William Thornton Re-examined by Bob Arnebeck

  Chapter 10: The General’s Houses    Plaque in Upper Senate Park In his 1896 article on Thornton,  Glenn Brown wrote: “Washington erected a building on North Capitol Street between B and C Streets Washington, D.C., which at the present time is known as the Hillman House. Dr. Thornton was the architect and superintendent, as shown by the letters of Washington. The exterior of the building has been altered and additional stories have been added. Some of the interior work still remain intact and shows the skill and refinement of the architect.”   Actually, the General had two conjoined houses built to board congressmen. In 1903, the city's surveyor gave a paper  to the Columbia Historical Society  that proved that the Hillman House had been the General's houses. He showed a photograph taken by officers who lived in the houses during the Civil War that showed the doors to each house side by side and the dormer windows on the their roofs that would bec...

Table of Contents  being rewritten    Epilogue: John Quincy Adams' Diary In 1801 after returning from Berlin ,  John Quincy Adams called on President Jefferson to report on his negotiations with the Prussian government. A t a social gathering, he met Thornton and briefly noted in his diary that Thornton “was by turns ingenious and humorous, but all the time very talkative.” In 1803, Adams  was elected to the US Senate by the Massachusetts legislature. Once back in the federal city in November of that year, he made obligatory social calls on the Thorntons and received their visits. Finally, on March 5, 1804, after a dinner party given by Justice Bushrod Washington, Adams noted what Thornton said. He explained “his plan for a new confederate system of Government for the United States.” In December, back in the city for the 8th congress's second session, Adams checked on a patent. That brought him to “Dr: Thornton’s Office; acting under the Secretary of State as ...