J. L. Thorpe, M. D., a rising young physician of Jefferson City, is a son of A. V. and Abigail Thorpe. The father, who was an old and prominent physician of California, Mo., died in 1864; he was a native of Rochester, N. Y. The mother was born in Callaway County, Mo. J. L. Thorpe was born in Jefferson City, Mo., in July, 1862, and spent his early life in California, Mo., receiving; his primary education at the public schools of that place, and at White's private school of Jefferson City, afterward attending the State University at Columbia. He then entered St. Louis Medical College, St. Louis, Mo., graduating in 1886, in which year he located in Jefferson City, and turned his attention to the practice of his chosen profession. He enjoys a lucrative practice, and is rapidly gaining new patrons by his skill as a physician and surgeon. He filled the unexpired term of Dr. A. D. Standish, physician to the Missouri State Penitentiary, from July, 1887, to March, 1889, and is a member of the United States Pension Board of Examining Surgeons at Jefferson City; he is also district surgeon of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. In politics Dr. Thorpe is a Democrat.

Transcribed from:
History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries, and Osage Counties, Missouri, Goodspeed Publishing Company (1889).