James Collinsworth
James Collinsworth | |
|---|---|
| 1st Chief Justice of Texas | |
| In office December 16, 1836 – July 11, 1838 | |
| Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
| Succeeded by | John Birdsall |
| Senator from Brazoria District | |
| In office November 30, 1836 – December 16, 1836 | |
| Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
| Succeeded by | William Green Hill |
| Secretary of State of Texas | |
| Acting April 29, 1836 – May 23, 1836 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Price Carson |
| Succeeded by | William Houston Jack |
| Delegate to the Convention of 1836 from Brazoria District | |
| In office February 1, 1836 – March 17, 1836 | |
| United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee | |
| In office 1829–1835 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas H. Fletcher |
| Succeeded by | William T. Brown |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1802 |
| Died | July 11, 1838 (aged 35–36) |
| Resting place | Founders Memorial Cemetery |
James Thompson Collinsworth (1802 – July 11, 1838) was an American-born Texan lawyer and politician prominent in early history of the Republic of Texas.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Collinsworth was born in 1802 Davidson County, Tennessee. His father, Edward Collinsworth, served in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.[1] His sister, Susan, married Mark R. Cockrill, a large planter known as the "Wool King of the World".[2]
Career
[edit | edit source]Collinsworth served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
Collinsworth served as a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas,[3] and as the acting Secretary of State of Texas.[4]
Collinsworth was candidate during the 1838 Republic of Texas presidential election against Mirabeau B. Lamar.[citation needed]
Death and legacy
[edit | edit source]On July 11, 1838, just days after his Presidential Campaign was reported, Collinsworth drowned after falling from a steamboat into Galveston Bay.[5] It is usually suspected that he committed suicide.[4] His body was found on Bolivar Peninsula and taken by boat upstream along Buffalo Bayou to Houston,[citation needed] where he lay in state at the Texas Capitol. He was interred at Founders Memorial Cemetery in Houston.
Collingsworth County, Texas and Collingsworth Street in Houston, were both posthumously named in his honor, even though both were misspelled.
References
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External links
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- James Collinsworth at Find a GraveLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Founders Memorial Park at The Political Graveyard
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- Republic of Texas senators
- 1st Congress of the Republic of Texas
- 1802 births
- 1838 deaths
- Chief justices of the Republic of Texas Supreme Court
- Deaths by drowning in Texas
- Secretaries of state of Texas
- Texas attorneys general
- United States attorneys for the Western District of Tennessee
- People of the Texas Revolution
- People from Brazoria County, Texas
- People from Davidson County, Tennessee
- Signatories of the Texas Declaration of Independence
- Texas politician stubs