Thornton & Willis


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Thornton & Willis, Main Street, Warrenton VA (c.1928-c.1932) 1
  E.C. Thornton, Warrenton VA (c.1935) 2
  Thornton & Gates, Warrenton VA (c.1938) 2

Notes:
 Edward Cole Thornton (1885-1958)3 worked in W.S. Sower's drugstore in Warrenton as early as 19114.

Thurston Brown Willis (1897-1978)5 was a drugstore owner who had been partnered with a fellow WW-I veteran named Lester Burke, and in 1925 he bought out Burke for ownership of their drugstore.6

Sometime between 1925 and 1928, Thornton & Willis teamed up to run a drugstore in Warrenton, presumably the one Willis had bought. I see ads for the "Thornton & Willis" Warrenton drug store in old newspapers between 1928-1932 inclusive1.

A 1935 Virginia druggist directory lists the "E.C. Thornton" drugstore in Warrenton, so presumably Thornton no longer had Willis as a partner by then. A 1938 directory lists "Thornton & Gates", so it looks like Thornton got a new partner.2 I don't know how long the drugstore lasted.


Bottles:

thornton_01 This is a 3.5" clear, machine-made bottle with a label that says:
label: CASTOR OIL / ... / THORNTON & WILLIS / DRUGGISTS / MAIN STREET, WARRENTON, VA.


1 The Chief Justice newspaper (Marshall VA), 19-Dec-1928 page 5, 30-Aug-1932 page 3 (ad's for Thornton & Willis)
2 The Virginia Pharmacist annual report of the board of pharmacy of Virginia, 1935 & 1938
3 Find-a-grave for Edward Cole Thornton
4 Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1-May-1911, page 5 (Engagement Announced)
5 Find-a-grave for Thurston Brown Willis
6 Front Royal Record, 13-Jan-1925, page 4


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This page last updated on June 25, 2022.