Scope and Content Note
The papers of Anna Maria Brodeau Thornton (1775?-1865) span the years 1793-1861 and consist of seven bound volumes containing diaries, journals, essays, silhouettes, and household accounts relating largely to life in Washington, D.C.
The first volume contains pocket almanacs with handwritten notes for the years 1793-1794 and 1798. It also contains historical essays in French and English, booklists, recipes, shopping lists, travel notes, and household expense information. Thornton also created several entries relating to her previous years spent in Tortola, Virgin Islands. There is a log of household visitors from 1794 to 1798 and a daily log of activities in 1803.
In the second volume beginning in 1800, Thornton discussed the schedule and work of her husband, William Thornton, on the east elevation of the United States Capitol, correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, and visits to Jefferson’s home. She also wrote of a smallpox outbreak and the paving of Pennsylvania Avenue. Additionally, the second volume contains travel journals from 1805 and 1806 detailing trips through Virginia into North Carolina and daily journals from 1842 and 1844-1846. The later journals include more abbreviated entries and references to national historical events. Items mentioned include the gun explosion on the steamer-frigate Princeton that killed the secretary of state and the secretary of the navy in 1844, the inauguration of President James K. Polk in 1845, and the return of land to Virginia from Washington, D.C., in 1846.
Volumes three, four, five and seven continue with daily household entries for 1807-1815, 1828-1835, 1836-1843 and 1850-1861. Entries also contain information on the British invasion of Washington, D.C., in 1814, including an account of the saving of the Patent Office by William Thornton from destruction by the British, and comments by Dolley Madison regarding the invasion. Anna Thornton also wrote of the death of her mother in 1836, the death of her husband in 1828, and the disposition of their estates.
Volume six contains a journal of a trip to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1849, as well as a commonplace book of French and English essays, quotations, epitaphs and poems, two small photographs of unknown children, and several unidentified silhouettes. There is also a collection of autographs, including signatures of Henry Clay, James Madison, and John P. Van Ness.