Club Times March/April 2024

he r i t a g e

Nat Thornton & AAC Tennis Team

Woodward Academy, where he made a name for himself as a fine all-around athlete. The Atlanta Constitution in the prose of the era described his play on the gridiron against Decatur in 1900 as being “conspicuously good work and largely responsible for the size of the score.” In addition to being an exceptional football player, Nat also excelled in baseball (where he was a leading player for AAC’s state amateur champion team), and in basketball (where he was one of the leading scorers on AAC’s team, competing against the top collegiate and club teams in the eastern U.S.). Following GMA, Nat attended and graduated from Georgia Tech in 1903. Sometime after graduating from Tech, he attended and graduated from Atlanta Dental College which ultimately merged with Southern Dental College to form the Dental College at Emory University. Dr. Thornton practiced dentistry for only two years before becoming branch manager of the Federal Motor Truck Company in 1928 and then truck manager with John Smith Chevrolet from 1933 to 1942. After a brief stint as a real estate agent selling houses with Rankin Whitten Realty from 1942 to 1945, he once again rejoined John Smith Chevrolet as truck manager. Nat loved sports and being outside, which explains his short career in dentistry, his intermittent career in business, but his long career in amateur tennis.

“Largely overlooked, however, is the man who paved the way for Owens and Grant - a man who ushered in what has been described as the Golden Era of tennis in Georgia...” Bryan Grant, the father of GSHOF inductee Bitsy Grant was Thornton’s partner for the majority of his doubles championships. They made a prolific team and even finished second in the 1907 U.S. National Tennis Championships (now known as the U.S. Open). A capstone to his long and successful tennis career, Thornton’s final championship title, the 1927 Georgia State Doubles, was played at his home club with his partner and GSHOF member, Hop Owens. Nathaniel (Nat) Albert Thornton was born in Columbus, GA. At an early age, his father moved the family to College Park in the Atlanta area. Nat had two older brothers, Henry and Chancellor (Chance), a sister Anna, and a twin brother Stacy. All four of the Thornton brothers were excellent tennis players. The oldest brother Henry was a charter member of Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC), founded in 1898. It was not an unusual occurrence for the doubles final of the AAC tennis championship to feature the two older Thornton Brothers vs. the two younger Thornton Brothers. Nat and Stacy came of tennis age when they beat their older siblings to win the 1900 AAC tennis championship. Nat went on to win other tournaments with his twin, including the 1903 City of Atlanta Doubles Championship. Nat attended Georgia Military Academy (GMA), the predecessor to

Nat married the former Rose Chambers in 1929 and they had one child, Rose Mary. After a long and active life, Dr. Thornton died on January 9, 1975 at age 90 and is buried in Atlanta’s Westview Cemetery. Nat’s daughter, Rose Mary Thornton Dennis, while still living, is in ill health. She and her deceased

husband had no children. On behalf of Mrs. Dennis, AAC is proud to nominate her father, Dr. Nathaniel Thornton to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. We are grateful the GSHOF saw fit to help preserve the legacy of this Georgia tennis pioneer by inducting him into the Hall for his many tennis achievements.