Cameron E. Thom

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. Cameron was educated in private schools in Virginia, and received a law degree from the University of Virginia.

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.

Thom died on February 2, 1915, at age 89.

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.

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