Park," "The Lily Pond." "The Dumplings, Newport," and "View near Stockbridge, Mass."
THORNDIKE, Israel, merchant, b. in Beverly.
Mass., in 1757; d. in Boston, Mass., 10 May,
1832. He was educated in the common schools,
on 30 Oct., 1776, was appointed captain of the
privateer "Warren" by the government of Massachusetts,
and made several captures during the
Revolutionary war. When peace was concluded
he engaged extensively in commerce with China
and the East Indies, and also in manufacturing.
His enterprises were all skilfully planned, and he
soon became wealthy. He was elected to the
Massachusetts convention that ratified the constitution
of the United States, and for many years
sat in the Massachusetts legislature. He settled
in Boston in 1810, and in 1818 purchased for the
use of Harvard the library of Prof. Christoph
Daniel Ebeling, of Hamburg, which consists of
4,000 volumes, and is remarkably rich in works on
American history and antiquities.
THORNE, Charles R., actor, b. in New York
city, 11 June, 1840; d. there, 10 Feb., 1883. When
a child he made journeys with his father and
mother, who were popular actors, and managed
travelling theatrical companies. The son made
his first appearance on the stage in San Francisco
at the age of twelve. He was afterward sent to
learn a trade, but soon returned to the stage, and
in 1862 began to acquire popularity. He was
in China subsequently, and erected a theatre at
Shanghai, which was moderately successful. After
a visit to Egypt and a tour thence round the
world, he returned to New York in 1873 and became
a member of the Union square company.
One of his best characters was Daniel Rochat, in
Sardou's play of that name.
THORNTON, Anthony, soldier, b. in the family
homestead, Ormsby, Caroline co., Va., 1 Feb.,
1748; d. in Paris, Bourbon co., Ky., 21 Dec,
1828. He was a thorough patriot during the
Revolutionary war, and commanded a regiment
of minute-men in the contest, being present at
the head of his regiment at the siege of Yorktown.
His brother Presley commanded a company of
horsemen, and another brother was an aide to
Gen. Washington. Col. Anthony raised a large
family, whose descendants are scattered through-
out the United States. His sword which he used
during the Revolutionary war is still preserved
by his grandchildren at Paris, Bourbon co., Ky.,
to which place he moved with his family in 1808
and engaged in agriculture. — His grandson, James
Bankhead, b. in Mount Zephyr, Caroline co., Va.,
28 Aug., 1806; d. in Memphis, Tenn., 12 Oct.,
1867, was the son of James B. Thornton. He represented
his district in the Virginia senate in
1838-'40, and was one of the prime movers in the
establishment of the Military institute at Lexing-
ton, Va. He was educated at William and Mary
college, and subsequently studied law, located at
Warrenton, Fauquier co., afterward at Bowling
Green, Caroline co., and in 1847 in Memphis, Tenn.,
where he continued to practise his profession. He
was the author of a "Digest of the Conveyancing,
Testamentary, and Registry Laws of the States of
the Union" (Philadelphia, 1847), and a work on "Assignments,"
the manuscript of which was burned
accidentally before its publication. While engaged
in active practice he contributed to current literature.
In politics he was a Democrat, and in the
civil war he was identified with the southern cause.—James
Bankhead's son, Gustavus Brown, sanitarian,
b. in Bowling Green, Va., 22 Feb., 1835,
was graduated at the Memphis medical college in
1858, and at the medical department of the University
of New York in 1860. At the beginning
of the civil war he served as a surgeon in the Confederate
army, and in 1862–'5 was chief surgeon of
a division. In 1868 he was appointed physician in
charge of the Memphis city hospital, and continued
so until in 1879, when he became president of the
Memphis board of health ; also since 1880 he has
been a member of the Tennessee state board of
health, both of which appointments he still holds.
Dr. Thornton acquired reputation by his heroism
and skill during the three great yellow-fever epidemics
in Memphis in 1873-8 and 1879. He is a
member of various sanitary and medical societies,
and was in 1882 president of the Tennessee state
medical society. In addition to his official reports
as president of the Memphis board of health, he
has contributed numerous memoirs on sanitary
subjects to the "Proceedings of the American
Public Health Association" and to the transactions
of other societies of which he is a member. These
include "Yellow Fever, Pathology and Treatment"
(1880) ; "Memphis Sanitation and Quarantine in
1879 and 1880*' (1880); "The Negro Mortality of
Memphis" (1882) ; "Sanitation of the Mississippi
Valley" (1884) ; "Gulf Coast Quarantine" (1884) ;
and "Six Years' Sanitary Work in Memphis" (1886).
THORNTON, Sir Edward, British diplomatist,
b. in London, England, 17 July, 1817. He is the
son of Sir Edward Thornton, minister to Portugal,
who was created Count de Cassilhas by the Portuguese
monarch, John VI. The son was graduated
at Cambridge in 1840, and became an honorary
fellow of Pembroke college, became a member of
the diplomatic service in 1842 at Turin, was paid
attache in Mexico in 1845, succeeded to the Portuguese
title in 1850, and in 1851 was appointed secretary
of legation to the republic of Mexico. He
was secretary to the special mission to the river
Plate, under the late Sir Charles Ilotham, from
April, 1852, till October, 1853, and in May, 1854,
became charge d'affaires and consul-general in
New Grenada, but was transferred to Uruguay in
September following. He became minister to the
Argentine Confederation in 1859, and was engaged
on a special mission to the court of Brazil in July,
1865, wher.e he was appointed minister in the Au-
gust ensuing. In September, 1867, he was selected
to represent England at the court of Portugal, but
before he could take possession of the office he was
transferred in December to Washington. He was
made a companion of the Bath (civil division) on
9 Feb.. 1863, knight commander on 9 Aug., 1870,
and a privy councillor, 19 Aug., 1871. He was a
member of the joint high commission on the "Alabama"
claims in 1871, and an arbitrator of the
American and Mexican claims commission in 1873,
also of the boundaries of Ontario in 1878. He was
transferred as ambassador to St. Petersburg, in
May, 1881, and to Turkey in December, 1884, and
was made a G. C. B. on 21 Aug., 1883. The degree
of D. C. L. was conferred upon him by Oxford in
1877, and that of LL. D. by Harvard in 1879. On
1 Jan., 1887, he was retired with a pension.
THORNTON, Eliza B., poet. b. in North
Hampton, N. H., 23 July. 1795; d. in Saco, Me.,
27 July, 1854. She was a direct descendant of Gen.
Daniel Gookin, and married James B. Thornton, of
Scarboro. Me., on 20 Jan., 1817. Mrs. Thornton
was for many years a contributor of poetry to the
"Southern Literary Messenger," the "Christian
Mirror," and other periodicals. Her best-known
piece is "The Mayflower."— Her son. John Wingate,
historian, b. in Saco, Me., 12 Aug., 1818; d.
there, 6 June, 1878, was graduated at the Harvard
