The Last of 12 Children in His Family, Thornton Fielding Mcelroy Was Born in West Middleton

The last of 12 children in his family, Thornton Fielding McElroy was born in West Middleton, Pennsylvania, on July 24, 1825. His father was a Methodist clergyman who came to the United States from Ireland in 1790. He died the year after Thornton was born. Thornton's mother then took the family to Ohio to be with her parents. McElroy left home at 18 and found a job as an apprentice printer at the Free Press in Pittsfield, Illinois, where he met Sarah Bates. The two were married in 1847.

Despite urgings to the contrary from his family, he decided to come West, and arrived in Oregon City, Oregon, in 1849. He left his wife, Sarah, behind, planning to call for her when he was settled. Neither anticipated that five long years would pass before they would be reunited. He found employment with the Oregon Spectator, a pioneer newspaper in Oregon City, but he was lured to California by the gold discovery. He soon returned to Oregon City, however, and became a member of Multnomah Lodge.When he was made a Mason is unknown, as the records of Multnomah Lodge were destroyed by fire. He was, however, listed as a member of Multnomah Lodge in the records of the Grand Lodge of Oregon in 1852.

Brother McElroy was ambitious and possessed of a strong will. He decided to cast his lot with the Puget Sound country and in 1852 he came to Olympia to establish a weekly newspaper. About that time he would become the first Worshipful Master of Olympia Lodge No. 5 under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Oregon, serving seven consecutive terms. During his tenure as Worshipful Master, he was elected Junior Grand Warden of Oregon in 1854, served as one of its inspectors in 1856 and was appointed to important Oregon Grand Lodge committees in 1854, 1855 and 1857. He would be elected as the first Grand Master of the newly formed Grand Lodge of Washington in 1858.

On September 11 of 1852 he and J. W. Wiley started publication of the Columbian, the first newspaper north of the Columbia River. This newspaper advocated formation of a new territory north of the Columbia, and to be named the Territory of Columbia. It was from this that the newspaper took its name. Editor McElroy also promoted a road across the Cascades to bring farmers and industrialists into the Puget Sound region.

Though reluctant, Sarah would travel West to join Thornton in April of 1854. After a period of adjustment, Sarah found pioneer life quite enjoyable. She wrote her mother about the "delightful parties" at Christmastime. She enjoyed gardening and became active in Episcopal Church affairs. Their first and only child, a son named Harry, "just because she liked the name," was born on February 23, 1861.

In 1863 McElroy was elected public printer of the Washington Territory. By this time he had learned the political process, made the properalliances,andhadsetupthefirstprintshopindependentofanewspaperintheterritory,the Union Book and Job Office. His principal ally was Elwood Evans, Secretary of the Territory and a powerful political figure. The legislatures elected a public printer each year and awarded him a one year contract for all the territory's printing work. With the help of Evans and some skillful political maneuvering, McElroy held the position for four years.

He would then devote his full attention to private banking as Olympia was without a bank until 1890. He did his banking with Phillips, Horton & Company in Seattle, established in 1870, the forerunner of Seafirst Bank. McElroy was careful with his money and invested his earnings wisely, "taking property mortgages for security." Active in civic affairs, he was appointed a Commissioner for the proposed new railroad, was a member of the first Board of Trustees of the Town of Olympia (appointed by the Territorial Legislature, January 28, 1859), as well as its first treasurer (February to April 1859), and held the office of Mayor of Olympia (1875).

Most Worshipful Brother Thornton Fielding McElroy – the first Worshipful Master of a Lodge in the Washington Territory, the first Grand Master of the Jurisdiction of Washington, founding father of the Washington Territory and the State of Washington – was called from labor on February 4, 1885, having acquired the "riches" he sought when he left Illinois some 36 years earlier, but in a far different manner than he had envisioned.