Colonel Thomas Thorn

From: Chriss Chapman
Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 15:52:57 -0700
Subject: [CA-GOLDRUSH] Most Wanted: Colonel Thomas THORN

Colonel Thomas THORN, b in an eastern state, in the 1820s emigrated south to MS and then to TN where he married Miss Mary SHERMAN. They went to AR, then to TX. In 1849 he got gold fever and organized 200 wagons to proceed across the plains of NM and AZ. Their water supply was so meager that they had to stop several times to dig a well. After two years of hardships they reached their destination, a mining region in north CA known as Mariposa. He was not satisfied with mining on a small scale, so he entered into a plan for turning the bed of a river where many had hopes that gold might be gathered in less time. He spent about fifty thousand dollars, made a new channel, turned the river into it, and it broke its confines. The work and money were lost. Colonel THORN was in active service during the Mexican war. Thomas THORN and Mary had five children, Thomas James, the eldest, b Little Rock Ark. 8/2/39, Katherine Annette died of yellow fever in 1857 on her passage from Panama to San Francisco and was buried at sea. Then there were two sons, they died young in CA. Then there was Bessie who married James Patrick MCGELLIOTT. His father Patrick MCGELLIOTT tried Hydraulic mining in Bagby CA. I could go on but I'm sure I have taken up too much space already. Thank you, Chriss.

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