least six were still standing when the property was photographed in the 1930s, with additional quarters probably once located elsewhere on the estate. A plantation bell was used to summon workers to and from the fields. Within and around these spaces, Black residents cooked, raised children, maintained households, cared for relatives, and sustained family and community relationships while being subjected to the labor regime of a large cotton plantation.

Quick Stats:

  • 156 enslaved in 1860
  • 97 enslaved in 1850
  • 56 enslaved in 1840
  • Location: Watsonia, Greene County, Alabama

ENSLAVED PERSONS

Individuals and Families

Thornton family: Moses Thornton (b.ca.1810-d.?); Patsy Thornton (b?-d.?) – wife of Moses Thornton; Willis Thornton (b.ca.1836-d.1920) – son of Moses and Patsy Thornton; Mark Thornton (b.ca.1772-d.?) – neighbor of Moses Thornton in 1870; Beverly Thornton (b.?-d.?) – relative of Moses Thornton

U.S. Federal Slave Schedule Abstracts

  • 1860: Jurisdiction – Forkland, Greene Co., AL; Persons recorded – James Thornton (enslaver), 156 enslaved
  • 1850: Jurisdiction – Greene Co., AL; Persons recorded – James Thornton (enslaver), 97 enslaved
  • 1840: Jurisdiction – Greene Co. AL; Persons recorded – James Thornton (enslaver), 56 enslaved

ENSLAVERS

Enslaver Families

Thornton family: James Innes Thornton (b.1800-d.1877); Mary Amelia Glover Thornton (b.1829-d.?) – daughter of A. and S.S.N. Glover of Rosemount Plantation, Greene County, Alabama, wife of J.I. Thornton (m.1825); Ann Amelia Smith Thornton (b.1811-d.1864) – second wife of J.I. Thornton; Delia Frances Thornton (b.1832-d.1910) – daughter of J.I. and A.A.S. Thornton; George Francis Thornton (b.1838-d.1893) – son of J.I. and A.A.S. Thornton; Catherine M. “Kate” Thornton (b.1840-d.1870) – daughter of J.I. and A.A.S. Thornton; Ennis Thornton (b.1841-d.1878) – daughter of J.I. and A.A.S. Thornton; Harry Innes Thornton (b.1845-d.?) – son of J.I. and A.A.S. Thornton; Butler Brayne Thornton (b.1846-d.1905) – daughter of J.I. and A.A.S. Thornton; Sarah Williams Gould Thornton (b.1824-d.1885) – third wife of J.I. Thornton (m.1870), daughter of W.P. and E.C. Gould from Hill of Howth, Greene County, Alabama

RESEARCH TO-DO

  • Search 1870 Greene County census records for neighboring Black families, especially individuals from Virginia
  • Examine the book “Back of the Big House: The Cultural Landscape of the Plantation” (John Michael Vlach, 1993, UNC Press) for more details on the lives of the Black community at Thornhill

SOURCES

2 Comments

  1. Moses Thornton (born ~1810, Virginia) — enslaved at Thornhill Plantation. Documented in:

    •   1870 Federal Census, Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama, dwelling 732, age 60,    birthplace Virginia, Farm Laborer, wife Betsey age 50
•   1880 Federal Census, York Beat No. 6, Sumter County, Alabama, age ~70, Farmer, wife Patsy age ~70
•   Freedmen’s Bureau Records, Virginia M1913, Alexandria, Roll 055, Miscellaneous Records 1865-1868
•   Freedmen’s Bureau Records — complaint with Beverly Thornton that family members held by former enslaver were ordered off land after making a good crop

    Mark Thornton (born ~1772, Virginia) — likely enslaved at Fall Hill then Thornhill. Documented in 1870 census, Sumter County, dwelling 733, age 98, neighbor of Moses Thornton

    Beverly Thornton — relative of Moses. Documented in Freedmen’s Bureau Records, Virginia M1913, Warrenton, Roll 178. Described as literate, “good man” in 1867 Prince William County loyalty letter

    Willis Thornton (born ~1836, Goochland County, Virginia) — son of Moses and Patsy. Death certificate 1920, Goochland County Virginia, lists father as Moses Thornton, mother Patsy, birthplace Gordonsville Virginia

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