California Biographies Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time. Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905 Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176 HARRY W. R. THORNTON. One of the successful, interesting and well-posted business men of the Los Banos district, and whose pioneer experiences embrace practically all of the phases which made of the early days of California a picturesque and unusual addition to the world's history, is Harry W. R. Thornton, a pioneer of 1852. and known as a successful miner, stage-route driver and manager, hotel proprietor and general rancher. Mr. Thornton was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 6, 1839. In 1845 ne accompanied his family to Burlington. Iowa, and in 1848 removed to Knox county, Ill. His trip across the plains with horseteams in 1852 was a welcome diversion in a life hitherto devoid of any particular promise, and once in California, a creditable ambition led him to visit practically all the large mining centers, which, however, failed to net him expected gains. His experiences in these communities all through the northwest were ofttimes startling and always impressive. Mr. Thornton's interest in mining ceased in 1869, and the following year he went to the South Sea Islands, returning to California and Gilroy in the fall of 1870. In 1876 he undertook the management of the old Hotel Los Banos, at Los Banos. When the new brick Hotel Los Banos was completed by Miller & Lux, he leased the same and conducted it with signal success from 1891 until June, 1903. Selling out and retiring from the hotel business, he devotes his energies to the improvement of his three thousand acres of land in the vicinity of Los Banos, part of which is under irrigation. He also owns property in Volta, and has bought and sold lands in different parts of the county. His land is devoted chiefly to raising alfalfa and stock, and his improvements are modern. Mr. Thornton possesses to a marked degree the char- acteristics which insure popularity, confidence and influence, and his successful financial under- takings bespeak a broad knowledge of the rules and amenities of business life. He is a Repub- lican in politics, and though never active from the standpoint of office-seeking, takes a keen in- terest in the political ambitions of his friends, in good government, and the best possible educa- tional advantages. He married in San Jose, in 1876, Jane Potter.