Edward Worthington

Edward Worthington
Nationality Irish American
Occupation Pioneer and surveyor
Known for Explored Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley; founder of Worthington's Station

Edward Worthington (fl. abt 1754–1804) was an 18th-century American pioneer and soldier who explored and later helped settle the Kentucky frontier. A veteran of the American Revolution and the Indian Wars, he also served as a paymaster under George Rogers Clark during the Illinois campaign. His grandson, William H. Worthington, was an officer with the 5th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.[1]

Historian and author Kathleen L. Lodwick is a direct descendant of Edward Worthington.[2]

Noted attorney Greg A. Jennings of Owensboro, Kentucky is a direct descendant of Edward Worthington.

Biography

Edward Worthington, born in County Cork, Ireland between 1750-1754, immigrated to the colonies from Ireland sometime around 1768 with his father, Thomas, mother, Ann, and several other family members, landing in Baltimore, Maryland, and staying there for some time. Worthington is first recorded as a surveyor marking land on Beargrass Creek, near the Ohio River, as early as 1775. In 1774 he joined the army in Lord Dunmore's War serving as a private.[3] One of the defenders at McClelland's Station, he was wounded in the attack by the Mingo chieftain Pluggy on December 29, 1776.[4][5][6] Shortly after the battle, he traveled to Harrod's Town with George Rogers Clark the following month and, in late 1778, he left his wife in Harrod's Town and joined the Kentucky Militia as a captain under Clark and was a later participant of the capture of Vincennes. He was later granted 3,234 acres (13.09 km2) of land for his service as a paymaster during the Illinois campaign. In 1779, he established Worthington's Fort four miles (6 km) southeast of Danville, Kentucky.[7][8]

Capt. Edward Worthington came down the Ohio with the thirteen families that George Rogers Clarke settled upon Corn Island* which was the first colony ever seen West and constituted the nucleus of Louisville.

Corn Island, and may also have served as a representative of Mercer County in the Kentucky Legislature in his later years.[9]

Edward Worthington died in 1804 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Worthington had filed suit in New Orleans against Dan Callaghan who had swindled him out of monies in a land deal. Worthington died from yellow fever before the case was tried but his family continued the suit and were awarded judgment against Callaghan. Minute Book, Louisiana Court of Pleas, 1804.

References

  1. ↑ Stewart, A.A. Iowa Colonels and Regiments: Being a History of Iowa Regiments in the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines: Mills & Co., 1865. (pg. 125)
  2. ↑ Lodwick, L. Kathleen. Crusaders Against Opium: Protestant Missionaries in China, 1874-1917. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996.
  3. ↑ Skidmore, Warren and Donna Kaminsky. Lord Dunmore's Little War of 1774: His Captains and Their Men who Opened Up Kentucky & the West to American Settlement. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2004. (pg. 33) ISBN 0-7884-2271-5
  4. ↑ Bradford, John. The Voice of the Frontier: John Bradford's Notes on Kentucky. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1993. (pg. 14) ISBN 0-8131-1801-8
  5. ↑ Conover, Charlotte Reeve. Concerning the Forefathers: Being a Memoir, with Personal Narrative and Letters of Two Pioneers, Col. Robert Patterson and Col. John Johnston. New York: Winthrop Press, 1902. (pg. 146)
  6. ↑ Draper, Lyman C. The Life of Daniel Boone. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1998. (pg. 433) ISBN 0-8117-0979-5
  7. ↑ Filson Club. The History Quarterly of the Filson Club. University of Louisville, 1926. (pg. 235)
  8. ↑ Lincoln County Historical Society. Lincoln County, Kentucky. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, 2002. (pg. 19)
  9. ↑ Hayden, William. Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Company, 1896. (pg. 151-152)

Further reading