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Lucy Smith Crittenden Thornton Papers: Finding Aid
mssHM 68280-68322
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Title: Lucy Smith Crittenden Thornton Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1856-1869
Collection Number: mssHM 68280-68322
Creator:
Thornton, Lucy Smith Crittenden.
Extent: 43 items in 1 box
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains 43 letters of Lucy Smith Crittenden Thornton (1802-1885), wife of United States Government Land Commissioner
in California Harry Innes Thornton (1797-1861),
chiefly to her son attorney Harry Innes Thornton, Jr.,
as well as other Thornton family members. Even though the letters chiefly deal with family matters and the Thorntons'
social lives in San Francisco and Oakland, California, many of the letters also discuss the
social conditions in the post-Civil War South and family friends who left the South
because of failing plantations.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Lucy Smith Crittenden Thornton Papers, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Carmen Valentino, November 26, 2004.
Lucy Smith Crittenden Thornton (1802-1885), sister of Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden, was
married to Harry Innes Thornton (1797-1861), Judge of the Supreme Court of Alabama. The couple
had four children: Harry Innes Thornton, Jr., Bessie Thornton, Margaret Thornton
Fall, and Sarah (Sallie) Thornton. In 1849 the Thorntons moved to San Francisco,
California after President Fillmore appointed Harry Innes Thornton Government Land
Commissioner. Harry Innes Thornton, Jr., became an attorney and politician. Although
the Thorntons lived in California, the family remained loyal to Alabama and the
South and when the Civil War began Harry Innes Thornton, Jr., resigned his position
as California State Senator, traveled to Alabama and joined the 58th Alabama
Infantry. After the war, Harry Innes Thornton, Jr., lived in Texas, Montana, Utah,
Nevada, and California while he continued to practice law, specializing in mining
litigation and criminal defense. The younger Thornton married his cousin Katherine
Marshall Thornton in 1868.
Bibliography
Thornton, Harry Innes, Jr. “Recollections of the War by a Confederate Officer from California.”
Southern California Quarterly 1963 45(3): 195-218.
The collection consists of 43 letters. Thirty of the 43 letters are from Lucy Smith
Crittenden Thornton to her son Harry Innes Thornton, Jr. The remaining letters are
written by other Thornton family members including (piece counts in parenthesis):
Bessie Thornton (3), Sarah Thornton (2), Margaret Thornton Fall (1), Katherine
Marshall Thornton (2), Harry I. Thornton, Jr. (3), and Ann Mary [last name unknown]
(2). Even though the letters chiefly deal with family matters and the Thorntons'
social lives in San Francisco and Oakland, California, many of the letters also discuss the
social conditions in the post- war South and family friends who left the South
because of failing plantations. The Thorntons also comment upon the numerous
“Yankees” with whom they have to socialize after the war. The family also mentions
the freedmen in the South, Jefferson Davis, the impeachment of President Andrew
Johnson, and politics in California. The 3 letters by Harry I. Thornton, Jr.,
discuss his travels in the American Southwest, his legal career, and specific court
cases with which he was involved. Harry I. Thornton, Sr., is mentioned briefly in
one letter.
Arranged chronologically.
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889. Subject in Lucy Smith Crittenden Thornton letter (1866, Aug. 6) to Harry I. (Harry Innes) Thornton,
1834-1895. HM 68295.
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875, Impeachment. Subject in Harry I. (Harry Innes) Thornton, 1834-1895 letter (1868, Mar. 21) to Lucy
Smith Crittenden Thornton.
Thornton, Harry I. (Harry Innes), 1797-1861. Subject in Bessie Thornton letter (1856, Sep. 18) to Harry I. (Harry Innes) Thornton,
1834-1895. HM 68280.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Crittenden, John J.
(John Jordan), 1787-1863 -- Family -- Correspondence.
Davis, Jefferson,
1808-1889.
Johnson, Andrew,
1808-1875 -- Impeachment.
Thornton, Harry I.
(Harry Innes), 1797-1861.
Thornton, Lucy Smith
Crittenden.
Freedmen -- Southern States -- History
-- Sources.
Lawyers -- West (U.S.)
Reconstruction (U.S. history,
1865-1877) -- Public opinion -- Sources.
Veterans -- Confederate States of
America.
Women -- California --
Correspondence.
California -- Politics
and government -- 19th century.
California -- Social
life and customs.
Oakland (Calif.) --
History -- 19th century -- Sources.
San Francisco (Calif.)
-- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Southern States --
Social conditions -- 19th century -- Sources.
United States --
Politics and government -- 19th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- California
-- 19th century.
Thornton, Harry I. (Harry Innes),
1834-1895.