More on Samuel Blodget

 Excerpts from Through a Fiery Trial

trace the early impact Blodget had on the city thanks to his purchase of lots and land.

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Table of Contents: Case of the Ingenious A

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"Dr. T-" Examined and the Case of the "Ingenious A" "Saturday, Feby 1st a fine day. The ground covered with the deepest snow we have ever seen here (in 5 yrs.) - river frozen over. Dr. T- engaged in drawing at his plan for a House to build one day or another on Sq. 171."     Or Why William Thornton Didn't Design the Octagon House and Isn't the "First Architect of the Capitol"    By Bob Arnebeck author of Through a Fiery Trial: Building Washington 1790-1800 and Slave Labor in Capitol: Building Washington's Iconic Federal Landmarks Introduction:  How Glenn Brown, an architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, helped his own career by making William Thornton 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 ...
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Introduction

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Table of Contents                                                                            The Doctor Examined, or Why William Thornton Did Not Design the Octagon House or the Capitol by Bob Arnebeck Introduction   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. J...
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Chapter 11: Rivaling Tayloe

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The Doctor Examined, or Why William Thornton Did Not Design the Octagon House or the Capitol by Bob Arnebeck Table of contents Chapter 11: Rivaling Tayloe Mrs. Thornton by Stuart 1804 The General's death could have been a godsend for Thornton in that he hoped it would hasten the completion of the Capitol. The House of Representatives resolved that the General's tomb should be in the Capitol. He wrote to the author of the resolves, General John Marshall, whom he had never met, congratulating the House for its resolution and noting that putting the body in the center of "that national temple... will be a very great inducement to the completion of the whole building, which has been thought by some contracted minds, unacquainted with grand works, to be upon too great a scale." A month later Marshall acknowledged receiving the letter but didn't react to Thornton's vision. Even Mrs. Thornton seemed unexcited by the letter. In her diary, she merely noted that her h...
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