Joseph Thomas Thornton

Joseph  Thomas Thornton was born on June 13, 1839, in Washington County, Missouri. In 1852, at the age of 23, he journeyed west across the plains and spent about four years working as a miner. Afterward, he turned to farming and raising livestock along the banks of the Sacramento River in Colusa County.

In 1868, seeking a healthier climate due to declining health, Joseph moved to Potter Valley. There, he purchased land that would later become the Spotswood Ranch. Over time, he expanded his holdings to include the Rader Ranch and a parcel of land near Main Street, where he cultivated pears, prunes, apples, and peaches. He also built a hotel on Main Street and later established a flour mill.

Joseph married Barbara Ellen Rader Scott. a widow with a young son named Oliver (1867) from her previous marriage to Mr. Scott. Together, Joseph and Barbara had nine children: Margaret “Maggie” (1870), Clara (1871), Alta (1873) Joseph (1875), John (1877) Katherine, (1879) James, (1881), Vane (Sylvester) (1884) and Alwilda (1887).

Barbara Ellen Rader was born near Birmingham, Iowa, on April 7, 1850. At age 13, she and her family joined a wagon train of 47 wagons headed for California. The journey was fraught with hardship. Her mother fell gravely ill with mumps early in the trip. Rumors circulated that young men were being conscripted into the Civil War at the Missouri River, but their group crossed without incident.

They traveled through Pawnee territory without trouble, but entering Cheyenne lands, they came upon the remains of a burned wagon train and its massacred passengers. Barbara’s mother offered food and gifts to the Cheyenne they encountered, which helped ensure the group’s safety. Despite local warnings to turn back, they pressed on.

When one of their wagons broke down, a carpenter traveling with the group converted it into a two-wheeled cart. The settlers pulled their wagons through quicksand using ropes. On one occasion, while the men were tending to the livestock at the river, a group of Native Americans arrived and ate the entire dinner Barbara’s mother had prepared. One of them later expressed interest in buying Barbara, but her father refused.

At Carson Sink, swift waters swept away some of their wagons. They then faced a grueling 36-mile desert crossing without water, traveling by night to avoid the heat. Eventually, they reached Salt Lake City and then Virginia City, which Barbara remembered as being “full of life, bullion, gambling, and whiskey.” A wealthy miner took them in, provided food and work, and proposed marriage to Barbara’s sister. She declined, citing his many “lady friends.” When he later tried to seduce her, she threatened him with an axe, and he left her alone.

The family continued to Truckee Meadows, then moved to Oregon, where they bought a ranch and stayed for one winter before selling it. They moved again, this time to Sonoma County, where they lived for about four years before settling in Potter Valley in 1867. There, they bought a 200-acre ranch at $27 an acre.

Barbara met Joseph Thornton in Potter Valley, and the two married on August 24, 1868. They purchased 80 acres from her father and established their home together.

By the 1880s, Joseph had built a flour mill near the school in Pomo, along East Road.

“Joseph passed away on November 28, 1912, in Potter Valley, and Barbara followed on March 23, 1931, in San Mateo. Their legacy endures in Potter Valley, where they rest in the family plot alongside three of their children and their families — a testament to the generations they nurtured and the roots they planted.”