William Thornton

May 20, 1759 (age 68)

Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands, United Kingdom

After a period in Paris he returned to Tortola (1786) and then came to the United States, being in New York in 1787, and becoming an American citizen in Delaware, January 7, 1788. He soon made Philadelphia his headquarters. He did not practise medicine, and seems to have had some small means and to have been well received. In 1789 he achieved his first public distinction. The Library Company of Philadelphia offered as a prize a share in the Company for the best design for its new building on Fifth Street. The building, one of the finest in the country in its time, stood until 1880. From 1778, if not earlier, to 1790 Thornton was associated with John Fitch in his experiments with steamboats operated by paddles. Fitch had demonstrated his first boat on the Delaware in 1787; his second, in which Thornton had a share, made a trip of twenty miles in 1788. For his third, the Thornton, it would appear that Thornton advanced much of the cost and made fruitful suggestions. It made a speed of eight miles an hour, and is said to have been run regularly on the Delaware as a packet boat and to have covered some thousand miles before it was retired in the winter of 1790. After Fulton's success Thornton published in 1814 his Short Account of the Origin of Steam Boats, vindicating Fitch's and his own contributions. While there he learned of the competition for the public buildings in the new federal city of Washington, and wrote the commissioners in July that he would bring his plans to the United States. Delayed by illness, he arrived at the beginning of November, to find that no decision had yet been reached as to the design of the Capitol. Of those first received that of Étienne Sulpice Hallet, a French professional, had been most favored, and he had been retained to prepare further studies, while certain other competitors were invited to revise their designs according to new data. It was obvious at once to Thornton that the design brought with him from the West Indies (the drawings are preserved by the Library of Congress and the American Institute of Architects) would not be acceptable, and he undertook a new one. In its preparation he was much influenced by a glimpse of one of Hallet's designs submitted the previous October. The new design was still unfinished on Jan. 31 when it was recommended by President Washington in terms which assured its adoption. This followed early in March. Thornton received as premium a lot in the new city (No. 15 in Square 634) and five hundred dollars. The drawings of this design appear to have been destroyed by Thornton at a later period, but from the manuscript description which accompanied them, and other evidence, it is possible to reconstruct its essential provisions. Since Thornton was not an architect by profession, nor a builder, there was no idea of employing him to supervise the erection of the Capitol, and Hallet was retained for the task. He and the contractors in Washington at once raised numerous structural and practical objections to the design, some of which, aimed at defects and inconsistencies arising from Thornton's lack of experience, appear to have been justified. At a conference with the President and with Jefferson, the secretary of state, held in July 1793, a revised plan prepared by Hallet--"considered, " Jefferson wrote, "as Dr. Thornton's plan rendered into practicable form"--was adopted, subject to certain modifications left for future decision. The foundations were begun in accordance with this plan, but in the modifications undertaken differences of opinion arose which resulted in Hallet's dismissal, June 28, 1794. James Hoban, architect of the President's House, remained in charge of the erection of the Capitol. On September 12, 1794, Thornton was appointed one of the commissioners of the city, and shortly removed his residence there from Philadelphia. He considered that he had a mandate to restore the form of the Capitol to conformity with his designs. The progress made rendered this not entirely practicable, and he prepared revised designs determined, in considerable measure, by the work already performed, but returning to some of the principal features of his design which had been abandoned. A complete reconciliation of the two designs was not feasible, and many problems regarding the central portion of the structure remained unsolved. A further confusion had been threatened by the proposition of George Hadfield, who was appointed superintendent in 1795, to substitute an attic for Thornton's basement, but Thornton was successful in constraining Hadfield to follow his directions. The north wing had been constructed in accordance with Thornton's ideas by the time Congress removed to Washington in 1800, and the exterior of the south wing, constructed later, necessarily conformed with it. Thornton's idea of a great central rotunda was also adhered to by later architects of the building. In May 1802 the board of commissioners of the city was abolished by Congress, and Thornton had henceforth no official connection with the work on the Capitol. This, however, did not prevent him from continuing to concern himself with it. The elder Benjamin Henry Latrobe, whom Jefferson appointed in 1803 to the new post of surveyor of the public buildings, was, like Hadfield, keenly alive to certain difficulties in the design, and proposed changes which Thornton was quick to oppose. He addressed a printed letter "To the Members of the House of Representatives of the United States, " January 1, 1805, and a pamphlet war ensued, from which Latrobe, supported by President Jefferson, emerged embittered but victorious, remaining in charge of the work until after the outbreak of the War of 1812. Thornton's designs in architecture were not limited to those already mentioned. For George Washington he supervised the erection, in 1798-99, of two houses on North Capitol Street between B and C Streets. For John Tayloe he built in 1798-1800 a fine house, the Octagon, still standing (1935), now the headquarters of the American Institute of Architects. It was distinguished by the circular rooms at the corner, in one of which, while the house was occupied by Madison after the burning of the White House in 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed. In 1800 Thornton made for Lawrence Lewis, who had married Washington's adopted daughter, Eleanor Custis, a design for Woodlawn, which appears to have been followed in this fine mansion in Fairfax County, Va. The same year he appears to have given Bishop John Carroll a plan for the cathedral in Baltimore, but Latrobe's design was followed. Homewood in Baltimore, a Carroll house, may possibly follow a design of Thornton's. Beginning about 1812 Tudor Place in Georgetown was erected from his designs. Mrs. Thornton says in her diary that her husband was the architect of Brentwood in the District of Columbia, and that he gave a plan for the house of Mr. Dobson in Stokes County, N. C. , in 1805. The Octagon, Tudor Place, and Brentwood show a plastic and spatial variety and mastery rarely found in America before their time. In 1817 Jefferson outlined to Thornton his plan for the University of Virginia and requested suggestions for the fronts of the pavilions, as "models of taste & good architecture, & of a variety of appearance". Thornton supplied two sketches, from one of which Pavilion VII was built . At the close of Thornton's service as a commissioner in May 1802, Jefferson appointed him clerk in the State Department, in charge of patents--the first functionary specially assigned to this matter. He is credited (Daily National Intelligencer, September 7, 1814) with having saved the Patent Office from destruction on the capture of Washington in 1814. As superintendent of patents he continued in charge of the Patent Office until his death, March 28, 1828. His own wide curiosity and inventiveness admirably fitted him for this position. A memorandum in his papers lists eight patents of his own between 1802 and 1827, dealing with improvements in boilers, stills, firearms, and other devices. Thornton's interests and activities were astonishingly varied. He drew and painted with facility. Miniatures by him and his copy of Stuart's profile portrait of Washington survive, as do the manuscripts of three unpublished novels (Thornton Papers, Library of Congress). To his many other vocations Thornton added those of soldier and magistrate. He became a lieutenant and captain of militia, a justice of the peace, and a commissioner in bankruptcy. His business enterprises, from the raising of merino sheep and the breeding of race horses to steamboats and gold mines--he issued a sanguine prospectus of the North Carolina Gold Mine Company in 1806--were uniformly unsuccessful, but his straitened means never prevented him from mingling in the best society, in which he was a general favorite. He assiduously cultivated the acquaintance of persons of distinction, and enjoyed the friendship of the Earl of Buchan, of Franklin, Rittenhouse, Washington, Jefferson, Volney, Trumbull, John Randolph, and particularly of the Madisons. He died in Washington and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery.

William Thornton Edit Profile

architect inventor painter physician

Background

Thornton was born on May 20, 1759, on the little island of Jost van Dyke in the community of the Society of Friends centering at Tortola in the Virgin Islands. His father is believed to have been also named William; his mother was Dorcas Downing Zeageus (or Zeagurs). He was sent to England at the age of five.

Education

From 1781 to 1784 attended the University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine; his degree of M. D. , however, he received from Aberdeen University on November 23, 1784 (diploma in Thornton Papers, Library of Congress).

Career

After a period in Paris he returned to Tortola (1786) and then came to the United States, being in New York in 1787, and becoming an American citizen in Delaware, January 7, 1788. He soon made Philadelphia his headquarters. He did not practise medicine, and seems to have had some small means and to have been well received.

In 1789 he achieved his first public distinction. The Library Company of Philadelphia offered as a prize a share in the Company for the best design for its new building on Fifth Street. The building, one of the finest in the country in its time, stood until 1880. From 1778, if not earlier, to 1790 Thornton was associated with John Fitch in his experiments with steamboats operated by paddles. Fitch had demonstrated his first boat on the Delaware in 1787; his second, in which Thornton had a share, made a trip of twenty miles in 1788. For his third, the Thornton, it would appear that Thornton advanced much of the cost and made fruitful suggestions. It made a speed of eight miles an hour, and is said to have been run regularly on the Delaware as a packet boat and to have covered some thousand miles before it was retired in the winter of 1790. After Fulton's success Thornton published in 1814 his Short Account of the Origin of Steam Boats, vindicating Fitch's and his own contributions.

While there he learned of the competition for the public buildings in the new federal city of Washington, and wrote the commissioners in July that he would bring his plans to the United States. Delayed by illness, he arrived at the beginning of November, to find that no decision had yet been reached as to the design of the Capitol. Of those first received that of Étienne Sulpice Hallet, a French professional, had been most favored, and he had been retained to prepare further studies, while certain other competitors were invited to revise their designs according to new data. It was obvious at once to Thornton that the design brought with him from the West Indies (the drawings are preserved by the Library of Congress and the American Institute of Architects) would not be acceptable, and he undertook a new one.

In its preparation he was much influenced by a glimpse of one of Hallet's designs submitted the previous October. The new design was still unfinished on Jan. 31 when it was recommended by President Washington in terms which assured its adoption. This followed early in March. Thornton received as premium a lot in the new city (No. 15 in Square 634) and five hundred dollars. The drawings of this design appear to have been destroyed by Thornton at a later period, but from the manuscript description which accompanied them, and other evidence, it is possible to reconstruct its essential provisions.

Since Thornton was not an architect by profession, nor a builder, there was no idea of employing him to supervise the erection of the Capitol, and Hallet was retained for the task. He and the contractors in Washington at once raised numerous structural and practical objections to the design, some of which, aimed at defects and inconsistencies arising from Thornton's lack of experience, appear to have been justified. At a conference with the President and with Jefferson, the secretary of state, held in July 1793, a revised plan prepared by Hallet--"considered, " Jefferson wrote, "as Dr. Thornton's plan rendered into practicable form"--was adopted, subject to certain modifications left for future decision. The foundations were begun in accordance with this plan, but in the modifications undertaken differences of opinion arose which resulted in Hallet's dismissal, June 28, 1794. James Hoban, architect of the President's House, remained in charge of the erection of the Capitol.

On September 12, 1794, Thornton was appointed one of the commissioners of the city, and shortly removed his residence there from Philadelphia. He considered that he had a mandate to restore the form of the Capitol to conformity with his designs. The progress made rendered this not entirely practicable, and he prepared revised designs determined, in considerable measure, by the work already performed, but returning to some of the principal features of his design which had been abandoned. A complete reconciliation of the two designs was not feasible, and many problems regarding the central portion of the structure remained unsolved. A further confusion had been threatened by the proposition of George Hadfield, who was appointed superintendent in 1795, to substitute an attic for Thornton's basement, but Thornton was successful in constraining Hadfield to follow his directions.

The north wing had been constructed in accordance with Thornton's ideas by the time Congress removed to Washington in 1800, and the exterior of the south wing, constructed later, necessarily conformed with it. Thornton's idea of a great central rotunda was also adhered to by later architects of the building.

In May 1802 the board of commissioners of the city was abolished by Congress, and Thornton had henceforth no official connection with the work on the Capitol. This, however, did not prevent him from continuing to concern himself with it. The elder Benjamin Henry Latrobe, whom Jefferson appointed in 1803 to the new post of surveyor of the public buildings, was, like Hadfield, keenly alive to certain difficulties in the design, and proposed changes which Thornton was quick to oppose. He addressed a printed letter "To the Members of the House of Representatives of the United States, " January 1, 1805, and a pamphlet war ensued, from which Latrobe, supported by President Jefferson, emerged embittered but victorious, remaining in charge of the work until after the outbreak of the War of 1812. Thornton's designs in architecture were not limited to those already mentioned.

For George Washington he supervised the erection, in 1798-99, of two houses on North Capitol Street between B and C Streets. For John Tayloe he built in 1798-1800 a fine house, the Octagon, still standing (1935), now the headquarters of the American Institute of Architects. It was distinguished by the circular rooms at the corner, in one of which, while the house was occupied by Madison after the burning of the White House in 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed.

In 1800 Thornton made for Lawrence Lewis, who had married Washington's adopted daughter, Eleanor Custis, a design for Woodlawn, which appears to have been followed in this fine mansion in Fairfax County, Va. The same year he appears to have given Bishop John Carroll a plan for the cathedral in Baltimore, but Latrobe's design was followed. Homewood in Baltimore, a Carroll house, may possibly follow a design of Thornton's. Beginning about 1812 Tudor Place in Georgetown was erected from his designs.

Mrs. Thornton says in her diary that her husband was the architect of Brentwood in the District of Columbia, and that he gave a plan for the house of Mr. Dobson in Stokes County, N. C. , in 1805. The Octagon, Tudor Place, and Brentwood show a plastic and spatial variety and mastery rarely found in America before their time.

In 1817 Jefferson outlined to Thornton his plan for the University of Virginia and requested suggestions for the fronts of the pavilions, as "models of taste & good architecture, & of a variety of appearance". Thornton supplied two sketches, from one of which Pavilion VII was built . At the close of Thornton's service as a commissioner in May 1802, Jefferson appointed him clerk in the State Department, in charge of patents--the first functionary specially assigned to this matter. He is credited (Daily National Intelligencer, September 7, 1814) with having saved the Patent Office from destruction on the capture of Washington in 1814. As superintendent of patents he continued in charge of the Patent Office until his death, March 28, 1828. His own wide curiosity and inventiveness admirably fitted him for this position. A memorandum in his papers lists eight patents of his own between 1802 and 1827, dealing with improvements in boilers, stills, firearms, and other devices.

Thornton's interests and activities were astonishingly varied. He drew and painted with facility. Miniatures by him and his copy of Stuart's profile portrait of Washington survive, as do the manuscripts of three unpublished novels (Thornton Papers, Library of Congress).

To his many other vocations Thornton added those of soldier and magistrate. He became a lieutenant and captain of militia, a justice of the peace, and a commissioner in bankruptcy. His business enterprises, from the raising of merino sheep and the breeding of race horses to steamboats and gold mines--he issued a sanguine prospectus of the North Carolina Gold Mine Company in 1806--were uniformly unsuccessful, but his straitened means never prevented him from mingling in the best society, in which he was a general favorite.

He assiduously cultivated the acquaintance of persons of distinction, and enjoyed the friendship of the Earl of Buchan, of Franklin, Rittenhouse, Washington, Jefferson, Volney, Trumbull, John Randolph, and particularly of the Madisons.

He died in Washington and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery.

Achievements

William Thornton is best known as the creator of the original design for the Capitol at Washington, D. C. The Magellanic gold medal of the American Philosophical Society was awarded to him in February 1793 for his Cadmus: or, a Treatise on the Elements of Written Language, published the same year.

Works

Photo: United States Capitol, Washington, DC, Floor plan, 1795, William Thornton, architect 1 . Size Photo: United States Capitol, Washington, DC, Floor plan, 1795, William Thornton, architect 1 . Size

The Papers of William Thornton: Volume 1: 1781-1802 (Papers of William Thornton, 1781-1802) The Papers of William Thornton: Volume 1: 1781-1802 (Papers of William Thornton, 1781-1802)

book
- The Papers of William Thornton: Volume 1: 1781-1802 (Papers of William Thornton, 1781-1802)
  (A biographical sketch of the antecedents, early life and ...)
- Photo: United States Capitol, Washington, DC, Floor plan, 1795, William Thornton, architect 1 . Size
  (Photograph Description: United States Capitol, Washington...)
- book

Politics

Thornton's Quaker antecedents and humanitarianism also led him, as early as 1788, to strive for the freeing of slaves through African colonization. In 1791, when at Tortola, he was endeavoring to send blacks to Sierra Leone at the time of the second negro settlement there under the presidency of Henry Thornton, and his pamphlet Political Economy: Founded in Justice and Humanity, published in 1804, advocated the abolition of slavery.

In later years he was active in the American Colonization Society.

Thornton was concerned also in the effort to found a national university in Washington. Following Washington's gift of stock in the Potomac Company to further the enterprise, announced in 1795, the Commissioners set aside a site, and memorialized Congress to authorize the acceptance of contributions.

In later years Thornton's sympathies were enlisted by the liberation of South America. In 1815 he published a tract, Outlines of a Constitution for United North & South Columbia, a grandiose dream of union, proposing a capital city near Panama, "where a canal may be made from sea to sea, by locks".

Views

Quotations: Thornton writes in an autobiographic fragment, "When I travelled I never thought of architecture. But I got some books and worked a few days, then gave a plan in the ancient Ionic order, which carried the day. "

Membership

During the 1820s, Thornton was a member of the prestigious society, Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences.

Personality

The best personal characterization of Thornton is the one published just after his death by William Dunlap: "He was a scholar and a gentleman--full of talent and eccentricity--a Quaker by profession, a painter, a poet, and a horse-racer--well acquainted with the mechanic arts. . He was a 'man of infinite humour'--humane and generous, yet fond of field sports--his company was a complete antidote to dullness".

Connections

On October 13, 1790, Thornton married Anna Maria Brodeau, then sixteen years of age, and took her to Tortola for two years.

Father:: William Thornton
Mother:: Dorcas Downing Zeageus (or Zeagurs)
Spouse:: Anna Maria (Brodea) Thornton

Main Photo