William Thornton Re-examined by Bob Arnebeck

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 died at Mount Vernon on December 14, 1799. Thornton came with the Laws a day later. Years later, he would write that he offered to restore the frozen corpse to life, but was "not seconded." The corpse was not frozen. According to Jefferson's thermometer in the Virginia foothills, afternoon temperatures were around 40F. Tobias Lear reported the events surrounding the death and burial in meticulous detail. He didn't mention a frozen corpse or Thornton's offer. He did note that the attending physician and Dr. Thornton vetoed his suggestion that the burial be delayed so more family could attend the funeral. The doctors said the inflammatory nature of the General's fatal disease made the corpse susceptible to decay and had to be buried as soon as the General's wishe...