JUEL ID/KEY: P44757

Thornton (last name unknown), adult male. There are several references to Thornton in relation to his being whipped in the Chairman's Journal:

• Chairman's Journal, September 28, 1829 (session 6): "Negro stealing - flogged. The Chairman (P43624) having heard, that the fellow Thornton had returned to the University and committed another fraud; and that certain Students had had things stolen from their rooms, he directed the assistant Proctor (P43631) to have the Man tried. This was done & he was directed to receive 39 lashes at the public whipping post."

• Chairman's Journal, March 30, 1831 (session 7): "Servants gambling. Servant, named Thornton (P44757), who was whipped for theft, and turned away from the University, last session, was found by the Janitor, playing cards with Mrs. Gray's (P43865) servant Albert (P46978), and Mr. Brockenbrough’s (P43627) man Trimpson (P47794). This affair was referred to the Proctor and Asst. Proctor."

Related/Contextual Information:

• Chairman's Journal, March 23, 1829 (session 5): "The Proctor was again urged to finish purification [whitewashing] & he was desired to have a servant punished by Magistrational Authority who had stolen from students clothes & other articles" (earlier, in December 28 and 29 1828, the journal mentions "Mr Shrives wrote a letter to the Chairman stating that his Uniform had been stolen & hoping that the Faculty would not require him to purchase a new one"; the case to be "laid before the Faculty at their first meeting.")

• Chairman's Journal, March 27, 1829 (session 5): "Appeal. The difficulties in the proper administration of the Duties of Chairman are very great. His orders have to be repeated over and over again to the Proctor and are at last left unexecuted - orders . . . of the most vital importance to the Interests of the University. The Rules of the Boards of Visitors to keep stock of the lawn, to plant & protect trees & numerous others have been repeatedly urged upon the Proctors attention but they have not been heeded. To day the Chairman finds that a negro who is in the habit of gambling, and stealing, is not punished altho the Chairman has desired the Proctor twice to do it, and has spoken to a Magistrate concerning him. It cannot be concealed that the ministerial department of the University is miserably deficient and that the University cannot possibly go on well without some alteration. However active the chairman may be signifies not if his orders are not carried into Execution. These feelings have impressed every Chairmen and induced the Faculty, at one period, to beg of the Board of Visitors to appoint a SubProctor. Some alteration is imperatively called for."

• Chairman's Journal, June 3, 1829 (session 5): "Proctor in a case of theft - The Negro, of whom the Chairman complained to the Proctor for having gambled and stolen, was again dected in barefaced robbery (see March 27): The Proctor was once more spoken [to] abt the propriety of having an example of him magistratorially."

The Albemarle County Court:

• From Albemarle County in Virginia by Rev. Edgar Woods (1901): "James, a negro of William Cabell, for stealing twelve pence, was burnt in the hand, and given thirty-nine lashes at the whipping post" (one of several accounts "compiled from the first order book of the County court"). 

PRIMARY SOURCE INFORMATION 

1. References to the Individual in the JUEL Digitized Transcripts

(Links below are to JUEL's full-text digital transcripts of primary sources that refer to the individual. If no links display, this indicates that either the JUEL digitized texts have not yet been tagged with the individual's ID/Key, or, that no reference is made to the individual in any JUEL digitized texts, or, that the primary source has not yet been digitized).  

Chairman's Journal, March, June 1829, session 5

Chairman's Journal, September 28, 1829, Session 6 

Chairman's Journal, March 30, 1831, Session 7

Chairman's Journals, March 30, 1831, Session 7a 

2. Library Call Numbers/Bibliographic Records

Journals of the Chairman of the Faculty [Manuscript], 1827-1864. University of Virginia Library. Call Number: RG-19/1/2.041

Wood, Rev. Edgar. Albemarle County in Virginia. The Michie Company: Charlottesville, 1901. 

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