John Thornton was born in Richmond County, Virginia on June 25, 1718. A resident of Bute County, North Carolina, Thorton owned several enslaved people. In 1768 Ned, an African American man enslaved by Thornton, was found guilty of murder for poisoning another local slaveholder named William Williamson. When Ned was executed for the crime, the local court paid Thornton as compensation. Thornton died in Franklin County, North Carolina in about October 1787.