Table of Contents: Case of the Ingenious A

The Case of the "Ingenious A"

Or Why William Thornton Didn't Design the Octagon House and Isn't the "First Architect of the Capitol"

 By Bob Arnebeck

Figure 1: Described as Thornton's first take on the Octagon design, based on an entry in Mrs. Thornton's diary, it is most likely his design for his own house to rival the Octagon. (Library of Congress)

 

Introduction:  How Glenn Brown (1854-1932), a not otherwise remarkable architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, helped his own career by making William Thornton (1759-1828) the most famous American architect of the 18th century. 

Chapter One:   A Tale of Two Properties (1755 to 1786) Lancaster, Tortola and a Scientific Education - The roots of Thornton's wealth, his Quaker education, medical degree and mentors 

Chapter Two:   Going to Africa Via Boston (1786-1790) - His reaction to his Tortola slave plantation and his secret plan to take America's, but not his own, blacks to Africa; a philosophical career in Philadelphia with Fitch's steamboat, a two day study of architecture, marriage and back to Tortola  

Chapter Three: "What is Become of L'Enfant?" (1777 to 1792) - An interlude tracing the conception and planning of the City of Washington with a focus on L'Enfant whose fall allowed Thornton to rise 

Chapter Four: The Tortola Design (1790 to 1793) Marriage, a return to Tortola, "a Treatise on the Elements of Written Language"and. after drawing a dud in Tortola, lands in Philadelphia, and, with help, draws a winning design for the US Capitol. But all eyes are on a richer schemer, Samuel Blodget.

Chapter Five: Design By Committee (1793) - Architects Stephen Hallet and James Hoban challenge and change Thornton's design; a younger and richer man, James Greenleaf, invests in the city; Thornton flirts with Revolution and flees yellow fever 

Chapter Six: Hallet Dismissed (1794-5) - Hallet rebels and is fired; after four others decline, the president appoints Thornton to the Board of Commissioner, but all eyes are on James Greenleaf, who brings architects, and Thomas Law who brings money.

Chapter Seven: Thornton Becomes a Commissioner and Lovering Builds Houses (1794-1795) -  the president doesn't ask Thornton to restore his design and architect George Hadfield is hired to build Hallet's revision of Thornton's design  

Chapter Eight: Capitol Walls Fall Down (1795) - Thornton prompts the president to raise the foundation then perplexes the president by harassing a former commissioner and letting the foundation walls collapse

Chapter Nine: Hoban v. Hadfield (1795-1797) - Hadfield redesigns the Capitol; Hoban saves the old design and Thornton tries to claim credit; Greenleaf sells out to Morris and Nicholson; Lovering  designs the Twenty Buildings  

Chapter Ten : Tayloe Wins a Race (1797) After a match race victory; Tayloe buys a building lot; Thornton prepares for the president's retiring by sharing his vision of the city that he finally decides to live in. 

Chapter Eleven: The "Ingenious A" (1798): Proof that Lovering, not Thornton, designed Law's largest house. General Washington designs two houses and avoids using Thornton as an architect. Thornton tries but fails to get his colleagues to confirm that he had restored his Capitol design.

Chapter Twelve: Designing the Octagon (1798-9):  John Tayloe chooses politics over the dragoons and decides to build his house - Lovering escapes his debts - an analysis of Thornton's purported designs for the house - Thornton's tries to get Hoban fired

Chapter Thirteen : Mrs. Thornton's Diary and All of Thornton's Horses (1800-1822): His wife's diary describes some easy design projects - Thornton designs a country seat "as a friend" even as money stops coming from Tortola. His horse Driver comes back lame, and for the next 22 years Thornton tries to prove he is better breeder than Tayloe.

 

Chapter Fourteen : Thornton v. Latrobe (1800 -1819) - as expected, Thornton loses any power he had over the Capitol. To his surprise, Latrobe changes his design of the South Wing. A gold company in North Carolina, don't distract Thornton from making up the history of the Capitol and forcing Latrobe to sue for libel.

Chapter Fifteen: On the Heights of Mt. Chimborazo (1802-1828): Patents, Latin American Revolution, Thornton's final days, and a secret reveal about Mrs. Thornton's birth

Sources: I provide links to those available on-line

Illustrations: I will provide links to those available on-line

Index

Acknowledgements:  Mandy Katz reminded me that the 1790s is a living presence in the city. Don Hawkins continues to be an inspiration. His work on the Capitol design is seminal in correcting the current misconceptions. While by no means smitten by the bricks and stones of the old Federal City, in his Morris's Folly, Ryan Smith shared his love of several of the characters who shaped it. He also read an early draft of this effort and opined that it was worth it. The Mount Vernon library's curator Dana Stefanelli, with his enlightened policy of putting requested documents on-line immediately, shared a clue that cracked the case  of the Ingenious A. Finally, though he comes in for much criticism in this book, we are all indebted to C. M. Harris for his transcribing the Papers of William Thornton.