Notes for: James H. Thorndell

Excerpt from an article in the series "Mostly About Ourselves," by Alton Childers, "West Union Herald Record," Aug 1 1989, in which Silas P. Smith is quoted reminiscing about West Union as it was when he first published the "West Union Record" in March 1886:
"... The crowd of men attending court were taken care of by two hotels, the U.S. Hotel and the Grant House. J. H. Thorndell was proprietor of the U.S. Hotel and Joseph Cheuvront of the Grant House. ... At that time, West Union had one two-room school house located where the Columbian hotel now stands. In fact, the school house forms part of the present hotel building which was completed by Mrs. M. I. Ash about 1893, the year of the Columbian Exposition of Chicago. It was this year that Columbian street was widened, having been only an alley up to that time."