James D. Thornton

James Dabney Thornton (January 19, 1823 – September 27, 1902) was an American lawyer and judge who served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1880 to 1891.

James Dabney Thornton
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
January 5, 1880 – January 5, 1891
Appointed byDirect election
Preceded byNew seat established by Constitution of California of 1879
Succeeded byCharles H. Garoute
Personal details
Born(1823-01-19)January 19, 1823
Oak Hill, Cumberland, Virginia, U.S.
DiedSeptember 27, 1902(1902-09-27) (aged 79)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Spouse
Sarah Frances Thornton
​
​
(m. 1848)​
Alma materUniversity of Virginia (BA)

Early life and education

Thornton was born January 19, 1823, at Oak Hill in Cumberland, Virginia, to William Mynn Thornton and Elizabeth Anderson.[1][2] He studied at the University of Virginia, graduating in 1841.[2] After college, he read law for a year and then worked three years in a commercial house in Richmond, Virginia, while continuing his legal studies.[2] In November 1848, he and his wife moved to Eutaw, Alabama, where his wife's father, Harry Innis Thornton Sr., was a judge and member of the Alabama Legislature.[3] By 1851, Harry I. Thornton had moved to California and was appointed to the federal Public Land Commission to address property ownership in California.[4] In 1854, James Thornton also determined to move to California, arriving in San Francisco in June 1854.[5] There, he started a law firm with his father-in-law and John James Williams, whom he had befriended in Richmond, Virginia.[6]

Judicial career

In 1856, Thornton served as a district court commissioner for the Fourth district court in San Francisco.[7] In August 1858, he was nominated by the Democratic Lecompton Party for judge of the Fourth district court.[8]

In June 1861, he attended the state convention of the Breckenridge Democratic Party, with pro-Southern sympathies.[9] During the Civil War, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, as did Solomon Heydenfeldt, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina.[10][2] At that time, his wife's brother, the attorney Harry Innis Thornton Jr., gave a speech on the floor of the California State Senate defending the Southern states' rights to succeed, and afterwards left to fight for the Confederacy.[11]

In 1878, James Thornton was appointed judge of the Twenty-third district court by Governor William Irwin.[12][13]

In 1879, when adoption of a new constitution required elections for all seats on the Supreme Court, Thornton was nominated by both the Democratic Party and Workingman's Party and was elected.[14][15][16][17] The newly elected judges drew lots to determine the length of term, and Thornton drew an 11-year term, the same length as Elisha W. McKinstry.[18][19] In November 1890, just prior to the end of his term, he ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for judge of San Francisco County Superior Court.[20][21] Instead, after stepping down from the high court he returned to private practice.[2]

He died September 27, 1902, in San Francisco.[13][22]

Personal life

On February 17, 1848, he married Sarah Frances Thornton[23][24] in Eutaw, Alabama, and they had eleven children, including six who lived to adulthood: Crittenden Thornton, a lawyer in San Francisco;[25][26] Harry I. Thornton, Jr., who graduated from Hastings College of the Law;[26] Elizabeth Anderson 'Lizzy' Thornton (Mrs. John Crittenden Watson, an admiral); William M. Thornton, a banker in Montana and later businessman in Chicago;[27][28] Margaret Thornton (Mrs. Abbott Kinney of Santa Monica); and John Thurston Thornton, also a lawyer in San Francisco. Two other daughters died before adulthood: Ann Mary Thornton (1851–1870) and Gertrude Thornton (1855–1877).

References
  1. Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850–1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 143–145. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  2. "Judge James Thornton Passes to Last Rest". San Francisco Call. Vol. 87, no. 122. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 September 1902. p. 3. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  3. "Alabama-Whig Convention". New-York Daily Tribune. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. January 19, 1844. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  4. "California Land Commissioner". American Telegraph (Wash, DC). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. September 16, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  5. "How San Francisco Society Folks Were Housed and Entertained Years Ago". San Francisco Call. Vol. 91, no. 8. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 December 1901. p. 14. Retrieved July 25, 2017. Judge H. T. Thornton and his son-in-law, Judge James D. Thornton, recently of the Supreme Court, on Green street, near Stockton
  6. "A Distinguished Lawyer Dead". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 16, no. 44. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 9 October 1881. p. 3. Retrieved July 25, 2017. While in Richmond he made the acquaintance of, and formed a friendship with, James D. Thornton, now of this city, afterward his partner for many years.
  7. "Commissioner's Sale of a Large Amount of Valuable Real Estate". Marysville Daily Herald. No. 173. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 April 1856. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  8. "By Telegraph to the Union, -Lecompton Convention". Sacramento Daily Union. Vol. 15, no. 2315. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 28 August 1858. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  9. "Democratic (Breckenridge) State Convention". Sacramento Daily Union. Vol. 21, no. 3185. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 June 1861. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2017. War, war exists among the States of the Union, amongst the American people, amongst the sovereign citizens of the respective States. it would be unnecessary for me now to Institute an Inquiry, or to bring forward proofs to establish who it was that Inaugurated that war. All the horrors that result from such a strife are to be precipitated upon the peaceful homes of our fellow-citizens of the South, and we cannot sit here Indifferent thereto--speech of James D. Thornton
  10. "Secession State Committee". Marysville Daily Appeal. No. 31. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 9 August 1862. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  11. "Col. H. I. Thornton Breathes His Last". The Morning Call (San Francisco, CA). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. February 26, 1895. p. 7. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  12. "Court Notes". Daily Alta California. Vol. 30, no. 10232. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 April 1878. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2017. Twenty-third District Court —This court organised yesterday morning, with the following officers: judge, James D. Thornton
  13. "Deaths of the Day, James D. Thornton". Los Angeles Herald. No. 363. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 October 1902. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  14. "Democratic Conventions". Sacramento Daily Union. Vol. 8, no. 101. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 4 July 1879. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2017. Judge Lake nominated James D. Thornton, of San Francisco, and spoke warmly in his favor.
  15. "The State Election". Mariposa Gazette. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 September 1879. p. 12. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  16. "Official Returns of the Election". Sacramento Daily Union. Vol. 8, no. 191. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 20 October 1879. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  17. "The State Government, Associate Justices". Sacramento daily record-union. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. January 10, 1880. p. 3. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  18. "The Courts, Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Record-Union. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. January 13, 1880. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017. J. D. Thornton drew a term of eleven years
  19. "The New State Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Record-Union. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. January 6, 1880. p. 1. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  20. "The Superior Judges". Daily Alta California. Vol. 83, no. 125. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 November 1890. p. 4. Retrieved July 25, 2017. The Democratic nominees for the Superior Bench are all worthy of popular support. Of Judge James D. Thornton it is unnecessary to speak at length.
  21. "Bay City Nominations". Los Angeles herald. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. October 9, 1890. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2017. The Democrats made the following nominations tonight: Superior judges, long term, James D. Thornton, present supreme court judge.
  22. "Grave Closes Over a Jurist, Late James D. Thornton Is Buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery. High Tribute Is Paid to the Memory of Deceased by Noted Divines". San Francisco Call. No. 123. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 October 1902. p. 7. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  23. "Mrs. J. Reis". The Morning Call (San Francisco, CA). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. August 17, 1890. p. 11. Retrieved July 25, 2017. Belonged to the well-known Thornton family...Mrs. James D. Thornton is her mother's sister, who married a gentleman of the same name but of most remote connection with the family.
  24. "Death Notices, Thornton, Sarah Frances". The San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. May 4, 1904. p. 14. Retrieved July 25, 2017. In this city, May 3, 1904, Sarah Frances, daughter of Harry Innis Thornton Sr., and widow of the late James Dabney Thornton, a native of Huntsville, Alabama, aged 78 years and 9 months.
  25. "Mrs. Sacher Dies in Paris". San Francisco Call. Vol. 95, no. 70. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 February 1904. p. 12. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  26. "Thornton's Fate". The Morning Call (San Francisco, CA). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. April 3, 1893. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2017. All doubt has now been dispelled about the fate of Harry I. Thornton, a son of ex-Justice of the Supreme Court Thornton....Crittenden Thornton, a brother of Harry I. Thornton, Jr.
  27. "Personals". Daily Alta California. Vol. 42, no. 13874. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 26 August 1887. p. 4. Retrieved July 25, 2017. W. M. Thornton, a banker of Montana, is visiting his father, Judge James D. Thornton, of the Supreme Court.
  28. "Personal". Daily Alta California. Vol. 81, no. 94. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 October 1889. p. 4. Retrieved July 25, 2017. Wm. M. Thornton, son of Supreme Justice James D. Thornton of this State, is a candidate for State Senator on the Democratic ticket in Deer Lodge, Montana.

See also
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