Jesse Quinn Thornton (1810–1888) was an American settler of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, active in political, legal, and educational circles. He served as the 6th Supreme Judge of the

Provisional Government of Oregon The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country (1818-1846), in the Pacific Northwest region of the western portion of the continent of North America. Its formation had been advanced ...

, presented Oregon's petition for official territorial status to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, served in the

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower chamber: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the H ...

, and wrote the state's motto.

Biography

Early life

Jesse Quinn Thornton was born August 24, 1810, near Point Pleasant, Virginia (now

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

). He grew up in

Champaign County, Ohio Champaign County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,714. Its county seat and largest city is Urbana. The county takes its name from the French word for "open level country". Champaign C ...

, and studied law in London for nearly three years. Returning to the United States, he

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

in Virginia and was admitted to the bar in 1833, afterward attending lectures at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. In 1835, Thornton moved to

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

in western

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, where he practiced law; he also edited a newspaper.Thornton, Jessy Quinn. Oregon history: Salem, Ore. and related materials. Bancroft MS P-A 70, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley."Jessy Quinn Thornton." ''Appleton's Cyclopedia'' On February 8, 1838, he married the widowed Agnes M. "Nancy" Huston Logue, a teacher. Thornton, an abolitionist, ran into difficulty in pro-slavery Missouri and in 1841 he and his wife moved across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ) is a city in Adams County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Mississippi River, the population was 39,463 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 40,633 in 2010. The Quincy, Illinois, mic ...

. Thornton corresponded with newspaper editor

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...

and was acquainted with senators Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri and

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (né Douglass; April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a United States Senate, U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party (United States) ...

of Illinois.Phil Norfleet: Biographical Sketch of William Campbell (1793-1885) of Santa Clara, California.
/ref>

Oregon

Hoping to improve their health, the Thorntons decided to emigrate to Oregon. They left Quincy on April 18, 1846, and after a brief stop in

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

, joined the William H. Russell wagon train on May 15.Thornton, Jessy Quinn. ''Oregon and California in 1848''. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1849. This company was made up of travelers bound for both Oregon and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

; among the latter were many of the emigrants who later formed the

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

. On June 1 Thornton and his partner John B. Goode became involved in a dispute about their wagon and team, and the following day arbitrators requested the Oregon-bound wagons to leave the group. When they reached

Fort Hall Fort Hall was a fort in the Western United States that was built in 1834 as a fur trading post by Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. It was located on the Snake River in the eastern Oregon Country, now part of present-day Bannock County in southeastern ...

, near present-day

Pocatello, Idaho Pocatello () is the county seat of and the largest city in Bannock County, Idaho, Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, Idaho, Power County, containing the city's airport. It is t ...

, Thornton's party met

Jesse Applegate Jesse Applegate (July 5, 1811 – April 22, 1888) was an American pioneer who led a large group of settlers along the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country. He was an influential member of the early government of Oregon, and helped establish the ...

, Lindsay Applegate, David Goff, and Levi Scott, who were authorized by the

to survey a new route to the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

that would avoid the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

. On August 9, 1846, Thornton's group set off on the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

, which they followed until they reached central

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. From there the new

Applegate Trail The Applegate Trail was an emigrant trail through the present-day U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon used in the mid-19th century by emigrants on the American frontier. It was originally intended as a less dangerous alternati ...

(also called the Southern Route) went northwest and entered Oregon from the south.Applegate's Road to Oregon.
End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved on January 31, 2008. The road built by the party was inadequate for wagon travel and required the first group to take it to make many improvements, slowing their progress. Some emigrants, including the Thorntons, were forced to abandon their wagons and possessions along the way. On November 30, 1846, Thornton arrived at Salt Creek in Yamhill District and soon after wrote a letter to the editor of the ''

Oregon Spectator ''The Oregon Spectator'', was a newspaper published from 1846 to 1855 in Oregon City of what was first the Oregon Country and later the Oregon Territory of the United States. The ''Spectator'' was the first American newspaper west of the Rocky Mo ...

'' pleading for the settlers to send relief parties to the

Umpqua Valley The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...

to save the belated emigrants.

Politics

On February 20, 1847, Governor

George Abernethy George Abernethy (October 7, 1807 – March 2, 1877) was an American politician, pioneer, notable entrepreneur, and first governor of Oregon under the provisional government based in the Willamette Valley, an area later a part of the American sta ...

of the Provisional Government appointed Thornton to the position of Supreme Judge where he served until November 9, 1847.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 31, 2008. He resigned when Abernathy asked him to go to Washington, D.C., as a delegate from the Provisional Government to present Oregon's bill requesting official territorial status to

.Yamhill County Circuit Court History.
Oregon Judicial Department. Retrieved on January 31, 2008. He sailed for the east on the ship ''Whiton'' along with a memorial created by the

Provisional Legislature of Oregon The Provisional Legislature of Oregon was the Unicameralism, single-chamber legislative body of the Provisional Government of Oregon. It served the Oregon Country of the Pacific Northwest of North America from 1843 until early 1849 at a time whe ...

. During a one-month layover in San Francisco he met survivors of the Donner Party, who provided him with information about their disastrous journey to California. Thornton arrived in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in May 1848 and spent the summer in the East until the creation of

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

on August 14, 1848.Horner, John B. ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. Portland: J.K. Gill, 1919. During his travels Thornton wrote up his overland diary, which was published as ''Oregon and California in 1848'' in early 1849. After his legislative work was done, Thornton returned to Oregon and practiced law in the Willamette Valley. Thornton's

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

"She flies with her own wings," translated into Latin as ''

Alis volat propriis ''Alis volat propriis'' is a Latin phrase used as the List of U.S. state mottos, motto of the U.S. state of Oregon. The official English version of the motto is "She flies with her own wings" in keeping with the tradition of considering countries ...

'', was adopted as the motto of Oregon Territory and incorporated into the territorial seal by an act of the Territorial Legislature on January 18, 1854. In 1864 and 1865, Thornton returned to politics when he served in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

as a Republican from Benton County. From 1872 until 1888 he served on the board of trustees for

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

in Salem.

Death and legacy

Thornton died in Salem on February 5, 1888, and was buried at

Lee Mission Cemetery Lee Mission Cemetery is a pioneer cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States. History Lee Mission Cemetery was established in 1842 with the burial of Lucy Thompson Lee, the second wife of Rev. Jason Lee. The cemetery's gate has the date 1838, whi ...

. Mrs. Thornton died the following year and is buried beside him. They had no children of their own, but left an adopted daughter.Flora, Stephenie and Sherrill Hochspeier
Lee Mission Cemetery burials

Footnotes

Works

* ''Oregon and California in 1848.'' In two volumes. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1849
Vol. 1

Vol. 2

"History of the Provisional Government of Oregon,"
from ''Constitution and Quotations from the Register of the Oregon Pioneer Association, Together with the Annual Address of Hon. S.F. Chadwick, Remarks of Gov. L.F. Grover, at Reunion, June 1874, and Other Matters of Interest.'' Salem, OR: E.M. Waite, 1875; pp. 43–96.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Jesse Q. Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives 1810 births 1888 deaths Willamette University people People from Oregon Country People from Oregon Territory People from Point Pleasant, West Virginia U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges 19th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly