Broersma Family Tree » William Henry Harrison Thornburg (1832-1908)

Personal data William Henry Harrison Thornburg 

• He was born on December 9, 1832 in Indiana, Verenigde Staten.Source 1
• He died on November 5, 1908 in California, Verenigde Staten, he was 75 years old.Sources 2, 3
• A child of Absolom Thornburg and Tacy Hague
• This information was last updated on May 24, 2014.

Household of William Henry Harrison Thornburg

He is married to Oresta Sally Curtis.

They got married on July 3, 1857 at Iowa, Verenigde Staten, he was 24 years old.Source 2

Child(ren):

1. Lamont Erwin Thornburg  1858-1943 
2. LeRoy Thornburg  ± 1868-????
3. Elvene Thornburg  ± 1878-????
4. William James Thornburg  1884-1959 

Notes about William Henry Harrison Thornburg

The biography (page 538) for James Lee Curtis says this: The father, James Curtis, crossed the plains from Iowa to California with his son, David T., and his son-in-law, W. H. Thornburg, arriving at Hangtown, now Placerville, in September, 1859. They started West with three yoke of oxen and one cow and when they pulled into Hangtown they had one ox and the cow yoked together. The party mined, both placer and hydraulic, until 1861, when the father returned to Iowa and there he resumed farming until the fall of 1868, when he again crossed the plains to California.

History of Stanislaus County California
by George Henry Tinkam
pg524

MRS. ORESTA S. THORNBURG.Among the old settlers of Stanislaus County who has witnessed a remarkable transformation, is Mrs. Oresta Thornburg, whose maiden name was Oresta Curtis, and born in Warren County, Pa., February 22. 1840. Her father, James Curtis, a native of New York, whose father was also named James, had married Alzina Hills and they were farmers in Pennsylvania. They afterwards removed to Mitchell County, Iowa, where they were pioneer farmers. In 1869, they came to Stanislaus County, Cal., and a few years later located at Watsonville, where they resided until their death.

Oresta Curtis was reared in Pennsylvania until thirteen years of age, when she came to Mitchell County, Iowa, and there she attended school in the primitive log schoolhouse with its slab benches and puncheon floors. At Osage, in that county, she was married July 3, 1857, being united with Wm. H. Thornburg, born in Laporte County, Ind., December 9, 1833, the son of Absalom Thornburg, a farmer who spent his last days in Iowa. Wm. H. Thornburg grew up in Indiana, remaining there until he reached his majority, when he came to Alamakee County, Iowa, and purchased 160 acres of Government land, which he improved and farmed. After his marriage, they moved to Cutler, Iowa, where Mr. Thornburg followed sawmilling. In 1859, with James and D. T. Curtis, he started for Pikes Peak, but on the old trail along the Platte they met so many people returning from Colorado disappointed. that they resolved to push on to California, and crossed the plains with ox teams and wagons, Mr. Thornburg walking the entire distance. A couple of years later he -returned to Iowa, and on August 14, 1862, enlisted in Company A, Twenty-seventh Iowa Regiment. serving in the Civil War until August 8, 1865, when he was mustered out and returned home. After the war he engaged in farming, but he never forgot sunny California, and in 1870, not being able to longer resist the call of the West, he brought his family to Stanislaus County, where he leased land from David Curtis, which he farmed for twelve years, then spent six years farming and stock raising in Panoche Valley, Fresno County, and was successful. He then bought 300 acres north of Turlock, which he farmed. When the irrigation district was formed and water was obtainable, he improved it for raising alfalfa and engaged in dairying until his death, November 9, 1908. He was a good man and there was no better neighbor nor friend and Stanislaus County today owes much of its greatness to men of that stamp. He was a prominent member of the G. A. R. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Thornburg had four children: Lamont of Fresno; LeRoy died in Washington; Elvene resides in Sonoma, and William is in Southern California.

In the spring of 1908, Mr. Thornburg had started building a cozy residence at 501 East Olive Street, but he was not permitted to live to enjoy it, for he only lived there six months when he was called by death. Since her husbands death Mrs. Thornburg continues to reside in her home, while she leases her ranch. She is a member of the Brethren Church and takes pleasure in dispensing old-time California hospitality.

(Photo of Wm H Thornburg)
(Photo of Ortesta S Thornburg)

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Timeline William Henry Harrison Thornburg

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