Nat Thornton - Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Nomination

DR. NATHANIEL THORNTON

1884-1975 Atlanta, GA

GEORGIA SPORTS HALL OF FAME NOMINEE

CATEGORY / TENNIS NOMINATED BY: Atlanta Athletic Club 1930 Bobby Jones Drive Johns Creek, GA 30097 (770) 448-2166 Kevin Case Tennis Committee, Chairman Chris Borders Heritage Committee, Former General Manager

Contact E-Mail Kevin Case kevinrcase@gmail.com Alternate Contact E-Mail Margaret Almand mma@aac1.org Nomination Date: April 1, 2023

Southern States Tennis DoublesTrophy

Southern States Tennis Singles Trophy

TENNIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Southern States Tennis Singles Champion (1907, 1908, 1913) • Southern States Tennis Doubles Champion (1906, 1907, 1912, 1915, 1918) • Southern States Tennis Mixed Doubles Champion (1912) • Gulf States Tennis Singles Championship (1903, 1906, 1907) • Gulf States Tennis Doubles Championship (1906) • South Atlantic States Tennis Singles Championship (1904, 1906, 1907, 1911) • South Atlantic States Tennis Doubles Championship (1906, 1907) • South Atlantic States Tennis Mixed Doubles Championship (1910) • Georgia State Tennis Singles Championship (1905) • Georgia State Tennis Doubles Championship (1925, 1926, 1927) • North Carolina State Tennis Doubles Championship (1926) • Tennessee State Tennis Singles Championship (1908) • Virginia State Tennis Doubles Championship (1914) • Ohio State Tennis Doubles Championship (1911) • Indiana State Tennis Singles Championship (1910) • Indiana State Tennis Doubles Championship (1910) • Old Dominion Tennis Singles Championship (1912) • Old Dominion Tennis Mixed Doubles Championship (1913, 1915)

EDUCATION

GEORGIA MILITARY ACADEMY Now Woodward Academy GEORGIA GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Class of 1903 ATLANTA DENTAL COLLEGE Later part of Emory University Dental School

Nat Thornton & AAC Tennis Team

A RESILIENT TENNIS CAREER “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...”

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the southern states, and especially Georgia, have produced many great tennis champions. Frank “Hop” Owens, was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (GSHOF) in 1979 for his successful tennis career throughout the 1920’s. Bryan “Bitsy” Grant was inducted into the GSHOF in 1965 for his many tennis titles won throughout the 1930’s. 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: Dr. Nathaniel Thornton. Nat, as he was known, brought the first southern tennis championship to Georgia by winning the 1903 singles title at the Gulf States Tennis Championships. On a larger stage, Thornton and his partner, Bryan Grant Sr., shined a brighter light on Georgia tennis by winning the doubles title of the Southern Tennis Championship in 1906. The Southern was considered the grandfather of all tennis tournaments in the south due to its 1885 founding, and its field of competitors including club and state champions from 8 states and 42 tennis clubs that made up the Southern Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA). The SLTA is the predecessor to the Southern Section of the USTA. Dr. Thornton’s tennis career spanned almost 3 decades beginning with his first title in 1901 at the

age of 17, and culminating with his last title in 1927 at age 44. During those 27 years, Thornton won at least 38 titles, including virtually every southern state and regional championship in singles and doubles at least once. Numbered among his titles were state championships in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia. Nat won the Southern Championship of the U.S. in singles 3 times and in doubles 5 times. He also won the prestigious Gulf States Championship in singles 3 times, hosted at the New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club, the oldest tennis club in America. Thornton won the South Atlantic States Championship 4 times in singles and 3 times in men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Winning this tournament carried a higher level of pride for him since several of those victories were at Atlanta Athletic Club, his home club, and the club that also produced GSHOF inductees, Grant and Owens. 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.

GEORGIA SPORTS HALL OF FAME / DR. NATHANIEL THORNTON

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 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. 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 hope the GSHOF will see fit to help preserve the legacy of this Georgia tennis pioneer by inducting him into the Hall for his many tennis achievements.

GEORGIA GROWN

“Nat and Stacy came of tennis age when they beat their older siblings to win the 1900 AAC tennis championship and went on to win other tournaments with his twin, including the 1903 City of Atlanta Doubles Championship.”

GEORGIA SPORTS HALL OF FAME / DR. NATHANIEL THORNTON

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT DR. NATHANIEL THORNTON “The feature of the afternoon and it may also be said the surprise, was… Nat Thornton…the younger brother of Henry and Chance Thornton, and though a lad of not more than 15 years, is easily one of the fastest and surest players on the tennis courts of the south.” -The Constitution, August 6, 1901

“Thornton was one of the very best players ever developed in the south. He was a fine volleyer and could kill lobs as well as any player I ever saw.” – Bryan M. Grant Sr. father of Bitsy Grant

“Thornton… is a player of the volleying style, being one of the best net and volley players in the south. His terrific smashes at the net and also from lobs at almost any point on the court are his chief point winners.” - Carl Taylor, writing in the Atlanta Constitution, September 10, 1915

“… Nat Thornton, winner of more cups, trophies, goblets, and what have you than any other living man, woman or child tennis player residing below the Mason-Dixon Line, announce(d) definitely that the title he won so gloriously last year in the partnership affair will go begging.” -Whitner Cary, writing in the August 19, 1928 Atlanta Constitution “It looks like a great year for the Atlanta players. There seems to be nobody in sight who can stop Nat Thornton in the singles or Thornton and Carleton Smith in the doubles.” If Thornton and Smith win the doubles and are sent to Chicago for the national doubles elimination, they will show the Northerners the most brilliant tennis team that ever came out of the south.” – Percy Whiting, writing in the Atlanta Georgian, July 3, 1912 “To see Nat Thornton and his famous overhand in action for the first time one must turn back the pages of history to an even more ancient vintage than Smith. It was in the dark ages of 1906 that his name was first put on Southern championship silverware, but since then the two words “Nat Thornton” have been the frequent subject of the engraver’s skill.” -Whitner Cary, writing in the Atlanta Constitution, April 17, 1927