San Bernardino County
Biographies
JOSEPH THORN,
deceased, was a pioneer of 1854. He was born in New York
State, December, 22, 1811. His parents were Richard and Mary Ann (Armstrong)
Thorn, the former a native of New York, the latter of England. Mr. Thorn was a
blacksmith by trade. He was married at Niles, New York, Jane 19, 1836, to Lorana
Camp, daughter of Jonah and Barbara (Keith) Camp, from near New Haven,
Connecticut. About seven years after his marriage he moved with his wife and
four children to Hancock County, Illinois, where he lived five years. He then
moved to Council Bluffs and staid one year, when he joined the Mormons and went
to Salt Lake. He soon got sick of them, however, and went back to Iowa
where he remained six years. He then moved to California, starting from Iowa in
1853. He spent one winter in Salt Lake, and in June, 1854, arrived in San
Bernardino. In February he went to Stockton with stock, came back the same year,
and bought fifty acres
of land where the Santa Fé Railroad tracks are now located, which was nearly all
wild and unimproved. He bought land also on Warm creek, and dealt considerably
in stock and engaged in farming. He was an energetic and enterprising man and
gave each of his children a good farm. He had served as Supervisor and was a
Mason in good standing. He died May 20, 1887, leaving a widow and four children,
viz.: Joseph Camp, Helen Loran, wife of Michael Mulvaney; Orissa A., wife of
John Osborn; Susan, wife of Hardin Patterson. His widow, Mrs. Lorana Thorn, is
still living, at the advanced age of seventy-five years, well preserved mentally
and physically. Her recollections of the journey from New York State to
California are vivid still. She has endured with patience the hardships of
pioneer life and worked to make a home, and has lived to see all her children
well settled in life. She resides comfortably in her neat residence on Third
street, San Bernardino.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 562-563
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOSHUA S. BEAM,
a native of North Carolina, was born in 1826, the seventh
of a family of twelve children. His parents, Peter and Ann (Long) Beam, were
both born, reared. lived and died in North Carolina. John T. Beam, a weaver by
trade, one of the ancestors, came from Germany and worked seven years for a man
who paid his passage to America.
The subject of this sketch went to
Arkansas in the spring of 1850 with his brother-in-law. In April, 1852, he
started to cross the plains with an ox team, and arrived in California in
September of the same year. After his arrival on the coast he worked in the
mines and quartz‑mills for two years. He spent five years in
Mariposa County. In 1857 he moved to Monterey County and remained five or six
years. In the fall of 1863 he came to San Bernardino County and purchased
twenty-five acres where he now lives. He has made several additions to his
original purchase, and now owns a fine farm just east of the city, on which he
has
erected a very commodious two-story house, containing some fifteen or twenty
rooms. He raised alfalfa, etc., for fifteen years, but has recently turned his
attention to the dairy business. While in Monterey County, in 1859, he was
married to Miss Ellen R. Craw, born in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Edward
Craw, one of the pioneers of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Beam have nine children:
Peter E., George A., Martha A., wife of Robert Sparks; Joshua F., Jane, Ida May,
Rufus and Lee, twins, and Carrie. Mr. Beam takes a lively interest in
educational matters, and has been officially connected with the school interests
of his district for several years. He is also a member of the official board of
the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 563
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOSEPH CAMP THORN,
residing four miles east of San Bernardino on the Base Line, is one of the pioneers of this county. He was born in New York, January 2, 1839, the son of Joseph and Lorana (Camp) Thorn. When the subject of this sketch was three years of age his father moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. The next year he removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the following year he moved to Salt Lake. Our subject was then eight years old and he drove an ox team all the way from Council Bluffs to Salt Lake. Mr. Thorn lived at Salt Lake for ten days and, disgusted with the Mormon religion, went back to Iowa; then came on, in 1854, to California. The subject of this sketch, then a lad of fourteen, drove his ox team from Salt Lake to San Bernardino. While on the journey he stood a regular herd and guard tower with the men. After his arrival here he worked at various occupations, and in 1858 was married to Miss Mary H. Dickson, born in Iowa. Her parents, David and Nancy (Stevens) Dickson, natives of Canada, crossed the plains in 1853, losing a man and nearly all their stock by Indians, and located at San Bernardino. At one time Mr. Dickson owned the block where the Stewart Hotel now stands, and other valuable property. He died in April, 1886, while on a visit East. Mrs. Dickson died in 1880. They had reared a family of eight children, four of whom are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Thorn have nine children, viz.: Mary L., Nancy L., Joseph Camp, Hiram A., Helen Meneta, Walter W., John A., Hattie L. and Henrietta L. Socially Mr. Thorn is an I. O. O. F., subordinate lodge No. 282, Riverside; Morse Encampment, No. 54; San Bernardino Canton, No. 17; Magnolia Lodge (Rebekah), No. 94. Mrs. Thorn and her daughter, Minnie, also belong to the last named lodge. As a business man Mr. Thorn has been very successful, and as a citizen he enjoys the confidence and respect of his neighbors.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 563-564
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler