Born on February 9, 1764, in Petsoe Parish in Gloucester County, Colony of Virginia, British America,[1] His grandfather had been colonel of the local militia, as well as farmed using enslaved labor.

Thruston became known as a "fighting parson" for he recruited a military company, joined the Continental Army and rose to the rank of colonel, but also lost the use of an arm as a result of a combat wound.

Jefferson County voters elected Thruston and Abner Field to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1789, but replaced the pair the next year.

[3] Kentucky legislators elected Thruston as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate, and he served from March 4, 1805, to December 18, 1809, when he resigned to accept a federal judicial appointment.

[3] On December 12, 1809, President James Madison nominated Thruston to a seat on the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia vacated by Judge Allen Bowie Duckett.