San Joaquin County
Biographies
ARTHUR THORNTON
ARTHUR THORNTON, proprietor
of the New Hope Hotel, was born in Scotland in 1838, a son of William and Mary
(Kennedy) Thornton, born natives of Scotland, who came to America in 1852 and
settled in Iowa. In 1884 they moved to Kansas, where the mother died; the
father was buried on the plains in 1854. In 1854, Arthur, the subject of this
sketch, started across the plains, in the employ of the Government, for
California; got as far as Salt Lake City, where he remained for the winter. May
5, 1855, he again set out on his journey. He had been commissioned by the
Government to take some horses, wagons and mules to a fort, where he remained
from the 3d of July till the 6th. He again set out for the golden
hills of California, arriving in Benicia, where he left the employ of the
Government and went to work on the steamship Oregon, plying between San
Francisco and Panama. Arriving at Panama, this ship was disabled, so he came
back on the Golden Gate. On his arrival he came to this section of the country,
and worked on a cattle ranch for a short time. Next he went to Stockton to
learn the blacksmith’s trade, but did not finish it, although he picked up a
great deal and could do the work fairly well. Returning to this country he
worked two more years on the same cattle ranch on which he had been before
going to learn the trade of blacksmithing. He next went to Woodbridge, where he
bought a saloon and blacksmith shop and worked with the blacksmith he employed.
A year later he went to San Luis Obispo County, where he went into the stock
business and worked on a ranch two years, then came back to this county and
bought land in the neighborhood of New Hope. He runs a hotel, blacksmith shop
and general mercantile business. He owns 400 acres of well improved land in
Union Township.
His wife, Emma (Graves) Thornton, was born
in Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1842, daughter of George and Phoebe (Dunham)
Graves; the former a native of Scotland, who died in California, in 1849, and
the latter a native of Massachusetts, who died in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton
have had six children, namely: Verne M., born January 1, 1871; Clara B., April
10, 1872; Maggie F., August 8, 1875; Jesse C., November 13, 1878; Alice T., May
10, 1881; and Georgie, October 8, 1876, died February 22, 1879.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Page 574. Lewis Pub. Co.
Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Genealogy Databases