Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Region called Lake Worth named in honor of military hero, General William Jenkins Worth, “Ducit Amor Patriae”.



Which translates to:

 

“The Love Of Country
Leads Me.”


The historical connections between New York City and Lake Worth are numerous including this interesting fact: There are only two historical monuments in Manhattan that serve as mausoleums: one is Grant’s Tomb and the other is an obelisk in honor of General William Jenkins Worth, who Lake Worth, Florida is named for:


Image from Wikipedia.


See link below which explains this plaque (dado) on obelisk in NYC.


FYI: In 1842 then-Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared victory when the defeated Seminoles were forced far into the Florida Everglades seeking safety from the American forces. John Horse (1812–1882) was a fighter of African and Seminole Indian ancestry who fought in the Second Seminole War against the American Army. The vanquishing of John Horse was the deciding defeat for the Seminoles and for which officer then Col. William Worth was promoted to General Worth.

As a side note, the Town of Lake Worth was incorporated in 1913 which included the beach.* As the Seminole’s retreated many from the Town of Lake Worth from places up north headed west and draining the Everglades as they went creating what would later be called John Prince Park, further to the west the City of Atlantis incorporated in 1959 and the Village of Wellington was incorporated in 1995.


Click on this link for the website dedicated to information about General Worth’s obelisk in Manhattan; an excerpt:


     General Worth was a military hero who fought in the Mexican-American War between 1846 and 1848. He died of cholera in 1849 and was originally buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn; but in 1857 his body was moved to Manhattan and placed under the Worth Monument.
     The monument was designed by James Goodwin Batterson and dedicated on November 25, 1857. The obelisk contains four sets of bands with the names of 16 places of importance in the life of Major General Worth. On the south facing front of the pedestal is a bronze tablet with a high relief of General Worth on horseback, with dress military uniform holding his sword in his right hand while pointing it forward. Above this figure is a complex trophy depicting cannons, swords, flags and eagles.


The dado on the east side of the obelisk contains the inscription:


DUCIT AMOR PATRIAE



*The Town of Lake Worth, the municipality, became the City of Lake and in March 2019 the name was changed to the City of Lake Worth Beach (LWB). Vast uincorporated areas west of LWB are still referred to as “Lake Worth”.