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Document 32053

THE WHITE HOUSE and U.S. CAPITOL: JAMES HOBAN and WILLIAM THORNTON
The architect of the White House and the designer of the Capitol building sign as Justices of the Peace.
Manuscript DS: "James Hoban" and "William Thornton" as Justices of the Peace, on the bottom portion of a larger, related Manuscript DS: "John McClelland/[hand-drawn seal]" and by "William Thornton" as witness, 3¼p, 7¾x12¾. Larger document relates to "Release of Mortgage". District of Columbia, County of Washington, 1821 March 2. The manuscript document signed by both Hoban and Thornton reads, in full: "This second day of March A.D. 1821 before the Subscribers one of the Justices of the Peace for the County aforesaid personally appeared J.L. McClellan the same who executed this instrument of Release and acknowledged the same to be his act and Deed." Thornton has penned the words: "second", "March" and "Justices of the Peace for the County aforesaid", added "s" to "Subscribers" and crossed out the words "one of the". The document signed by Hoban and Thornton is complete in itself. THORNTON won the competition for the design of the Capitol building in Washington, DC in 1792. He supervised construction of the Capitol until 1802, when he became the first Superintendent of the U.S. Patent Office. His design for the Capitol, submitted after the competition of 1792 had closed, was approved by President Washington, who praised it for its "grandeur, simplicity and convenience". A prize of $500 and a city lot was awarded to Thornton on April 5, 1793; he is thus recognized as the first Architect of the Capitol. Architect JAMES HOBAN supervised the construction of the north wing of the Capitol from Thornton's design from 1798-1800. After the British burned the White House during the War of 1812, Hoban rebuilt it (1815-1829). When he had the mansion painted white to obliterate the smoke marks, the home received its new name, the White House. Ironically, the two men responsible for designing the seats of the executive and legislative branches of the government were born abroad -- Hoban in Ireland and Thornton in the British Virgin Islands. Fragile. Separated at folds, but expertly repaired and encapsulated. Shaded at horizontal folds. Pinhead-size holes at fold to left of docket, which is also nicked.

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