Doug:

I'm helping my son do a research project at school and he chose John L. Worden. I've been doing searches for info on the net and just saw your posting; usually you find them several years old!

My mother's maiden name was Worden; her father was John Wesley Worden, born in Wellington, KS in 1897. We have several family members who are trying to find the connection to John Lorimar Worden. The family stories have him as a possible cousin.

Anyway, about 12 or 13 years ago my husband and I were in Williamsburg, VA and happened to visit the Mariner's Museum in Newport News. They are the official repository of all Monitor artifacts, including artifacts of John L. Worden. Upon hearing that I was a possible relative, they allowed us access to their original documents on him. It was more than a little amazing to carefully handle the original documents that have the original account of the Monitor/Merrimac battle from which most textbooks took their information. There were quite a few letters between he and his wife also. If you haven't visited or contacted that museum, they are a valuable resource. At that time, I was able to order copies of both documents and photos. They were quite helpful - and hopeful that I might have information on where the decorative sword he is often shown wearing might be. Unfortunately, we aren't closely enough related to have a clue on that!

Hope this helps.

Karen