A. J. Thornton, P. O., Little Rock. Was born in Saline county, in 1833 on the Daniel Thornton farm, where Mr. A. Price now lives. He went to school and farmed, until he was twenty-eight years old. He then went to blacksmithing on the home farm, having learned the trade mostly by himself. He worked there until 1876, when he moved to Saline City and there followed his trade. Mr. Thornton was married in 1860 to Miss Sarah J. Wiley of this county, a daughter of N. Wiley, and a native of North Carolina. Their family consists of two boys and six girls; Henry, Charley, Mary B., Susan A., Alice, Clara L., Rebecca E. and Sallie B. October 16, 1864, he enlisted in the confederate army as it passed through Saline county, on Price’s last raid. He was a private on detached service, and was discharged in the spring of 1865. He is the youngest son of Daniel Thornton, one of the oldest settlers of Saline county. In July, 1865, while going on a steamboat from Shreveport to Baton Rouge, with 250 soldiers, when about fifteen miles below Shreveport on Red River, the boat struck a snag and sank and broke in two. Quite a number were thrown into the river, and about sixty were drowned. Mr. Thornton escaped by swimming. Coming home on the steamer Henry Ames, when just above Vicksburg, Mr. Thornton was standing on the hurricane deck, and noticed that the boat was on fire in the pilot house. By prompt alarm and action, the fire was extinguished and the boat was saved.
