Joseph Williams Thorne was a poet.
The state representative, kicked out in 1875 for advocating "a blasphemous doctrine," was a poet of enough renown that he was featured in "The Poets and Poetry of Chester County, Pennsylvania," for what that's worth.
Thorne, a Pennsylvanian by birth, moved to North Carolina in 1869. In 1875, he was elected to represent Warren County in the House.
Author George Johnston says Thorne was actually expelled "on account of his radical Republicanism"—meaning he was a pro-Reconstruction Northerner.
"Mr. Thorne is a member of the Society of Progressive Friends: the document referred to in the resolution was a pamphlet published by him in reply to a lecture delivered in Coatesville, Chester County, by Joseph Barker, with doctrines advanced to which Mr. Thorne did not agree."
That doesn't exactly clear things up for Dome, although we would hazard that the group was likely Quaker and tolerated all sorts of Northeastern back-and-forth about God that didn't sound too good when dredged up down South.
Interestingly, the legislature later felt bad about kicking him out.
The following year, Thorne was elected to the state Senate. Five years later, the House voted unanimously to expunge the expulsion from the record, Johnston notes.
Hat Tip: Paul Jones
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Re: "Where were there Quakers?"
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_history
"The Society in Ireland, and later, the United States suffered a number of separations during the 19th century. In 1827-28, the views and popularity of Elias Hicks resulted in a division within five yearly meetings, Philadelphia, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Baltimore. Rural Friends, who had increasingly chafed under the control of urban leaders, sided with Hicks and naturally took a stand against strong discipline in doctrinal questions. Those who supported Hicks were tagged as "Hicksites," while Friends who opposed him were labeled "Orthodox." The latter had more adherents overall but were plagued by subsequent splintering. The only division the Hicksites experienced was when a small group of upper class and reform-minded Progressive Friends of Longwood, Pennsylvania, emerged in the 1840s; they maintained a precarious position for about a century."
For the definitive description of the Longwood Society see http://undergroundrr.kennett.net/longwoodmeeting.html