Introduction
Table of Contents Doctor T. Examined, and the Case of the Ingenious A or Why William Thornton Did Not Design the Octagon House or the Capitol by Bob Arnebeck Introduction 1. William Thornton in 1804 In a riposte to Doctor Thornton, did the Mayor of Washington hit below the belt? They had been friends but in their published exchange, Thornton stooped to doggerel: "The Mayor, Collector of the Taxes, Doctor Blake/ Is a malicious, and insinuating snake...." The editor of the National Intelligencer tried to police the doctors' back and forth: "The Public and the editor conceive that this sort of BADINAGE to be unsuited to the times and expect it to cease." It was 1814. The Br...