Walter Brooke Cox Worthington
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Walter Brooke Cox Worthington (September 19, 1795 - 1845) was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. He was a descendant of the Lee Family of Virginia.
Worthington was born September 19, 1795, at "The Valley", near Nottingham, Maryland. He was the son of William Worthington III (1747–1820) and Jane Contee (1761–1825). He was the brother of Thomas Contee Worthington (1782–1847), a U.S. Representative from Maryland, and William Grafton Delaney Worthington IV (1785–1856).[1]
His maternal grandparents were Sarah Fendall (1732–1793) and Thomas Contee (1729–1793), himself the grandson of Thomas Brooke, Jr. (1660–1730). Through his maternal grandfather's sister, Jane Contee (1726–1812), who was married to John Hanson (1721–1783), a delegate to the Continental Congress who signed the Articles of Confederation and served as the 9th President of the Continental Congress, he was related to Alexander Contee Hanson (1786–1819), also a U.S. Representative, and later, U.S. Senator from Maryland.[2]
He was educated in Nottingham and in Baltimore, where after leaving school, he entered a mercantile house, and remained until he had gained a practical business training.
Career
He returned to Prince George's County shortly after reaching his majority and took charge of the estate devised him by his grandfather, Col. Thomas Contee, consisting of part of "Brookefield". Upon the death of his mother, he inherited the estate "The Valley" or "Vale of Tempe", and he devoted himself to agriculture for the rest of his life. This was located on the original tract of land called "Brookefield". Walter enlarged "The Valley" by purchasing adjoining fields, making it a farm of 600 acres (2.4 km2), and acquired several other estates in the same neighborhood, including the one known as "Half Pone", or "Leith", which he bought from Fielder Bowie (currently at the end of Croom Airport Road in Patuxent River Park, Croom, Maryland.) At the time of his death he owned more than 2,000 acres (8 km2), and more than a hundred enslaved people.
Politics
In 1834, Walter consented to and accepted the nomination for State Legislature, and was elected. He served one term, and declined to stand for re-election.
He resided in the brick house "still standing in 1899" on the "Half Pone" plantation, but owing to its proximity to the river suffered from malaria, and in his will directed that the land be sold on this account. Henrietta died of pneumonia on March 20, 1843, and Walter removed his children to Nottingham, where he resided with his mother-in-law until August 2, 1845, when he died suddenly of apoplexy. He was buried at "The Valley".