Edward Worthington

Infobox Person
name = Edward Worthington


caption =
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
other_names =
known_for = Explored Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley; founder of Worthington's Station
occupation = Pioneer and surveyor
nationality = Irish-American

Edward Worthington (fl. 1775-1818) was a 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 U.S. Army 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. [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)]

Historian and author Kathleen L. Lodwick is a direct descendant of Edward Worthington. [Lodwick, L. Kathleen. "Crusaders Against Opium: Protestant Missionaries in China, 1874-1917". Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996. ]

Biography

Possibly from Maryland, Worthington is first recorded as a surveyor marking land on Beargrass Creek, near the Ohio River, as early as 1775. He may have also taken part in Lord Dunmore's War serving as a private. [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 0788422715] One of the defenders at McClelland's Station, he was wounded in the attack by the Mingo chieftain Pluggy on December 29, 1776. [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 ] [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)] [Draper, Lyman C. "The Life of Daniel Boone". Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1998. (pg. 433) ISBN 0-8117-0979-5] 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 Continental Army as a captain under Clark and was a later participant of the capture of Vincennes. He was later granted 3,234 acres of land for his service as a U.S. Army paymaster during the Illinois campaign. In 1779, he established Worthington's Fort four miles southeast of Danville, Kentucky. [Filson Club. "The History Quarterly of the Filson Club". University of Louisville, 1926. (pg. 235)] [Lincoln CountyHistorical Society. "Lincoln County, Kentucky". Paucah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, 2002. (pg. 19)]

Although records are vague after this point, he was one of the first settlers to arrive in Corn Island and may also have served as a representative of Mercer County in the Kentucky Legislature in his later years. [Hayden, William. "Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783". Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Company, 1896. (pg. 151-152)]

References

Further reading

*Drake, William and Louise Drake; Samuel M. Wilson, Julia S. Ardery and Garrett G. Clift. "Kentucky in Retrospect: Noteworthy Personages and Events in Kentucky History". Frankfort: Kentucky Historical Society, 1967.
*Kerr, Charles; William Elsey Connelley and Ellis Merton Coulter. "History of Kentucky". American Historical Society, 1926.
*Gallit, David Lowell. "Early Kentucky Pioneers: Fulkerson, Bullock, Kimbley, Tichenor, and Allied Families". D.L. Gallit, 1998.