V. R. Thornton

Vincent Redmond Thornton served the Washington church from October1848 to  May 1853. In 1849 the church sold the former home of Jesse Mercer on Town Hill to Patrick Fitzpatrick after using it as a parsonage from 1841 to 1849.

Biography of V. R. Thornton

Rev. Vincent R. Thornton, son of Redmond and Sarah Thornton, was born July 19th, 1805, near Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, of parents noted for their piety, wealth and liberality. Redmond Thornton's name and history are blended with that of Bethesda Baptist Church in its early days. He contributed largely to the erection of its large brick house of worship. Vincent, his son, had all the facilities and means at hand to obtain a classical education, his father sending him first to one school and then to another, and finally to the State University (Mercer University at that time not being in existence). But love of pleasure and society and the world absorbed his mind absorbed his mind to such an extent than he gave but little attention to books. His father, having taken him from college, tried to induce him to study medicine; but the youth showed little fondness for study of any kind, and the project was soon abandoned. The next effort was on the line of agriculture, but the young man was restless, gay, and wild, and seemed to have as little turn for labor as for study.

As pastor he served the following churches: Bethesda, Crawfordville, Baird's, Penfield, Washington, White Plains, Smyrna, Phillips Mill, Raytown, Madison, and Friendship. He was for years Moderator of the Georgia Association, even up to the time of the illness which ended his useful life. He neither held nor desired any civil office. He was a warm friend of the Red man, and was for years a faithful agent of the Indian mission cause, which position he filled withoug fee or reward. He occasionally attended the Trienniel Convention of the Baptists in the United States, being elected a member of that body for years.

He married in early life, and his widow long survived him. To her credit be it said, she proved to be a good wife for a pastor, never throwing any barrier in his way of duty, but always having in her line everything in perfect readiness for him in time to meet his appointments. Eternity may reveal the fact that his wonderful success as a minister was attributable, under God, in part to her.