Milford chronicle., 1931-05-01
STORY OF REV.
THORNE'S HOUSE
ON "SILVER HILL
Bricks Were Brought
From England. Every
one Liked Him.

|
one Liked Him.
i =
At the foot of "SilVer Hill" flows
a little brook. AS it twists its way
between the green grass over peb'
bles, it laughts. Laughs; laughs al
its memories of days gone by. II
remembers when Rev. Sydenham
Thorne of Virginia first looked over
his three hundred and seven acres
and chose the place on the top of the
hill to build his home, the bricks for
which were brought over from Eng
land. The main part of the house
is three stories high; the wings only
a story and a half.
The brook laughs again. The
thoughts brought back are those of
old stories about ghosts, dungeons,
and secret passage ways.
Yes, it still remembers Thorne
having "Tumbling Dam" built and
his gift of the lumber for the Christ
Church and his paying for the bricks
which Oliver made for the same
church-remembers the people who
came to him for aid-both spiritual
ly and worldly. Everyone liked him.
Nothing could and can express the
public feeling better than the epi-
taph upon the stone supported by
brick work over his grave:
Sacred to the memory of
THE REV. SYDENHAM THoRNE
BY the elegance and affabliity OF his
manners,
BY the diffusiVe beneVoience Of his
heart, and especially
BY the zeal and ability he displayed as
a Preacher of the Gospel,
He endeared himself TO his Parshion-
ers,
To his friends and to all who came
within the sphere of his ac.
qualntance.
lie. was born on the ssth day of octo-
ber, ard departed this life on the
18th day of February, 1894,
Age 45 years
Thorne left his property to his
nephew, Peter Caverly, who sold il
to the Claytons.
The little brooks thoughts fly on
to their son John who used to play
in it and who a little later made
stump speeches to spectators in his
fathers lanyard. At the age of
twenty-three he entered the Della
ware bar after having completed a
course at Yale College and a course
in law at Litchfield Law School. The
next year his father died. Later to
his memory John erected a mOnu-
ment on which were inscriptions on
two sides concerning his father. On
the south side is:
This monument was erected by
JOHN M. CLAYTON
to the memory of his father,
JAMES CLAYTON
and the members of his family
whose remains are buried within the
walls which surround il.
JAMES CLAYTON
was born in Kent County, Delaware
March "a, 1861
and died in his mansion house
on this farm
November "a, 1920
Age So Years, Months
He was the son OF James who was the
son OF John who was the son of
Joshua Clayton, one of the first
settlers of this country to which
he emlgrated from England
with William Penn at the time
of his first visit to America.
On the east it is continued:
JAMES CLAYTON
whose mortal remains lie buried be- {
meath this monument was a man Of s
warm sincere and affectionate dis
position remarkable for the Y
strength and originality of his
mind and for his activity and
enterprise as man of bus
mess he had the rare good
fortune to bear with him from
his cradle to his grave the un- 5
questionable character OF an
Honest Man {
At the age of thirty-twO John was
lected to the Senate of the United {
tates. Three times he was after
ards elected. He was made Secre- 4
ary of State under President Tay-
Or. 1t was while filling this Office r
nat he in 1850 negotiated the Clay
On-Bulyer Treaty, which was a d
reaty between Great Britain and the
nited States in which they agreed
} guarantee the neutrality of a
anal built across the Isthmus of Il
anama, and each promised not to +
rect any fortress along the canal, o
OF to acquire any colonies in Cen II
al America, and to protect and use
s influence for any company un- le
artaking the work of building the te
NAL. h
The last office that he filled was Il
lat of Chief Justice of the State h
)urts. NJ
On the tomb erected in memory of N
IS father are also found epitaphs in NJ
emory of his grandmother, sis +
r, and mother. His mother was II
l ideal pioneer ready to face any J;
ing, even death. While dying she pi
cked out the text for the funeral la
CXVI-verse = SC
Return unto thy rest o my soul for W
e Lord hath dealt bountifully with
ee."' &C