California Biographies 

Source:
History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California
by: C M Gidney - Santa Barbara. Benjamin Brooks - San Luis Obispo. 
Edwin M Sheridan - Ventura
Volumes II - Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL., 1917

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


  
CAPT. SPENCER ROANE THORPE. As an officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil war, 
as a capable lawyer, as a man of distinguished character and widespread influence, and is one 
of its early residents, Capt. Spencer Roane Thorpe deserves a special place in the annals of 
Ventura County.
 
The late Captain Thorpe was born in Louisville, Kentucky, January 20, 1842, and he was a 
great-great-grandson of Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia. His early education was acquired 
in Saint Joseph's College at Bardstown, Kentucky, where he remained a student until a short 
time before the outbreak of the Civil war. At a very early age he joined the Confederate Army, 
enlisting in the Sixteenth Mississippi Regiment of Infantry, and was later transferred to the 
First Kentucky Infantry. He was in the battle of Drainsville, Virginia, December 20, 1861, in 
which battle he was wounded. Upon that regiment's being disbanded he returned from 
Kentucky and served under Morgan's forces in the raid through Indiana, holding at that time 
the rank of first lieutenant and being in command of a battalion of four companies, serving as 
an advance guard.
 
At Corydon on July 9, 1863, he was again so seriously wounded that he was left for dead on the 
field. He was taken prisoner and his recovery was very slow. When partially recovered he was 
sent to the military prison at Johnson's Island, where he was retained until exchanged in 
October, 1864, when he re-joined his regiment, then commanded by Gen. Basil W. Duke, who 
thus writes of his record:
 
"Captain Thorpe is worthy to be credited with a record of active and almost continuous service 
for the entire duration of the war, and his good conduct during that entire period was 
recognized by every officer under whom he served."
 
His final service in the Confederate Army was with the rank of captain, when his command 
was surrendered at Woodstock, Georgia, on May 10, 1865.
 
After the war he located at Marksville, in Louisiana, where, in 1867, he was admitted to the 
practice of the law, and almost from the beginning of his practice he was noted as a man of 
unusual attainments and ability, and was soon one of the leading lawyers of that state.
 
In 1877, while on a visit to California, Captain Thorpe spent some time in Ventura, and 
foreseeing the possibilities and the future of Ventura County, he returned to Louisiana for the 
purpose of closing his affairs there, and in 1883 he returned to California, and at that time 
made large investments in farming property near the Town of Ventura. Upon his permanent 
coming to California Captain Thorpe first resided in San Francisco, but in 1886 he took up his 
residence on one of his properties near Ventura, where he remained with his family until 
1889, when he removed to Los Angeles, in which city he continued to reside until his death, 
which occurred at Moorpark, in Ventura County, September 1, 1905. During all of his 
residence at Los Angeles Captain Thorpe spent a great portion of his time in Ventura County in 
the active management of his agricultural interests. His unbounded faith in the inherent values 
of the farm lands of Ventura led him from time to time to make great sacrifices to acquire 
holdings of lands, which have amply fulfilled all of his prophesies and expectations, and which 
remain to his family to evidence an exceptionally keen and clear foresight and judgment.
 
He was always a stalwart democrat, and was active in behalf of his party, though he never 
aspired to any public office in California. In this state he served as brigadier general of the 
Pacific Division of the United Confederate Veterans for three terms, and was a member of the 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and of the Society of Colonial Wars.
 
At Marksville, Louisiana, January 20, 1868, Captain Thorpe married Helena Barbin. Mrs. 
Helena Barbin Thorpe, who survives her husband and who resides in Los Angeles, was always 
active in assisting Captain Thorpe and upon his death took over the active management of his 
properties in Ventura County. Captain Thorpe and his wife were the parents of five children, 
all of whom are living. Helena Barbin Thorpe, who is now Mrs. E. J. Riche of Los Angeles; 
Andrew Roane Thorpe of Detroit, Michigan; Virginia Roane Thorpe, who is now Mrs. Harry L. 
Dunnigan of Los Angeles; Spencer Thorpe, who is an attorney engaged in the practice of law at 
Los Angeles; and Carlyle Thorpe, who also resides in Los Angeles.