James Collinsworth
1st Chief Justice of Texas
In office
December 16, 1836 – July 11, 1838
Preceded byInaugural holder
Succeeded byJohn Birdsall
Republic of Texas Senator from Brazoria District
In office
November 30, 1836 – December 16, 1836
Preceded byInaugural holder
Succeeded byWilliam Green Hill
Interim Secretary of State of Texas
In office
April 29, 1836 – May 23, 1836
Preceded bySamuel Price Carson
Succeeded byWilliam 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 byThomas H. Fletcher
Succeeded byWilliam T. Brown
Personal details
Born1802
Davidson County, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedJuly 11, 1838
Galveston, Texas
Resting placeFounders Memorial Cemetery

James Thompson Collinsworth (1802 – July 11, 1838) was an American-born Texian 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

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