William Worthington, an early settler, owned a large tract of "Island" territory that was cut off during times of high water. He served in the Revolutionary War under George Rogers Clark in 1781. He became a circuit court judge in 1803, then postmaster of Worthington, now Island, in 1829. Judge Worthington was a member of the Kentucky Senate from 1812 to 1825. He is buried north of town, and a chapel bears the family name.