Cameron E. Thom
Portrait of Cameron E. Thom
16th Mayor of Los Angeles
In office
December 9, 1882 – December 9, 1884
Preceded byJames R. Toberman
Succeeded byEdward F. Spence
Personal details
Born
Cameron Erskine Thom

(1825-06-20)June 20, 1825
Culpeper County, Virginia, or Richmond, Virginia
DiedFebruary 2, 1915 (1915-02-03) (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California
Children4

Cameron Erskine Thom (June 20, 1825 – February 2, 1915) was a lawyer, a legislator, a Confederate officer in the Civil War, and the 16th mayor of Los Angeles from 1882 to 1884.

Personal life

Thom was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, or in Richmond, Virginia, on June 20, 1825, the son of John Thom, who was an officer in the War of 1812 and for 30 years a Virginia state senator.[1] Cameron was educated in private schools in Virginia, and received a law degree from the University of Virginia.[2][3]

After university, he traveled west in a caravan of some 40 young men and arrived in Sacramento in 1849. He gathered gold on the South Fork of the American River, in Amador County, then settled in Sacramento to open a law office. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and ended the war as a captain.[2]

Thom was married twice: first in 1858 to Susan Henrietta Hathwell; and then, after Susan's death in 1862, to her sister, Belle Cameron Hathwell, in 1874. He had four children: Cameron DeHart, Charles Catesby, Erskine Pembroke and Belle (Mrs. Arthur Collins of London, England).[2][4]

Thom died on February 2, 1915 at age 89.[3] A funeral service in his home at 2070 West Adams Street attracted a "company of several hundred persons," including representatives of the Society of Colonial Wars, of which he was a founder and charter member. Interment was in Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles.[5]

Vocation

Thom arrived in California in 1849 during the gold rush, and after a few years of successful mining, he studied law in Sacramento. In fall 1853 he moved to San Francisco, where he was a deputy agent for the United States Land Commission; then moved to Los Angeles, where he had a similar job. He was soon appointed Los Angeles County district attorney, and later won the office in an election. He was also elected Los Angeles city attorney for the 1856–58 term.[2][6]

In 1859–60 Thom was state senator from California's 1st State Senate district, and was Los Angeles County district attorney from 1854–1857, 1869 –1873, and 1877–1879. He was mayor of Los Angeles from 1882 to 1884,[7] and was on the Board of Freeholders that framed the first Los Angeles city charter.[2]

City of Glendale

The 1871 land case known as "The Great Partition" divided Rancho San Rafael into 31 sections given to 28 people, including 724 acres (2.93 km2) for Thom. The land belonging to Prudent Beaudry, Alfred Chapman, Andrew Glassell and Thom evolved into Glendale. Thom, Harry J. Crow, B. F. Patterson, B. T. Byram, and Thom's nephew Erskine Mayo Ross were responsible for the creation of the city of Glendale in 1887.[8]

References

  1. ^ Press Reference Library Notables of the West. Vol. II. International News Service. 1915. p. 347. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2020 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Clare Wallace, Los Angeles Public Library reference file, 1938, with sources as listed there" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  3. ^ a b ""Useful Hands, Brain Stilled," Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1915, page II-3". Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  4. ^ Woman Born in 1878 Talks About Her Childhood in Los Angeles, California in the 1880s, archived from the original on June 4, 2023, retrieved June 4, 2023
  5. ^ ""Sweetly Sleeps in Evergreen," Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1919, page II-1". Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  6. ^ Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials 1850–1938, Municipal Reference Library, March 1938, reprinted 1946.
  7. ^ Michael Parish, For the People—Inside the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Archived March 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine ISBN 1-883318-15-7, quoted at Los Angeles County District Attorney Office website.
  8. ^ John Calvin Sherer, 1922, History of Glendale and Vicinity, The Glendale Publishing Company (1922).
Political offices Preceded byDavid B. Kurtz California's 1st State Senate district 1859–1860 Succeeded byJonathan J. Warner Preceded byBenjamin EatonAlfred B. ChapmanRodney Hudson Los Angeles County District Attorney 1854–18571869–18731877–1879 Succeeded byEzra DrownVolney E. HowardThomas B. Brown
Political offices Preceded byLewis Granger Los Angeles City Attorney 1856–1858 Succeeded byJames H. Lader
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