San Joaquin County
Biographies
SHERBURN R. THORN
SHERBURN R. THORN is a native
of Allenstown, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, where he was born April 18,
1830, son of Nathan and Louis (Rowell) Thorn, both natives of New Hampshire.
When Sherburn was nearly two years old his parents
moved to Canada, locating in Stanstead, in what was
called Lower Canada, within five miles of the Vermont State line, where they
made their home from 1832 till 1847, then moved back into Vermont, where Nathan
Thorn died, in 1877; his wife died in Canada, in 1845. In the family there were
six children, five sons and one daughter.
The subject of this sketch
was raised principally in Canada, where he lived until fifteen years of age. He
made his home with his parents until twenty-one years old, during which time he
worked on their farm and sometimes worked out for wages. He continued this mode
of life until he came to California. October 20, 1856, he sailed from New York
on the George Law for Panama, and this side took the steamer Golden Gate for
San Francisco, where he landed November 14. He took the steamer for Sacramento
and then the stage for Placerville, El Dorado County, where he engaged in
mining, remaining in the vicinity up to 1861. Like most
all miners Mr. Thorn had the usual luck attending ventures of this kind,
sometimes striking a big lead and taking out considerable gold, and at other
times losing it in some mining speculation. In May, 1861, he came down to this
valley and settled on the place where he now lives, a ranch containing 160
acres of Government land, which is now in a good state of improvement, all the
work of its present owner. His efforts here have been attended with success,
having up to the last winter done all the work on the place himself. Mr. Thorn
is a consistent and devoted member of the Methodist Church, of which he has
been a member since 1857. Politically he has always been a Republican, although
in no sense a politician. He was married at Diamond Spring, in July, 1859, to
Miss Amanda Knight, a native of Caledonia County, Vermont. She came to
California in 1859. They have a family of three children: Lois Amanda, Mrs.
Sarah T. Bancroft and Ruby E. They have also lost two children: Albert S., aged
nineteen and one-half years, and Edna M. died when young.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 464-465. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
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