(original source unidentified)
Jesse Carroll Worthington, a prominent and well-to-do citizen of Bledsoe county and one of the leading farmers of the Fourth district, was born at Big Springs, in the Fourth District of Bledsoe County, January 30, 1831.
Mr. Worthington is a son of William and Margaret (Brown) Worthington. The family settled in the Sequatchie Valley in the year 1800, when the Indians still inhabited it, and made their home on the cast side of the valley on the land now owned by Jane Worthington. William Worthington, soon after he was married, moved on to the farm now owned by Robert Worthington, which was formerly owned by a cousin, John Worthington. He was twice married and reared a very large family. His second wife was, in her girlhood, Miss Mariah Hutcheson, of Jackson county, and is still living on the old farm. By the first marriage were born twelve children, of whom five; Jesse Carroll, John, William, Rubin and Sarah are still living. Of the children born to the second marriage, five are now living: Mart, Tom, Frank, Eveline and Robert. William Worthington died at Big Springs, in November 1896, at the age of ninety-two years, and is buried near Big Spring on the farm.
Our subject spent his school days in, Sequatchie Valley. At the age of twenty-one he went to Union Point, Ala., where he was employed in laying track on the Union Point & Columbus railroad. From there he went to Hamilton county, Tenn., and after following the vocation of a farmer for two years, entered the employ of the East Tennessee & Georgia railroad, working on the Dalton branch of that road, and hauled much of the lumber for the bridge across the Chickamauga. He next returned to Bledsoe county, Tenn., and lived for a time on the farm his brother John now occupies, after which he moved to his present farm. Of the four hundred and fifty-three acres it comprises, two hundred acres is cleared and in a high state of cultivation, and altogether is a very pleasant and attractive home and profitable farm.
In 1854, Mr. Worthington was united in marriage to Margaret Seagraves. She was born in Bledsoe county, Tenn. and died January 8, 1856, leaving one daughter, Mar- garet, who is deceased. Our subject subsequently married Sarah Shirley, who was born in Bledsoe county, Tenn., and died in 1862. To this union were born five children, three of whom are now living: James, in Kansas; Thomas, in Idaho; and William, in Missouri. The two now dead were Samuel, who died when quite young, and Jennetta became the wife of James Sampson, and died in Arkansas. In 1867, our subject was united in marriage to Mary Jane Shutters, also a native of Bledsoe county.
In 1861, Mr. Worthington joined Company F, Fourth Tennessee Cavalry (Confederate), and was with it when it became a battalion. He was in the battle of Perryville, and was with Hood in Kentucky, and at Cumberland Gap. His only wound while in the service was in his hand which resulted in the loss of a finger.