James Francis Thorpe (1887 - 1953)

Born 28 May 1887 in Pottawatomi-Shawnee Indian Lands, Indian Territory

Ancestors

Husband of Iva Margaret (Miller) Davies — married 13 Oct 1913 (to about 1925) in St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States

Husband of Patricia Gladys Askew — married 2 Jun 1945 in Tijuana, Mexico

Descendants

Died 28 Mar 1953 at age 65 in Lomita, Los Angeles County, California, United States

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Biography

Jim Thorpe is Notable.

Jim Thorpe, arguably the greatest athlete of the 20th century, was the first Native American Olympic gold medalist, winning gold medals for the United States in the 1912 Olympics in the decathlon and pentathlon. He played professional basketball, Major League Baseball and National League Football, and was the soon-to-be-NFL's first president.^[1] In 1950, he was named "the greatest American football player," and the most outstanding athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the Associated Press. In 1996-2001, he was awarded ABC's Wide World of Sports "Athlete of the Century."

Family History

Jim Thorpe was an Oklahoman.

Jim Thorpe was born in Indian Territory (now Prague, Oklahoma) about 1887,^[2] a son of Hiram Thorpe, and Charlotte Vieux. His official website uses the date of May 28, 1887, which is the date according to his estate.^[3] Jim had a twin brother, Charles, who died at the age of nine.^[3] Thorpe's parents were both of mixed-race ancestry. His father supposedly had an Irish father and a Sac and Fox Indian mother, but his Irish origins were disproved in 2004 by a professional genealogist who worked his Thorpe line back to William Thorpe, an England-born immigrant and early settler of New Haven, Connecticut.^[4] His mother had a French father and a Potawatomi mother; she was a granddaughter of Chief Louis Vieux.^[5] He was baptized "Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe" in the Catholic Church. Jim was raised as a Sac and Fox, and his native name, Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "path lit by great flash of lightning," or "Bright Path."^[1]

Thorpe married three times. His first wife was Iva Miller.^[6] They were the parents of James (died young), Gail, Charlotte,^[7] and Grace.^[8]

By 1930 he was married to Freda Kirkpatrick,^[9] and was the father of two sons, Philip and William.^[10] They had two more sons, Richard and John.^[11]

His third wife was Patricia Askew. They had no children together.^[12]

He died of heart failure on March 28, 1953 in Los Angeles County, California, at the age of 65.^[13][14] He was buried at Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.^[15]

In 1998, the US Postal Service issued a 32-cent stamp in his honor. ^[16]

In 2015, Thorpe's living children appealed to the US Supreme Court to allow reburial of their father's remains on Indian land in Oklahoma,^[17] but the appeal was denied in October 2015.^[18]

Sports History

Jim Thorpe attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a school established by U.S. government authority in an effort "to immerse its students into mainstream Euro-American culture."^[19][20] While attending the school, Jim began to play football and participated in track and field, eventually being named to the All-American team. He was coached by another notable sports figure, Glenn "Pop" Warner.

Jim represented the United States at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Gold medalist in pentathalon and the decathalon

Jim sailed with the U.S. Olympic Team to Stockholm, Sweden to compete in the 1912 Olympic Games. He competed in the pentathalon and the decathalon, winning gold medals in each. He also competed in high jump and long jump.^[21] He returned to the United States victorious, and was cheered on by thousands in a ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City.^[1]

After the Olympic victories, he returned to Carlisle Indian Industrial School to play football and lead his team to a winning season. During post-season play, word got out that Thorpe had played semi-professional baseball for two seasons. The International Olympic Committee eventually stripped the Olympic medals and titles from him. The medals were reinstated in 1982, but he was, instead, listed as a co-champion. Efforts to declare Jim Thorpe the lone winner of the two events in the 1912 Olympic Games were finally successful in 2022.^[1][22]

Jim Thorpe was a multi-sport participant at the professional level. He played for 4 different major league baseball teams from 1913 - 1919, and played football for six pro teams from 1920 -1928. He became the first president of the American Professional Football Association, which was later renamed the National Football League. Thorpe also played professional basketball for a time.^[1]

After he retired from sports, he took jobs in Hollywood, acting in small parts or working as an extra. He also took jobs, "as a construction worker, a doorman (bouncer), a security guard, and a ditch digger, and briefly joined the United States Merchant Marine in 1945."^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Wikipedia contributors, "Jim Thorpe," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed November 25, 2022).
2. ↑ The National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Record Group Number: 75; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793-1999; NARA Series Number: 7RA-235; NARA Series Title: Shawnee Agency: Citizen Pottawatomi Annuity Roll, 1891. #83

   census lists him as age 5

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "The Official Licensing Website of Jim Thorpe", Biography.
4. ↑ Al Zagofsky, "Was Jim Thorpe Irish?", Times News Online, December 04, 2010; Accessed 23 Nov 2021. Cites Kate Buford, Native American Son, biography of Jim Thorpe.
5. ↑ Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1875 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: ks1875_16; Line: 33
6. ↑ "Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VFWF-Y9Q : 10 March 2021), James Francis Thorpe and Iza Margaret Miller, 14 Oct 1913; citing Marriage, Carlisle, Cumberland, Pennsylvania, United States, multiple County Clerks, Pennsylvania.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN1N-TLF : 3 February 2021), James Thorpe, 1920.
8. ↑ "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKTN-1XWR : accessed 1 January 2022), James Francis Or Jim Thorpe in entry for Grace Thorpe, Oklahoma, United States, 04 Apr 2008; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Tulsa World, born-digital text.
9. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8XS-4VQ : 9 March 2021), James Frances Thorpe in entry for William Kendall Thorpe and Velma Madeline Manseau, 27 May 1955; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,343,445.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCJV-ZRH : accessed 25 January 2021), James F Thorpe, Inglewood, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1036, sheet 2B, line 55, family 41, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 128; FHL microfilm 2,339,863.
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K97Y-XWT : 5 January 2021), James Thorpe, Inglewood Judicial Township, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 19-341, sheet 3A, line 24, family 75, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 236.
12. ↑ New York Times, obituary, March 29, 1953. Digitized at obit
13. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPFR-1DD : 26 November 2014), James Francis Thorpe, 28 Mar 1953; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
14. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JG4J-B6J : 11 January 2021), James Thorpe, Mar 1953; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
15. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images, accessed 03 February 2021, memorial page for Jim Thorpe (28 May 1888–28 Mar 1953), Find A Grave: Memorial #1031, citing Jim Thorpe Memorial, Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by Find A Grave; Photos added by Leonard Shevlin McCann, Mark Stoner, Frankie D, Elliot & Decal.
16. ↑ 1912 Olympic Games, Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
17. ↑ Tony Mauro, "Jim Thorpe's Sons Take Burial Dispute to Supreme Court," Legal Times via law.com. June 2, 2015.
18. ↑ Supreme Court ends fight over Jim Thorpe’s resting place, National Constitution Center. October 7, 2015
19. ↑ Carlisle Indian School, Digital Resource Center, James Thorpe, Images, School Attendance, School Records, Progress Reports, Archives & Special Collections, Waidner-Spahr Library at Dickinson College.
20. ↑ Carlisle Indian Industrial School wikipedia entry
21. ↑ Adams, James Ring. "The Jim Thorpe Backlash: The Olympic Medals Debacle And the Demise of Carlisle," The American Indian, Summer 2012: Vol. 13 No. 2. Web. accessed 29 Jan 2021.
22. ↑ After 110 years, the IOC has declared Jim Thorpe Sole Winner of the 1912 Decathlon and Pentathlon, Daily Kos. July 15, 2022.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Jim Thorpe
• Wikidata: Item Q221482
• FamilySearch: James Francis Thorpe LZDD-MSF