More on James Hoban 1792-1796

 Excerpts from Through a Fiery Trail

 

Hoban and Thornton faced similar challenges. Thornton's rhetoric earned him posthumous fame. A semblance of his prize winning design was built but contemporaries credited Latrobe and Bulfinch for what was built. Hoban built his design and was ahead of schedule which was a notable achievement. However, the President's house went against the republican cant of the day and there was no way Hoban could have been ennobled for his achievement. He was also decidedly middle class, earned his living, and being Irish and Catholic did not help. Unfortunately his papers burned in a house fire and he did not write his memoirs and worry about his legacy. 

The excerpts below were not written to enhance his reputation. Indeed, they track his survival skills. He was the rival architect that Thornton could not banish. Click the images below to read the pages.


























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Table of Contents: Case of the Ingenious A

Image
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
Read more

Introduction

Image
Table of Contents   Index                                                                          The Case of the Ingenious A: Introduction Pages 7-13   1. William Thornton in 1804 In January 1793, Dr. William Thornton, who was just off a boat from Tortola, British Virgin Islands, drew the elevation and floor plan that won the design contest for the United States Capitol. The judge was President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson quickly fed his boss's enthusiasm. Not five months later, the latter told the former that they had been fooled by an amateur. What Thornton had designed could not be built. The thirty-three year old's sole professional credential was an M.D. from a Scottish medical school. Jefferson convened a committee of architects and builders to evaluate and change his design. But for the rest of their lives, the first and third presidents could not quite admit that awarding Thornton the prize was a mistake.  Washington even made things
Read more

Chapter Nine: Thornton v. Hadfield

Image
Table of Contents page 136  index Chapter Nine: Thornton v. Hadfield 84. Hadfield's simplification of the 1793 Conference Plan There is no reason to doubt Trumbull's characterization of George Hadfield as a respectful and circumspect young man. He came from ingratiating stock. His father had been a hotel keeper in Livorno, Italy, where distinguished British families spent the winter. Historians suspect that his sister Maria Cosway had an affair with Thomas Jefferson in Paris. She was otherwise well connected with British society, but George's personal life had been and would be exemplary. What may have prompted Hadfield to redesign the Capitol was lack of anything else to do. By the time he arrived, the  commissioners had run out of money to pay workers and work stopped on the Capitol in late October.(1) Thus, he could not supervise the work. He faced a winter of making plans in anticipation of the work to be done. However, as the commissioners explained to the president,
Read more