Legacy Library: John Worthington

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Reports of adjudged cases in the courts of Chancery, King's bench, Common pleas and Exchequer, from Trinity term in the second year of King George I. to Trinity term in the twenty-first year of King George II. [1716-1747] by Sir John Strange

Commentaries on the laws of England: In four books by Sir William Blackstone

The law of evidence by Sir Geoffrey Gilbert

Cases in law and equity: argued, debated and adjudged in the King's Bench and Chancery, in the twelfth and thirteenth years of Queen Anne, ... With two treatises, the one on the action of debt, the other on the constitution of England. Now first printed from the original manuscript of the late Lord Chief Baron Gilbert by Sir Geoffrey Gilbert

The law of distresses and replevins, delineated : wherein the whole law under those heads is considered : what things may, or may not be distrained : and the regular method to be pursued in suing out replevins, &c. agreeable to the present practice : with many references to the best authorities by Sir Geoffrey Gilbert

The justice of the peace, and parish officer by Richard Burn

A report of all the cases determined by Sir John Holt, knt., from 1688 to 1710 : during which time he was Lord Chief Justice of England : containing many cases never before printed, taken from an original manuscript of Thomas Farresley ... also several cases in Chancery and the Exchequer Chamber : the whole alphabetically digested under proper heads, with three tables: the first of the names of the cases, the second of the general titles, and the third of the principal matters by Sir John Holt

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CollectionsYour library (37)

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TagsLaw (37), British Law (35), Courts (13), Reports (11), Pleadings (5), Court of King's Bench (5), Case Law (4), Court of Common Pleas (4), Court of Chancery (2), Manuals (2) — see all tags

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About meJohn Worthington (1719-1800), Massachusetts lawyer and land speculator. Worthington graduated from Yale College in 1740 and briefly studied theology there while serving as a tutor 1742-1743. He then took up the practice of law in Springfield, where he served as King's attorney for the western region of Massachusetts and as high sheriff of Hampshire County.

Called the "political dictator of Springfield" by one biographer, Worthington also was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives almonst continuously 1747-1766 and 1770-1774; for two years (1767-1768) he sat on the governor's Council. He was made a colonel of militia in 1754. During the 1750s he was among the more active legislators in the House of Representatives, but his involvement faded during the 1760s. Worthington's loyalism (he was close friends with Thomas Hutchinson) almost resulted in his removal to Canada during the Revolution, but he opted to stay in Massachusetts and by 1778 had contributed funds to the Continental army and resumed local political activities.

Worthington married first Hannah Hopkins; after her death in 1766 her took as his second wife Mary Stoddard. Three of Worthington's four daughters (by his first wife) also married leading lawyers: Hannah was the wife of Springfield attorney Thomas Dwight (1758-1819), Mary web Jonathan Bliss (1742-1822), and Frances married Fisher Ames (1758-1808), a lawyer and U.S. Congressman.

Worthington's land speculations tended toward the successful, and one investment resulted in the settlement of what is today Worthington, MA.

A short biography of Worthington can be found in John A. Schutz, ed. Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court, 1691-1780: A Biographical Dictionary. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997. A more complete sketch is in the Dictionary of American Biography.

About my libraryWorthington's library of law books is now at the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School, having been acquired in 1995. The collection can be browsed through their online catalog here.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Do you know of additional books which should be included here? Please contact Libraries of Early America coordinator Jeremy Dibbell.

GroupsLibraries of Early America

Real nameJohn Worthington

LocationSpringfield, MA

Favorite authorsNot set

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/JohnWorthington (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/JohnWorthington (library)

Member sinceJan 5, 2009