James Collinsworth
James Collinsworth | |
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1st Chief Justice of Texas | |
In office December 16, 1836 – July 11, 1838 |
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Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
Succeeded by | John Birdsall |
Republic of Texas Senator from Brazoria District | |
In office November 30, 1836 – December 16, 1836 |
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Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
Succeeded by | William Green Hill |
Interim Secretary of State of Texas | |
In office April 29, 1836 – May 23, 1836 |
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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 |
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United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee | |
In office 1829–1835 |
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Personal details | |
Born | 1806 Davidson County, Tennessee, U.S. |
Died | July 11, 1838 Galveston, Texas |
Resting place | Founders Memorial Cemetery |
James Thompson Collinsworth (1806 – July 11, 1838) was an American-born Texian lawyer and political figure in early history of the Republic of Texas. Collinsworth served as a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas,[1] and an interim Secretary of State of Texas.[2] Collingsworth County, Texas and Collingsworth Street in Houston, were both posthumously named in his honor.
Prior to his life in Texas, Collinsworth was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, and then served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
As a candidate during the 1838 Republic of Texas presidential election as the chief opponent to Mirabeau B. Lamar, Collinsworth drowned after jumping from a steamboat into Galveston Bay.[3] His body was 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.
References
External links
- James Collinsworth at Find a Grave
- Founders Memorial Park at The Political Graveyard
- American lawyers
- Republic of Texas Senators
- 1st Congress of the Republic of Texas
- 1806 births
- 1838 deaths
- Chief Justices of the Texas Supreme Court
- Deaths by drowning
- Secretaries of State of Texas
- United States Attorneys for the Western District of Tennessee
- People of the Texas Revolution
- People from Brazoria County, Texas
- People from Davidson County, Tennessee