Excerpt from Memoir of John Wingate Thornton, A. M., LL. B: With a List of His PublicationThe eldest son of this marriage, James Brown Thornton, was cd ucated at Berwick and Gorham Academics, and in 1809 entered Bowdoin College. Three years had not passed when hostilities commenced with England, and in June, 1812, he was captured in a Saco privateer by the Bream of ten guns, and carried into Halifax. After three months of hardship and privations, exchanged through the in¿uence of his father the marshal, he returned home, all the more ready from his treatment to engage himself in the war. His uncle Richard Cutts, at that time a member of Congress, procured him a commission as midshipman, and he joined the Macedonian, then recently captured by Decatur. He was soon afterwards trans ferred to the United States frigate, one of a squadron under that officer, blockaded in the Thames till the war closed. When peace was declared he left the navy, and engaging in business at Saco, became interested in lands and shipping. Sagacious and eager to be useful, he drew attention to the water-power of the Saco for manufacturing purposes, and in process of time was one of the originators of the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad, connect ing the commercial capital of Maine with the railroad system of the country. In 1817 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Judge Dan iel Gookin, of New Hampshire, a lady distinguished alike by the graces of literature, a rich poetic fancy, kindly affections and scrip tural piety. Their son, John Wingate Thornton, eldest of a family of eight sons and three daughters, was born August 12, 1818, at Saco, at the house of his grandfather, Dr. Thornton.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.