Thomas Worthington

Notable people · Governor · Senator · Pioneer

Thomas Worthington

Chillicothe land developer who led the push for Ohio statehood, served as one of Ohio's first two U.S. senators, and was the state's sixth governor.

Born July 16, 1773, near Charles Town, Berkeley County, Virginia (now Jefferson County, West Virginia)
Died June 20, 1827, New York City, NY

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: July 16, 1773, near Charles Town, Berkeley County, Virginia (now Jefferson County, West Virginia) source
Died: June 20, 1827, New York City, NY source
Buried: Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe (first buried at Adena, later moved) (Ross County) source
Also known as: Father of Ohio Statehood
Known as: Governor, Senator, Pioneer
Organizations: Ohio History Connection (Adena Mansion & Gardens)

Life story

Thomas Worthington was born in 1773 near Charles Town, Virginia, now West Virginia. He married Eleanor Swearingen in 1796 and moved with her to Ross County, Ohio, where they freed the people they had enslaved.

He served in the Territorial House (1799-1803), was a delegate to the 1802 constitutional convention, and in 1803 became one of Ohio's first two US senators. He voted against the declaration of war in 1812.

As governor from 1814 to 1818 he moved the state capital to Columbus. He also platted the town of Logan in 1816 and later served in the Ohio House (1821-1825).

He is called the Father of Ohio statehood. His home Adena, near Chillicothe, gave the Adena culture its name. He died in New York in 1827 and was first buried at Adena, then moved to Grandview Cemetery. Worthington, Ohio and a high school carry his name.

Ohio ties

Chillicothe (Adena estate) (1798-1827)
home; Adena mansion built 1806-1807 Ross County · source
Chillicothe (1799-1825)
territorial legislator, constitutional convention delegate, state representative Ross County · source
Logan (1816)
laid out the village while governor and set aside its public marketplace Hocking County · source
Worthington (1803)
namesake; the Scioto Company voted on August 10, 1803 to name the village for him Franklin County · source

Timeline

1798 Moved his family to Ross County and settled near Chillicothe. source
1799 Joined a Masonic lodge in Cincinnati; he later helped organize the first lodge in Chillicothe. source
1799 Began serving in the Northwest Territory House of Representatives for Ross County. source
1802 Served as a Ross County delegate to the Ohio Constitutional Convention, held November 1-29. source
1803 Became one of Ohio's first two U.S. senators, serving until 1807. source
1807 Adena, the stone house Benjamin Latrobe designed for him west of Chillicothe, was completed. source
1810 Returned to the U.S. Senate after Return J. Meigs Jr. resigned. source
1812 Voted on June 17 against declaring war on Britain. source
1814 Elected sixth governor of Ohio; re-elected in 1816 and served to December 1818. source
1816 Laid out the village of Logan starting June 27. source
1818 Became a canal commissioner, a post he held until his death. source
1821 Returned to the Ohio House, serving 1821-1823 and 1824-1825. source
1827 Died June 20 in New York City. source
1946 Adena passed out of private hands when it was donated to the state. source

What Thomas is known for

Father of Ohio statehood 1803
Governor Dec 1814 - Dec 1818
Built Adena (completed 1807)
Adena (mansion, completed 1807)

Stories

A senator at twenty-nine

When the new state sent its first two men to the U.S. Senate in 1803, Worthington was one of them. He had arrived in Ross County only five years earlier, in 1798, after time in the merchant marine and training as a surveyor. Born in July 1773, he took the seat in the spring of 1803 while still twenty-nine. By then he had already sat in the territorial legislature from 1799 and helped write the 1802 constitution. He served until 1807, went back to the Senate in 1810, and still had his governorship ahead of him.

Source

The governor who drew up Logan

Worthington was governor when he began laying out the village of Logan in Hocking County on June 27, 1816. As part of the plan he set aside a lot as a public marketplace. That lot is now Worthington Park, at the southwest corner of Main and Market Streets. An Ohio Historical Society marker there, sponsored with the Thirteenth District Masonic Association, also records his Masonic life: he joined a Cincinnati lodge in 1799 and helped organize the first lodge in Chillicothe.

Source

A name borrowed for a culture

Worthington named his estate Adena, a word he chose for places remarkable for the delightfulness of their situation. The prehistoric Adena culture was later named after the estate. So the Adena culture, which flourished centuries before any European arrived, carries the name a Virginia land speculator picked for his hilltop farm. Today 300 of the original 2,000 acres remain with the house, which the Ohio History Connection runs.

Source

Honors and things named for them

Father of Ohio statehood
Ohio Hall of Fame
Worthington, OH
Thomas Worthington High School

Named for Thomas Worthington

Worthington (city) (Worthington, Franklin County) source
Thomas Worthington High School (Worthington, Franklin County) source
Worthington Park (Logan, Hocking County) source

Family

wife: Eleanor Swearingen Worthington
brother-in-law: Edward Tiffin
son: Thomas Worthington Jr.
daughter: Mary Worthington Macomb

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Adena Mansion and Gardens
Chillicothe Ross County · source
2 Grandview Cemetery (grave)
Chillicothe Ross County · source
3 Ohio Historical Marker 1-37, Thomas Worthington, Founder of Logan
Logan Hocking County · source
4 Ohio Historical Marker 15-71, The Great Seal of the State of Ohio
Great Seal State Park, Chillicothe Ross County · source

Places in Ohio to see

Adena Mansion & Gardens (home)
847 Adena Rd, Chillicothe, Ross County ZIP 45601 · Chillicothe · Ross County

Ohio places

Where Thomas Worthington was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Lived: Chillicothe, Ross County (Adena Mansion & Gardens, 847 Adena Rd) ZIP 45601 · Chillicothe · Ross County
Buried: Chillicothe, Ross County ZIP 45601 · Chillicothe · Ross County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Thomas Worthington, and what the record shows.

Often said The Great Seal of Ohio was designed by Worthington, Tiffin and William Creighton after they watched the sun rise over Mount Logan from Adena following an all-night session.

The record This is tradition, not documented fact. The state marker at Great Seal State Park says tradition credits the three men; Ohio Magazine quotes Adena's director calling it a legend and notes it has not been verified. The 1803 law set only the symbols (a wheat sheaf and seventeen arrows), and the seal was redrawn many times until the General Assembly fixed the current image in 1967 and revised it in 1996. The Adena stone mansion did not yet exist in 1803; Worthington then lived in a log house on the same hilltop. source

Pictures

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ELEANOR WORTHINGTON. [Her husband's] service cost him much in a money point of view and it was only by the car...
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Thomas Worthington, Ohio Governor
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Image of a woodcut of Ohio Governor Thomas Worthington which appeared in PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 18...
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Thomas Worthington was a senator from Ohio. He is sketched in a 1900 book.
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Portrait of Thomas Worthington published in 1912.
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Ohio politician Thomas Worthington
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The Adena Mansion in 2018.
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