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W. Henry Worthington was born about 1847 in Virginia. He the child of Archibald and Elizabeth Worthington and grew up on the family farm. Archibald, and presumably the rest of the family, had been freed from slavery while Henry was still very young. Archibald moved, with his family, to Ohio, where he owned a farm. [1][2]
In 1860, he is attending school, probably in or near Defiance, Ohio.
Private W. Henry Worthington served in Company H of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the second[5] regiment in the United States made up entirely of enlisted men of color. He entered the service on May 12, 1863 from the state of Massachusetts, since black men were not permitted to serve in the military units of the state of Ohio before June 1863.[6] Prior to entering the service, Henry had been employed as a laborer in Defiance, Ohio.[7]
Private Worthington was taken prisoner on July 16, 1863 on the Gullah island of Sol Legare in Charleston County, South Carolina during a skirmish which took place between the first and second battles at Fort Wagner, [8] and his fate, along with other captured African-American Union soldiers, was argued among generals and politicians, including President Abraham Lincoln. Union prisoners were to be exchanged for Confederate prisoners, but race was a factor in the exchange. The Union side argued for one-for-one exchanges without regard to race, while Confederates believed black soldiers were unequal to white soldiers. The matter was finally settled, but Private Worthington died of typhus on January 8, 1865, two months before the exchange was to take place.[9]
Of Charleston Jail, Captain Samuel C. Timson of the 95th NY had this to say:
He is buried at Salisbury National Cemetery in Salisbury, North Carolina. He was among the men honored by the Ohio House of Representatives in H.R. No. 297. [6]
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W > Worthington > William Henry Worthington
Categories: Ohio, Free People of Color | 1850 US Census, Fayette County, Ohio | Union, Ohio | 1860 US Census, Defiance County, Ohio | Defiance, Ohio | 54th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Colored), United States Civil War | Prisoners of War, United States of America, United States Civil War | Charleston Jail | Florence Stockade, Florence, South Carolina | Salisbury National Cemetery, Salisbury, North Carolina | Died of Disease, United States of America, United States Civil War