Thornhill (Forkland, Alabama)

Last updated
Thornhill
Thornhill 01.jpg
The front elevation of the main house in 2010
USA Alabama location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Nearest city Forkland, Alabama
Coordinates 32°41′18″N87°55′45″W / 32.68833°N 87.92917°W / 32.68833; -87.92917
Built1833
Architect William Nichols
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No. 84000618 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 10, 1984

Thornhill is a historic plantation near Forkland, Alabama. The Greek Revival main house was built in 1833 by James Innes Thornton. [2] The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 10, 1984. [1]

Contents

History

James Innes Thornton was born October 28, 1800, at the Thornton family plantation known as Fall Hill, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was educated at Washington and Lee University and then emigrated to Huntsville, Alabama. He began to practice law there in 1820. He was elected as Alabama's third secretary of state in 1824 and remained in that position until 1834. After this he retired from public life and became a planter in Greene County. Thornton married Mary Amelia Glover in 1825, daughter of Allen and Sarah Norwood Glover of Demopolis. [2] They had two children. Her brother, Williamson Allen Glover, developed the neighboring plantation known as Rosemount. Mary died after only a few years. In 1831, Thornton remarried Anne Amelia Smith of Dumfries, Virginia. Anne died in 1864. He then remarried in 1870 for a third and final time to Mrs. Sarah Williams Gould Gowdy, daughter of William Proctor and Eliza Chotard Gould of the Hill of Howth in Boligee. Thornton died at Thornhill on September 13, 1877. [2]

Regarding the Thornton connection to George Washington, Mildred Washington Gregory, George Washington's paternal aunt and godmother, had three daughters who married three Thornton brothers. Mildred Gregory's daughter Frances (circ. 1720–1790)(first cousin of George Washington) married Col. Francis Thornton III (circ. 1711–1748) of Fall Hill. They were the great-grandparents of James Innes Thornton.

Thornhill was developed by Thornton as a cotton plantation in the late 1820s-early 1830s and extended over 2,600 acres (11 km2). [3] It later grew to over 5,000 acres and is currently 2,000 acres.

According to the diary of Josiah Gorgas, in talking with Thornton at Thornhill on Tuesday, June 6, 1865, less than two months after the end of the Civil War, Thornton "oppos(ed) ... the doctrine of secession and necessary deduction that we fought so valiantly (in the War) and bled so freely in a cause radically wrong." [4]

Architecture

The plantation schoolhouse at Thornhill, built circa 1845. Thornhill Schoolhouse.jpg
The plantation schoolhouse at Thornhill, built circa 1845.

William Nichols is believed to be the architect of the main house at Thornhill, hired in 1832 by Thornton. [5] Nichols was made the state architect of Alabama in 1827. He is known for designing the original campus of the University of Alabama and now-destroyed Alabama State Capitol building at Tuscaloosa and the former Mississippi State Capitol building in Jackson, Mississippi. He is also believed to be the original architect of Rosemount, neighbor to Thornhill. Thornton served as Alabama's secretary of state from 1824 to 1834 and would have been very aware of Nichols and his work. [5] The main house at Thornhill was completed by 1833. The monumental two-story portico with six Ionic columns was added circa 1850. David Rinehart Anthony, of Eutaw, is believed to be the builder who made the portico addition and second story balcony (crisscrossed lattice railing). The house measures 55 feet (17 m) wide. Inside is a 14 ft (4.3 m) wide by 40 ft (12 m) long central hall with a fine spiral staircase at the back. There are two rooms to either side. The left front room was the parlor, with the dining room behind it. On the front right was the master bedroom with the plantation office behind it. Upstairs is a matching hall and four bedrooms. All eight rooms are 19.5 feet (5.9 m) square. The downstairs rooms have 12-foot (3.7 m) ceilings. The upstairs ceilings are 11 feet (3.4 m).

The main staircase at the rear of the downstairs central hall. Thornhill 02.jpg
The main staircase at the rear of the downstairs central hall.

Originally there was a brick kitchen behind the house, it later burned. Additions were made to the original structure from circa 1900 to 1949. They were razed in 1994 and rebuilt to better match the original intent of the house. The house and grounds were extensively recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1934. [6] The plantation schoolhouse was constructed circa 1845. The Thornton children, as well as neighboring plantation children, were taught there. Surrounding the schoolhouse are 250-year-old post oaks.

Family Cemetery

Gate to the family cemetery in September 2011, following damage from a tornado on the grounds. Thornhill Plantation Cemetery 1.JPG
Gate to the family cemetery in September 2011, following damage from a tornado on the grounds.

Buried in the family cemetery, located a few hundred feet east of the main house, are: [7]

Grandson James Innes Thornton (March 10, 1873 - July 23, 19510, third occupant, is buried in Eutaw's Mesopotamia Cemetery, next to his second wife, Helen Williamson Allison Thornton (February 15, 1890 – December 12, 1963). His first wife, Betty Woolf Thornton (April 23, 1887 – September 22, 1932), was re-interred from Thornhill (after her family learned that Innes was going to be buried in Eutaw with his second wife Helen) in the Dayton Cemetery.

Thornton's first wife, Mary Amelia Glover Thornton, is buried in the Glover Mausoleum at Riverside Cemetery, Demopolis. His third wife, Sarah Williams Gould Gowdy Thornton (June 11, 1824 – August 23, 1885), is buried in the Bethsalem Cemetery, Boligee. She was the sister of Thornton's son in law John McKee Gould.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eutaw, Alabama</span> City in and county seat of Greene County, Alabama

Eutaw is a city in and the county seat of Greene County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 2,937. The city was named in honor of the Battle of Eutaw Springs, the last engagement of the American Revolutionary War in the Carolinas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forkland, Alabama</span> Town in Alabama, United States

Forkland is a town in Greene County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 445. It was incorporated around 1974.

Thornhill may refer to:

Joseph Eggleston was an American farmer, soldier, and politician from Amelia County, Virginia. He represented Virginia in the U.S. Congress from 1798 until 1801. He was the uncle of William S. Archer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Hays</span> American politician

For the public official in Idaho see Charles Marshall Hays

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glover Mausoleum</span> Historic place in Marengo County, Alabama

The Glover Mausoleum, also known as the Glover Vault, is a Greek Revival mausoleum located within the Riverside Cemetery in Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama. It houses the remains of local plantation owner, Allen Glover, his first wife (Danny) and second wife (Donald), along with many of their descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosemount (Forkland, Alabama)</span> Historic house in Alabama, United States

Rosemount is a historic plantation house near Forkland, Alabama. The Greek Revival style house was built in stages between 1832 and the 1850s by the Glover family. The house has been called the "Grand Mansion of Alabama." The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 27, 1971. The Glover family enslaved over 300 people from 1830 until 1860.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. John's-In-The-Prairie</span> Historic church in Alabama, United States

St. John's-In-The-Prairie, now known as St. John's Episcopal Church, is a historic Episcopal church in Forkland, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boligee Hill</span> Historic house in Alabama, United States

Boligee Hill, now known as Myrtle Hill, is a historic plantation house near Boligee, Alabama. The Boligee Hill plantation was established in 1835 by Dr. John David Means. He had migrated to Alabama from Newberry, South Carolina. Dr. Means had 110 slaves according to the 1850 Greene County census. The house was built in 1840. It was acquired by the Hays family in 1869 and renamed Myrtle Hall for the sweet myrtle growing around it. The property was restored in 2007 by the Beeker family and renamed Myrtle Hill. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 19, 1982, due to its architectural significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Coleman House</span> Historic house in Alabama, United States

The John Coleman House, also known as Grassdale, is a historic plantation house in Eutaw, Alabama, United States. The two-story wood-frame I-house was built by John Coleman from Edgefield, South Carolina, on property that he settled in 1819. Coleman held 75 slaves during the 1840 United States Census of Greene County. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Antebellum Homes in Eutaw Thematic Resource on December 6, 1982, due to its architectural significance. Coleman family members, as well as many slaves, are buried in a cemetery close to the house. The house is currently used as a hunting lodge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Nathan Carpenter House</span> Historic house in Alabama, United States

Everhope, known throughout most of its history as the Captain Nathan Carpenter House and more recently as Twin Oaks Plantation, is a historic plantation house near Eutaw, Alabama. Completed in 1853 for Nathan Mullin Carpenter, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage due to its architectural and historical significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Greene County Courthouse</span> United States historic place

The Old Greene County Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Eutaw, Alabama, United States. It housed the seat of government for Greene County from 1869 until 1993. The building is a two-story masonry structure in the Greek Revival style with Italianate influences. Architect Clay Lancaster proposed that it may be the last Greek Revival public building to be built in Alabama. It replaced an earlier wooden courthouse on the same site that was built in 1838. The prior courthouse was burned in 1868, in what is considered by most historians to have been a deliberate act of arson that was executed to destroy indictments brought by the recently installed Radical Reconstruction government against local citizens. The fire destroyed paperwork pertaining to some 1,800 suits by freedmen against planters which were about to be acted on. The courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1971, due to its architectural significance.

The John W. Elliott House is a historic house in Eutaw, Alabama. The Creole cottage style structure was built in 1850 by Jesse Gibson for John Williams Elliott, a watchmaker and jeweler. Elliott was born in 1814 in Litchfield County, Connecticut. He migrated to Eutaw around 1840. Elliott married Louisa Elizabeth Towner, a teacher and native of Rutland County, Vermont, in 1843. They had three children, all born and raised in Eutaw. Louisa died in 1853. John then married Blanche Smith Chapman, a native of Virginia, in 1858. The Elliott family left Eutaw prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War and relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where John Elliott died in 1888. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Antebellum Homes in Eutaw Thematic Resource on April 2, 1982, due to its architectural significance. It has been moved elsewhere since listing. The site is now a parking lot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen F. Hale</span> American politician

Stephen F. Hale was an American politician who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. In July 1862, he died of wounds received at the Battle of Gaines' Farm, in Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Nichols (architect)</span> English-born architect (1780–1853)

William Nichols, Sr. was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his early Neoclassical-style buildings in the American South. He designed statehouses for North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fall Hill</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Fall Hill is a plantation located near the falls on the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Though the Thornton family has lived at Fall Hill since the early 18th century, the present house was built in 1790 for Francis Thornton V (1760–1836). The land on which Fall Hill is located is part of an 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) land patent obtained by Francis Thornton I (1657–1727) around 1720. The present-day town of Fredericksburg, Virginia is located on that original patent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry I. Thornton</span> American politician

Harry Innes Thornton Jr. was a United States Democratic politician and attorney in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Innes Thornton</span> American politician

James Innes Thornton was a prominent Alabama, USA, planter and politician.

Abram Penn, also known as "Abraham Penn" was a noted landowner and Revolutionary War officer from Virginia.

Murray Forbes Smith was an American commission merchant best known as the father of Alva Belmont.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "Alabama's Secretary of State: James Innes Thornton". Alabama Department of Archives & History. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  3. "Thornhill Plantation, Greene County, Alabama". American Memory Collection. Library of Congress. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  4. Wiggins, Sarah Woolfolk (1995). The journals of Josiah Gorgas, 1857-1878. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN   0-585-16196-8.
  5. 1 2 Kapp, Paul Hardin (2015). The Architecture of William Nichols: Building the Antebellum South in North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. Oxford: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN   978-1-62846-138-1.
  6. "Thornhill Plantation, County Road 19, Watsonia, Greene County, AL". Historic American Buildings Survey. Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  7. Jacobson, Kim (October 2007). "Thornhill Plantation Cemetery". Magnolias and Peaches website. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
  8. Glass, Mary Morgan; Greene County Historical Society (1977). A goodly heritage : memories of Greene County. Clarkesville, Tennessee: Josten's. OCLC   3168829.