James Madison Papers
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Account with William Thornton, [5 December] 1809

Account with William Thornton

[5 December 1809]

Account between the Honble. James Madison—and Mr. Thornton.

William Thornton Dr:
1806
Augst. 4. To a Loan of one hundred and fifty Dollars $150.—
1807— To Interest one year on the above 9.—
To Interest on fifty Dollars till 1809 from
Augst. 4th: 1807 till Decr. 1809. 2 yrs:
3 months		 7.50
1805 Octr. To 120 Bushels of Coals at 28 Cts. ⅌r: Bushell 33.60
 
March 18. To 196 Bushs: of Coal at 28 Cts. 44:88
To a set of Dining tables valued by Mr.
Worthington Cabinet Maker, whose valuation
was delivered to Mrs. Madison		 }
50:00
$294:98
William Thornton Cr:
1807 By One hundred Dolls: returned in 1807. $100  
1805—
By four Seasons to Clifden,1 charged by
William Ball to William Thornton		 }
80  
1806—
By three Seasons to Do: charged by Capt.
Haskins to William Thornton		 }
40  
1809—
By two Stud Colts by Clifden a Filly by
Do.—a Filly by Childers2—a Colt by Clifden
& Mare by Do.—as ⅌r: Valuation of
Mr: Gouch $335.04. half of which becomes
due to W. T.		 }
167.50
$387:50
The returns of the labours of the Vicar of Bray are not yet made.

(Errors excepted)   William Thornton

City of Washington 5th: Decr: 1809—Received from the Honble: James Madison the above balance of ninety two Dollars 52 Cts: in full—

William Thornton

Ms (DLC). In Thornton’s hand. Docketed by JM.

1. Clifden was the most famous of several racehorses that Thornton made available for stud services at his farm near Georgetown. Clifden had a spectacular season at Newmarket as a five-year-old in 1792, and Thornton imported the horse from England in 1799. Thornton’s billing accords with the evaluation by Gideon Gooch, the Montpelier farm manager, written on a separate sheet (Bryan, History of the National Capital, 1:346; Fairfax Harrison, Early American Turf Stock, 1730–1830 [2 vols.; Richmond, Va., 1934–35], 2:374–75; Gooch, valuation of horses, n.d. [DLC] [misdated 1804 in Index to the James Madison Papers]).

2. Childers is a recurring name in the stud books of eighteenth-and nineteenth-century breeders. Many of the stallions descended from the original champion, “the famous Childers, lately belonging to his grace the Duke of Devonshire” (Harrison, Early American Turf Stock, 2:513). JM offered to trade Thornton two horses for his Childers in 1803 (JM to Thornton, 19 Aug. 1803 [DLC: Thornton Papers]).

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    Madison Papers
    Title
    Account with William Thornton, [5 December] 1809
    Authors
    Thornton, William
    Madison, James
    Date
    5 December 1809

    Reference

    Cite as
    “Account with William Thornton, [5 December] 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-02-02-0131. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 2, 1 October 1809–2 November 1810, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 111–112.]