Chapter Seven: Thornton v. Hadfield
The Doctor Examined, or Why William Thornton Did Not Design the Octagon House or the Capitol by Bob Arnebeck Table of Contents this chapter is getting re-write Chapter Seven: Thornton v. Hadfield 84. Hadfield's simplification of the 1793 Conference Plan When Hadfield signed his employment contract on October 15, 1795, he only signed up for one year and "requested permission in the presence of the full board" to give them his opinion "respecting the state of the building, after having procured the designs and examined the work." Twelve days later in a letter to the president about getting a loan from the State of Maryland, Commissioners Scott and Thornton added “we have however no reason to think [Hadfield] will wish to leave us; hitherto his conduct gives satisfaction.” Then, on that same day, Hadfield wrote his report: “I find the building begun but do not find the necessary Plans to carry on a work of this importance and I think there are defects that ...