Occupation Planter Children James W. Mason | Died 1873 | |
Elisha Worthington was an American planter and large slaveholder in the Antebellum South. He was the owner of the Sunnyside Plantation in Chicot County, Arkansas.
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Early life
Elisha Worthington was born in Kentucky.
Career
He acquired the Sunnyside Plantation in Chicot County from Abner Johnson in 1840. He also owned the Redleaf Plantation, the Meanie Plantation (a.k.a. the So So Plantation or the Rose Plantation), and the Eminence Plantation. By 1860, he owned 543 African slaves and 12,000 acres of land in Chicot County.
In 1862, in the midst of the American Civil War, Worthington moved his slaves and livestock to Texas. He returned to Chicot County at the end of the war, in 1865. He was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson on January 31, 1866.
In 1866, Worthington sold his Sunnyside plantation to Robert P. Pepper of Kentucky. With the proceeds of the sale, he paid back loans he had taken from Wade Hampton and Abraham Van Buren. Meanwhile, he moved into his Redleaf Plantation with his daughter Martha.
Personal life
He had two sons with an African slave he owned. Both were educated at Oberlin College in Ohio. His son, James W. Mason, served in the Arkansas Senate.
Death
He died in 1873.