Ohio Governor Gravesites: #6 Thomas Worthington

Thomas Worthington

Born: July 16, 1773

Died: June 20, 1827

Political Party: Democratic Republican

Term of Office: December 8, 1814 - December 14, 1818

Buried: Grandview Cemetery Chillicothe, Ohio

No. 28 of 56

In early 2017, I have been going through these older post and updating them with more information. But for some reason when I updated this page, it was somehow marked as a new post and is now one of the more recent one's. But for the record this post fits in inbetween Duncan McArthur and Edward Tiffin. All part of my stop to Grandview Cemetery in Chillicothe back in the fall of 2012.

Worthington was born in what is now West Virginia. As a young man he inherited a large plantation from his uncle. Then in 1796, Worthington helped future Governor Duncan McArthur survey the Virginia Military District. As payment, he received land near Chillicothe, Ohio. He would end up selling his property and freed the 130 slaves that he inherited. His brother in law Edward Tiffin, who would later become Ohio's first Governor, also freed his slaves and followed Worthington to Chillicothe. Many of the now freed, former slaves also followed Worthington to Chillicothe and helped him build his mansion, named "Adena"

Worthington and Tiffin both grew to become politically prominent in the Northwest Territory. Worthington served in the Territorial legislature from 1799-1803. At the time, Territorial Governor Arthur St. Clair greatly opposed Ohio statehood. And so Worthington greatly opposed him. Worthington personally traveled to Washington DC to talk President Jefferson into making Ohio a State. As a result, Jefferson fired St.Clair from his post as Territorial Governor, and he approved the Enabling Act of 1802, which called for Ohioans to form a constitutional convention and to start the process of statehood. Thanks to the efforts of Thomas Worthington, Ohio became the 17th state in 1803.

Thomas Worthington was a delegate at Ohio's Constitutional convention. Then after a brief time in the Ohio General Assembly, Worthington was chosen as one of two of Ohio's first US Senators. While his brother-in-law Edward Tiffin became Ohio's first Governor. He served in the US Senate until 1807. In 1808, he returned to the Ohio General Assembly for a 2 year term. Then in 1810, he returned to the US Senate. As a US Senator, he called for military relief for Ohioans who were having problems with Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet.

In 1814, Worthington left the Senate and was elected Ohio's 6th Governor. As Governor he advocated for a canal system, worked on prison reform and supported free public education, among many other things. He won reelection in 1816 and moved the capital from Chillicothe to Columbus.

Later in life he served in the Ohio House of Representatives. He died in 1827 in New York City.

Worthington was the 3rd of 4 Governor gravesites that I visited in Grandview Cemetery in Chillicothe in the fall of 2012.

BloggerImage