J. Williams Thorne

{{Short description|American politician}}

Joseph Williams Thorne (December 25, 1816 - 1897) was a politician in North Carolina. He was from the North. He was a Quaker.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z9rKDwAAQBAJ | title=Quaker Carpetbagger: J. Williams Thorne, Underground Railroad Host Turned North Carolina Politician | isbn=9781476637747 | last1=Longley | first1=Max | date=17 January 2020 | publisher=McFarland }} He served in the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate. He was also a delegate at one of the state's constitutional conventions. He wrote poetry.

He was born in Pennsylvania.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l68vk1mxjsgC&dq=%22joseph+williams.thorne%22&pg=PA48|title=Race and Politics in North Carolina, 1872–1901: The Black Second|first=Eric|last=Anderson|date=December 1, 1980|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=9780807107843 |via=Google Books}} He succeeded a deceased member of the North Carolina House in 1874.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spU-AAAAYAAJ&dq=j.w.+thorne+north+carolina+1874&pg=PA604|title=Reconstruction in North Carolina|first=Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac|last=Hamilton|date=October 5, 1914|publisher=Columbia University|isbn=978-0-231-92554-9 |via=Google Books}} He lived in and represented Warren County.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R89MAQAAMAAJ&dq=j.w.+thorne+north+carolina+1874&pg=PA465|title=Journal of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina|first=North Carolina General Assembly House of|last=Representatives|date=October 5, 1875|publisher=M.S. Littlefield|via=Google Books}}

He was tried according to a statute against legislators denying the existence of almighty God.{{Cite web|url=https://picryl.com/amp/media/thorne-j-williams-ba359c|title=Thorne, J. Williams, Frederick Douglass papers - PICRYL Public Domain Image|website=picryl.com}} He was expelled from the North Carolina House of Representatives.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OMsPAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22joseph+williams.thorne%22&pg=PA257|title=The Poets and Poetry of Chester County, Pennsylvania|first=George|last=Johnston|date=December 11, 1890|publisher=J.B. Lippincott|via=Google Books}}

In a letter he stated he was for temperance and against all use of alcohol and never played cards.{{Cite web|url=https://loc.getarchive.net/media/thorne-j-williams-d8fc54|title=Thorne, J. Williams, Frederick Douglass papers|date=January 1, 1876|website=Library of Congress}}

During the 1874 session there were four African American state senators and 13 African Americans in the North Carolina House of Representatives, both bodies having large Democratic Party majorities. In 1914, Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton as the last "carpetbagger"in the legislature and as someone "not suffered to remain long" in the office he held.{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzN3G37_fGYC&dq=%22J.+M.+Paschall%22&pg=PA604 | title=Reconstruction in North Carolina | date=1914 }}