Samuel Worthington Dorsey (1811 – October 18, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and planter. Dorsey, son of Thomas B. Dorsey, chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of Maryland, and of Milcah (Goodwin) Dorsey, was bom in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

in 1811. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1830. He studied law with John Glenn, Esq., in Baltimore, where he was admitted to the bar and engaged in practice for two years, after which he removed to Vicksburg, Miss., and there pursued his profession for about two years longer. During these last years he was also occupied with cotton planting, and he now abandoned his profession, and for the rest of his life was extensively engaged as a planter in Louisiana. He went to Maryland for a visit in the spring of 1875, intending also to be present in

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

at the meeting of his Yale class in June. But the threatened overflow of the Mississippi River called him home; he sank under the exposure to which he was subjected, and died, October 18, at his residence in Tensas Parish, La. Dorsey enjoyed the confidence and affection of a wide circle of friends for his high character. He had been

Louisiana State Senator The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

for several terms, and was a member of the State Convention which passed the ordinance of

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

in 1861, though he took no active part in the struggle which followed, the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He was married in 1853 to Miss Sarah A. Ellis, of Natchez, Miss., who survived him. Mrs. Dorsey was extensively known in the South as an author.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorsey, Samuel Worthington 1811 births 1875 deaths Lawyers from Baltimore Yale College alumni Mississippi lawyers Louisiana state senators American cotton plantation owners 19th-century American planters Politicians from Baltimore 19th-century American lawyers Dorsey family (Maryland) 19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature