Thornton, William, 1759-1828

William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was an American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the United States Patent Office. Thornton was born on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, West Indies, in a Quaker community.[2] where he was heir to sugar plantations. He was sent to England at age five to be educated Thornton was apprenticed for a term of four years (1777–1781), to a practical physician and apothecary in Ulverston, Lancashire (now Cumbria).[3] Eager to achieve fame (and undoubtedly some expiation) in the cause of anti-slavery, he emigrated to the United States of America in the fall of 1786, moving to Philadelphia. His unsuccessful efforts to lead a contingent of free black Americans to join the small British settlement of London blacks at the mouth of the Sierra Leone River in West Africa were looked on favorably by Philadelphia's Quaker establishment. Some leaders of the new republic—notably James Madison, with whom he lodged at Mrs. Mary House's prominent boarding establishment in 1787 and 1788—were cognizant of Thornton's abolitionist activities. However, after moving to the City of Washington, he took advantage of slavery. According to a diary his wife kept in 1800, he frequently shopped for slaves and bought and hired them. In 1788, he became an American citizen. Thornton married Anna Maria Brodeau, daughter of a school teacher, in 1790.[7]
n 1789, after briefly practicing medicine and pursuing an interest in steamboats, Thornton submitted a design to the architectural competition for the Library Company of Philadelphia's new hall.[2] His design won but was somewhat departed from during actual construction. Library Hall was described as the first building in the "modern [classical] style" to be erected in the new nation's leading city.

During his visit to Tortola between October 1790 and October 1792, Thornton learned of the design competitions for the U.S. Capitol and the "President's House" to be erected in the new Federal City on the banks of the Potomac. Because a design for the Capitol had not been chosen, he was allowed to compete upon his return to Philadelphia. Between July and November 1792, the Washington administration examined closely the designs submitted by the French émigré architect Etienne Sulpice Hallet, (1755-1825), and Judge George Turner. Hallet and Turner had been summoned to the Federal City in August 1792 to present their ideas to the "Commissioners of the District of Columbia" and local landholders. Both were then encouraged to submit revisions of their designs to accommodate new conditions and requirements. At the beginning of November, Turner's new designs were rejected. It was during this time he was asked to design a mansion for Colonel John Tayloe. The Tayloe House, also known as The Octagon House, in Washington, D.C., was erected between 1799 and 1800. It served as a temporary "Executive Mansion" after the 1814 burning of the White House by the British and the house's study was where President Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812. In 1899 the building was acquired by the American Institute of Architects, whose national headquarters now nestles behind it.

Around 1800, he designed Woodlawn for Major Lawrence Lewis (nephew of George Washington) and his wife, Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis (granddaughter of Martha Washington), on 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of Mount Vernon land. Sometime around 1808, he designed Tudor Place for Thomas Peter and his wife, Martha Parke Custis Peter (another granddaughter of Martha Washington). Upon the abolition of the board of Commissioners of the Federal City in 1802, President Jefferson appointed Thornton the first Superintendent of the Patent Office. When Washington was burned by the British in 1814, Thornton convinced them not to burn the Patent Office because of its importance to mankind. He held the position from June 1, 1802, until his death in 1828 in Washington, DC. During his tenure, he introduced innovations including the patent reissue practice, which survives to this day.[10]

Date Event
1759, May 20 Born, community of the Society of Friends, Jost van Dyke Island, Tortola, Virgin Islands
1764 Immigrated to England
1778-1790 Involved with John Fitch in experiments with paddle steamboats
1784 M.D. degree, Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, Scotland
1787 Immigrated to the United States
1788 Became an American citizen
1789 Awarded a share in the Library Company of Philadelphia for submitting the building design chosen for the new library
1790 Married Anna Maria Brodeau
1790-1792 Returned to Tortola, Virgin Islands
1792 Moved to Washington, D.C.
Submitted design proposals for the United States Capitol
1793 Design for the United States Capitol accepted
Published Cadmus: or, a Treatise on the Elements of Written Language. Philadelphia: Aitken & Son; awarded the Magellanic gold medal of the American Philosophical Society for this publication
1794-1802 Commissioner, City Board of Commissioners, Washington, D.C.
1798-1802 Built Octagon House in Washington, D.C., for Colonel John Tayloe
1802-1828 Superintendent of patents
1804 Published Political Economy: Founded in Justice and Humanity. Washington, D.C.: Samuel Harrison Smith
1812 Tudor Place, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., built from his designs
1814 Helped prevent the destruction of the United States Patent Office by British troops
1828, Mar. 28 Died, Washington, D.C.

William Thornton, architect, inventor, and public official, was born in the Virgin Islands on May 20, 1759, of English parents. He came to the United States in 1787 and became a citizen in 1788. On September 12, 1794 Thornton was appointed one of the commissioners of the new federal city of Washington. He championed his own design for the Capitol and the north wing had been constructed in accordance with his ideas by the time Congress removed to Washington in 1800. In 1802 Congress abolished the board of commissioners and Thornton lost his official connection with the Capitol. Thomas Jefferson, however, appointed him clerk in the State Department, in charge of patents. Thornton is credited with having saved the Patent Office from destruction on the capture of Washington in 1814. He continued in charge of the Patent Office until his death on March 28, 1828.