San
Joaquin County
Biographies
ARTHUR THORNTON
A worthy and prominent citizen of
San Joaquin County, who passed to his reward in 1914, was Arthur Thornton, in
whose honor the enterprising town of Thornton, California was named. Service for the government brought him to the
Pacific Coast during the early fifties, and thus he became interested in
California and it was not long before he decided to take up his permanent
residence here. After working for
various ranchers for a number of years, he purchased property near New Hope,
San Joaquin County, in 1863, and for the balance of his life contentedly
followed the peaceful and independent life of the agriculturist. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, May 19,
1838 a son of William and Mary (Kennedy) Thornton, both natives of Scotland,
who came to America in 1852 and settled in Iowa. The mother passed away in Kansas and the
father was buried on the plains in 1854.
Arthur Thornton was a lad of
fourteen when his parents came to the United States. Although he had received a fair education in
the schools of Ayrshire, he also attended school for a couple of years in Iowa,
during this time also working on his father’s farm as much as his school duties
would permit. The spirit of adventure
took him to Santa Fe, New Mexico about this time, and there he joined the
government service as a civilian under Colonel Steptow. The winter of 1854 – 1855 was spent in Salt
Lake City, and in the spring, May 5, 1855 the company took up the march for
California. Before reaching their
destination, however, they were ordered to Oregon instead, and finally, on July
2, reached Port Lane, on Rogue River, having in the meantime camped two nights
in Surprise Valley. Considering their
meager equipment, it was quite remarkable that they reached their destination
as quickly and as safely as they did, with nothing but a compass to guide
them. After resting a week they again
took up the march, going first to Cow Creek and from there to Red Bluff,
California, where they took a steamer for Sacramento, and from there, on a
larger steamer, they were taken to Benicia.
After receiving his pay, Mr. Thornton entered the employ of the Pacific
Steamship Company and went to Panama on the old “Oregon”, the return trip being
made on the steamer “Golden Gate” to San Francisco. A short experience in the mines proved to him
that he could not make a success along that line, and he soon afterward gave it
up and removed to Stockton. In May, 1858
he came to New Hope, where he worked as a vaquero until 1861, and afterward
followed various lines of employment for two years, when he purchased the ranch
at New Hope. There he spent the
remainder of his life. During his
residence in the town he saw it grow from a mere hamlet, and made every effort
to bring about better conditions. In
1877 New Hope was made a post office, and for thirty years Mr. Thornton served
efficiently as postmaster. For eight
years he was a director of the State Hospital at Stockton, and for four years
was vice-president of the board.
On January 31, 1870 at Woodbridge,
Mr. Thornton was married to Miss Emma Greives, a
native of Steubenville, Ohio, and their marriage resulted in the birth of six
children: Mary Alvernia,
Mrs. W. J. Bates; Clara B., Mrs. Lawton of Thornton; Maggie Florence, who died
at the age of twenty-three; Georgia M., who died at the age of two and a half
years; Jessie C., residing at Thornton; and Alice L., Mrs. William H. Koontz,
of Thornton. Mrs. Thornton came from old
Plymouth, Massachusetts ancestry, one of a family of thirteen children. She came to California via the Isthmus of
Panama in 1868. Three of her brothers
served in the Civil War, one dying in a Southern prison; and her other two
brothers came to California. Her brother
Charles met an accidental death at Lodi; and the other brother, Edward, died at
the Soldier’s Home at Sawtelle, California.
Mr. Thornton first acquired a
quarter-section of land in the New Hope district, subsequently adding to his
holdings until he had 1,000 acres in this section. In 1888 he planted small pine trees in front
of his house, and also a border around the field, and today they are mammoth
trees. At the time of Mr. Thornton’s
death, about 1,000 acres made up his estate, fourteen acres of which was set to
various kinds of fruit trees and vines, and it is now one of the finest
producing ranches in San Joaquin County.
Orchards of from fifteen to twenty acres each are devoted to peaches,
plums, apricots, almonds and pears, and twenty-five acres is in Zinfandel
grapes, with six acres in alfalfa; and the orchards are outlined with a row of
walnut trees. When the Western Pacific
Railroad was built through his section, Mr. Thornton gave the right-of-way
through his ranch free of charge and the station was named Thornton. Some years ago the post office was also
changed to the name of Thornton.
Fraternally Mr. Thornton was a charter member of Stockton Lodge 218, B.
P. O. Elks, and a charter member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge of Lodi. He was a very liberal and kind-hearted man
and all of his charities were given in an unostentatious manner. He was a highly esteemed citizen of the
community which his energy and optimism had helped to build. He was a friend to education and progress,
and his sojourn in San Joaquin County, and especially in his home district,
tended to the widening of its prosperity and the developing of its
opportunities. He loved truth and
justice, and represented a high type of our American manhood.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1304-1307. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases