William Thornton Re-examined by Bob Arnebeck

  Sir Archy, an engraving of Tayloe's most famous horse O n April 19, 1797, Commissioner Gustavus Scott sold Lot 8 in Square 170 to John Tayloe III for $1868.25, $1,000 in down payment. It was on Scott's own account, not the board's. Fellow Commissioner William Thornton witnessed the deed of sale. Perhaps he did that officially. Sometime shortly after moving to the city from Georgetown in February, Thornton accepted appointment as a county magistrate which gave him authority to notarize deeds. In his book, Building the Octagon , Orlando Ridout V suggests that because Thornton was there, he influenced Tayloe. Back in October 1796, Thornton had proposed that Square 170 and  neighboring squares accommodate foreign embassies. Ridout points out that Tayloe was investing in potentially "the most exclusive residential company in the city...." 94. Thornton wanted embassies facing Square 169, 170, 171, 224, 225 and 226 Ridout also suggest that the choice of Lot 8 had an a

    Chapter Fifteen: On the heights of Mount Chimborazo 198. Capitol 1832 In his feud with Latrobe, Thornton defended his character by citing his presidential appointments to positions of trust, and that should not be taken lightly. That he was a commissioner of public buildings lends credence to his claim in 1805, and still made today, that General Washington told him to restore his original design made in 1793. That he was Superintendent of the Patent Office lends credence to his claim that he invented the steamboat in 1789. That he held positions of trust led to his opinions on public issues being trusted. When he died, contemporaries did not mention the Capitol, where Bulfinch had designed and supervised completion of the dome, but they remembered the offices Thornton had held: "During the first Administration, he was introduced to President Washington, whose regard he conciliated, and by whom, having been appointed a Commissioner for laying out this Metropolis, and fixing his