James Collinsworth

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
Republic of Texas Senator from Brazoria District
	In office; November 30, 1836 – December 16, 1836
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	William Green Hill
Interim Secretary of State of Texas
	In office; 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; Davidson County, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	July 11, 1838; Galveston, Texas
Resting place	Founders Memorial Cemetery

James Thompson Collinsworth (1802 – July 11, 1838) was an American-born Texan lawyer and political figure in early history of the Republic of Texas.

Early life

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

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 an interim Secretary of State of Texas.^[4]

Collinsworth was candidate during the 1838 Republic of Texas presidential election against Mirabeau B. Lamar.

Death and legacy

Collinsworth drowned after falling from a steamboat into Galveston Bay.^[5] His body was found on Bolivar Peninsula and taken by boat upstream along Buffalo Bayou to Houston, 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

^ Zollicoffer Bond, Octavia (November 28, 1909). "The Cockrill Family". The Tennessean. p. 34. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Cockrill Henning, Johnnie (October 10, 1950). "Mark R. Cockrill Introduced Sheep Raising Into Tennessee". The Jackson Sun. Jackson, Tennessee. p. 6. Retrieved April 16, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ McDonald Spaw, Patsy, ed. (1990). The Texas Senate: Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861. Texas A&M University Press. p. 18.
^ Ericson, Joe E. (June 12, 2010). "Collinsworth, James". The Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
^ Siegel, Stanley (1956). A Political History of the Texas Republic, 1836-1845. The University of Texas Press. p. 98.

External links

James Collinsworth at Find a Grave
Founders Memorial Park at The Political Graveyard

This article about a Texas politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[tennesseancockrillfamily-1] Zollicoffer Bond, Octavia (November 28, 1909). "The Cockrill Family". The Tennessean. p. 34. Retrieved April 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.

[jacksonsunmarkrcockrillintroduced-2] Cockrill Henning, Johnnie (October 10, 1950). "Mark R. Cockrill Introduced Sheep Raising Into Tennessee". The Jackson Sun. Jackson, Tennessee. p. 6. Retrieved April 16, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] McDonald Spaw, Patsy, ed. (1990). The Texas Senate: Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861. Texas A&M University Press. p. 18.

[4] Ericson, Joe E. (June 12, 2010). "Collinsworth, James". The Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 4, 2014.

[5] Siegel, Stanley (1956). A Political History of the Texas Republic, 1836-1845. The University of Texas Press. p. 98.

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v t e Republic of Texas
Capitals	Harrisburg Washington-on-the-Brazos Galveston Velasco Columbia Houston Austin
Presidents	David G. Burnet Sam Houston Mirabeau Lamar Anson Jones
Vice Presidents	Lorenzo de Zavala Mirabeau Lamar David G. Burnet Edward Burleson Kenneth Lewis Anderson
Documents	Texas Declaration of Independence Constitution of the Republic of Texas Texas Archive War
Colonization	Henri Castro Fisher–Miller Land Grant
Presidential elections	1836 1838 1841 1844

v t e Attorneys general of Texas
	Republic of Texas (1836–45)	Collinsworth Henderson Grayson Birdsall Watrous Webb Morris Terrell Allen Ochiltree
	State of Texas (1846–present)	Howard Harris Brewster Hamilton Allen Jennings Willie Graham Flournoy Shelley Tarver Alexander Walton Turner Alexander Clark Boone McLeary McCormick Templeton Hogg Culberson Crane Smith Bell Davidson Lightfoot Walthall Looney Cureton Keeling Moody Pollard Bobbitt Allred McCraw Mann Sellers Daniel Shepperd Wilson Carr Martin Hill White Mattox Morales Cornyn Abbott Paxton Webster (interim) Scott (interim) Colmenero (interim)

Authority control databases
International	VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	United States

James Collinsworth

1st Chief Justice of Texas
In office December 16, 1836 – July 11, 1838
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	John Birdsall
Republic of Texas Senator from Brazoria District
In office November 30, 1836 – December 16, 1836
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	William Green Hill
Interim Secretary of State of Texas
In office 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 Davidson County, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	July 11, 1838 Galveston, Texas
Resting place	Founders Memorial Cemetery