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John Randolph Thornton
JohnRThornton
United States Senator
from Louisiana

In office
December 7, 1910 – March 4, 1915
Appointed by Jared Y. Sanders Sr., August 27, 1910
Preceded by Samuel D. McEnery
Succeeded by Robert F. Broussard
Personal details
Born (1846-08-25)August 25, 1846
Iberville Parish, Louisiana, U.S.
Died December 28, 1917(1917-12-28) (aged 71)
Alexandria, Louisiana, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Military service
Allegiance Confederate National Flag since Mar 4 1865 Confederate States of America
Service/branch Battle flag of the US Confederacy Confederate States Army
Rank Private
Unit Louisiana 2nd Louisiana Cavalry

John Randolph Thornton (August 25, 1846 – December 28, 1917) was a United States Senator from Louisiana.

Biography[]

Born on Notoway plantation (near White Castle, Iberville Parish), he moved with his parents to Rapides Parish in 1853. He attended Parker Seminary (Pineville), the McGruder Institute (Baton Rouge) and the Louisiana Seminary (afterwards the Louisiana State University) at Pineville until 1863. He enlisted in the Confederate States Army and served until the close of the Civil War in Company B, Second Louisiana Cavalry.[1][2]

He engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1877, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice in Rapides Parish. He was judge of Rapides Parish from 1878 to 1880 and a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1898. From 1904 to 1910 he was a member of the board of Supervisors of the State university.[1]

Thornton was appointed as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate on August 27, 1910, and was subsequently elected[2] to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Samuel D. McEnery, serving from December 7, 1910, to March 4, 1915; he was not a candidate for reelection to the Senate. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Fisheries (Sixty-third Congress). He was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson a member of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification and served from 1915 to 1917, and resumed the practice of law in Alexandria, Louisiana; he died there in 1917. Interment was in Rapides Cemetery, Pineville.[1][3]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Thornton, John Randolph". United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000241. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Official Journal of the Proceedings of House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Ramires & Jones. 1910. pp. 25–31. 
  3. "John Hampden Randolph Thornton". Find A Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7931466. 

Sources[]

United States Senate
Preceded by
Samuel D. McEnery
U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Louisiana
December 7, 1910 – March 3, 1915
Served alongside: Murphy J. Foster, Joseph E. Ransdell
Succeeded by
Robert F. Broussard
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at John Thornton (American politician) and the edit history here.
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