In an 1821 letter to his children, Thomas Worthington recounts the family’s genealogy and history. Worthington was born in 1773 to Robert and Margaret Worthington.[1] Despite the luxury of Adena Mansion, the Worthingtons led difficult lives. Losing both his mother and father at a young age, Worthington had to live with his older brothers for a time, who were cruel to him.[2] Worthington truly became an orphan was when his “beloved sister Mary” died and left him at the mercy of his brothers.[3] Worthington remembers of his brother Ephraim, “From my brother and his wife I received unkind treatment and night after night did I wet my pillow with tears.”[4]
Originally from West Virginia, Worthington seems to have moved to Ohio about the same time Colonel William Darke, friend of the late Robert Worthington, takes Worthington in as his own son. Darke ends up giving his estate to Worthington, who erects Adena Manson out of it.[5] Apparently, “The Ohio frontier became enticing to Worthington as a place where he could advance in status and power.”[6] He writes with pride in the letter, where he seems to be inspiring his children with his somewhat hero’s journey from a poor, orphan boy to a governor and well-respected citizen. Part of this was thanks to his father, Robert Worthington, who, very concerned with his childrens’ education, found “the best teachers the country could afford,” ultimately affecting Thomas’s destiny.[7]
Despite Worthington’s problematic upbringing, as a former Ohio senator and owner of the Adena Mansion, he soon moved up in the world of politics and of culture.[8] Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who also designed the White House, designed Worthington’s home.[9] The meticulous nature of his designs are evident in his architectural plans of the White House.[10] The Adena Mansion then became known all over the United States and even abroad. According to the Early 19th-Century German Settlers in Ohio Kentucky, and Other States, royalty even visited Adena Mansion in 1826.[11] The Worthingtons, who may not have been nearly as prominent as the Jeffersons or the Washingtons, did come into contact with influential people. Robert Worthington worked with George Washington for a time and Thomas Worthington’s name is written in association with Thomas Jefferson’s on land grant surveys, being that he was once surveyor general.[12] In his letter, Worthington makes it clear that he reveals his difficult upbringing to his children in order to encourage them not to repeat the mistakes of men like his brothers.[13] Ultimately the hope is that his children and grandchildren were moved to action by the story of poor, parentless Thomas Worthington, and that we too are inspired to live our lives to the fullest.
[1]Ohio History Connection, “The Worthington Family: Thomas Worthington,”Adena Mansion & Gardens Historic Site, 2019, 1, http://www.adenamansion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Thomas-Worthington.pdf.
[2]Thomas Worthington to children, 20 March 1821, Ancestry.com, 2019, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/58737555/person/40339307990/media/03a4474e-61fb-4946-aeab-5d4419b3ebdc?_phsrc=bBx13&_phstart=successSource.
[3]Ibid, 1.
[4]Ibid.
[5]Thomas Worthington to children, 1821, Ancestry.com; OHC, “Thomas Worthington,” Adena Mansion & Gardens, 2.
[6]Ibid, 1.
[7]Thomas Worthington to children, 1821, Ancestry.com.
[8]OHC, “Thomas Worthington,” Adena Mansion & Gardens, 3.
[9]Ohio History Connection, “Adena Mansion & Gardens,” Adena Mansion & Gardens Historic Site, 2019, https://www.adenamansion.com/.
[10]Benjamin Henry Latrboe, Architect, The White House, "President's House," Washington, D.C., Site plan and principal story plan, 1807, Photograph, https://www.loc.gov/item/2001698952/.
[11]Clifford Smith, Early 19thCentury German Settlers in Ohio, Kentucky, and Other States (Westland Publications, 1984), Appendix 6, Part 7, p. 59, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/49129/FLHG_Early19CentGermanSettlersOH-0167?pid=28808&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D49129%26h%3D28808%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DKMK131%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=KMK131&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true.
[12]Thomas Worthington, Issued 15 April 1806, Ohio River Survey, Chillicothe; Thomas Worthington to children, 1821, Ancestry.com; OHC, “Thomas Worthington,” Adena Mansion & Gardens, 3.
[13]Thomas Worthington to children, 1821, Ancestry.com.
Latrobe's White House Design Plans, Ancestry.com
Adena Mansion and Gardens, Adena Mansion Website
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