J. Williams Thorne

Joseph Williams Thorne (December 25, 1816 - 1897) was a politician in North Carolina. He was from the northern United States. He was a Quaker. He served in the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate. He was also a delegate at one of the state's constitutional conventions. He wrote poetry. He succeeded a deceased member of the North Carolina House in 1874. He lived in and represented Warren County.

He was tried according to a statute against legislators denying the existence of almighty God. He was expelled from the North Carolina House of Representatives.

In a letter he stated he was for temperance and against all use of alcohol and never played cards.

During the 1874 session there were four African American state senators and 13 African Americans in the North Carolina House of Representatives, both had large Democratic Party majorities. In 1914, Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton as the last "carpetbagger"in the legislature and as someone "not suffered to remain long" in the office he held.