Person:Anna Brodeau (1)

Notes

• her mother ran a girls' boarding/finishing school in Philadelphia
• 1790 - age 15 - married Dr. William Thornton ; her mother established a household for them and moved in with them
• 1828 - age 53 - husband William died
• after husband's death, she continued to live with her mother

• 1835 - "In August, 1835, a slave of Mrs. Thornton made an attempt to murder her and Mrs. Brodeau [her mother], at night, with an axe. He was prevented by his own mother. The indignation was to the pitch, that, in revenge, mobs of white people destroyed negro dwellings, school houses and a church." [Clark: Doctor and Mrs. William Thornton. 263]
  • (see Snow Riot)

1.   Clark, Allen C. Doctor and Mrs. William Thornton, in Columbia Historical Society (Washington, D. C.). Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. (Washington, District of Columbia: The Society, 1897-)
   18 (1915), 144-208.
2.   Anna Thornton, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
   last accessed Oct 2022.

   Anna Maria Brodeau Thornton (1775?–1865) was a prominent Washington, D.C., socialite, diarist, and the wife of architect William Thornton, who designed the first United States Capitol building. She rubbed shoulders with figures such as George Washington and Dolley Madison. ...