Rev. William Thornton
2025 Black History Month: Unsung Heroes
Hampton, VA
This Black History Month, the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project honors an unsung hero who lived his entire life near Old Point Comfort, Hampton, Virginia.
William A. Thornton (1815 – 1909) lived his entire life near Old Point Comfort (today, the site of Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA) where captive Africans disembarked in 1619. Born into slavery, he was the child of a White father and a mother of African descent. He learned secretly how to read and write from legendary African American teacher Mary Peake. At that time, schools for enslaved and free Blacks were outlawed.
Married to Norfolk native Ellen Houston, he was the father of 10 or 11 children. Thornton rented himself out as a carpenter, giving his enslaver a percentage of his pay. On May 24, 1861, after Virginia seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, Union Army General Benjamin Butler declared any self-emancipated person who reached Union lines a “Contraband of War,” not subject to return to a Confederate owner. In response, more than ten thousand escapees flocked to Fort Monroe, General Butler’s headquarters.
During this period, Thornton became a minister and in 1863 founded Zion Baptist Church of Phoebus, serving as its pastor for 39 years. Additionally, he helped open a hospital, schools for the refugees, and he also donated land for a cemetery where he and countless other formerly enslaved African Americans were laid to rest.
Between 1863-1864, as a member of the U.S. Colored Troops, he served as a Landman for the storeship Brandywine while it was anchored at Fort Monroe. As the number of escapees increased, they were pressured to emigrate to Florida. Thornton, who chaired the committee charged with considering the option, resisted and instead doubled down on his commitment and advocated building community in Phoebus, a Hampton neighborhood and home to formerly enslaved people.
After speaking at a public emancipation commemoration in 1866, Rev. Thornton received death threats. Abolishing slavery had not ended racial violence. That winter, as a spokesman for his community, he traveled to Washington, DC, to testify before the Congressional Joint Committee on Reconstruction. His post-Emancipation work included creating with others a community trust called the Lincoln Land Association to help freemen on Virginia’s lower Peninsula buy land for collective farms. Beginning in 1872, Rev. Thornton served six terms as a curator of Hampton Institute, built with assistance from the American Missionary Association. Hampton Institute’s 1879 anniversary program was attended by members of the U.S. Cabinet, Senate, and Congress, as well as two honored Black leaders, including Rev. Thornton. Within a decade, graduates of the Institute were teaching thousands of Black children throughout the South. Other graduates entered professional fields or pursued politics. Despite his consequential contributions, to date Rev. Thornton has not been mentioned in the Hampton History Museum, and a sign has never been installed at the Phoebus cemetery, a treasure-trove of unrecognized local and state history. To honor Rev. William A.Thornton’s legacy, please share his story.
