John Walter Scott (1823 - 1899)

Born 29 Aug 1823 in Birmingham, Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Husband of Maria (Protsman) Scott — married 13 Dec 1849 in Hopewell, Indiana

Descendants

Died 19 Jan 1899 at age 75 in Guthrie, Oklahoma

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Biography

Excerpt from the book History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas, pages 491-495:^[1]

Dr. John Walter Scott was born in Birmingham, Pa., Aug. 19th 1823. He was the oldest child of Alexander and Mary Dean Scott. He had three brothers, Samuel, William and Harmon, and five sisters, Martha, Mary, Jennie, Margaret and Hannah.

When John W. Scott was three years of age his father bought a farm adjoining the Braddock Field property, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and spent most of his childhood there.

In 1840 he went with his father to Gallatin county, Kentucky, where he worked on a farm and in a saw mill for three or four years.

The work proved too heavy for him and his health giving way he secured a position as private tutor in the family of Dr. William B. Chamberlain, in Warsaw, Kentucky. He taught the children of his employer the rudiments of English and received from him in return a smattering of Greek, Latin and mathematics.

He afterward taught school in various portions of the county during the winters and read medicine with Dr. Chamberlain. In 1846-7 he took a course of medical lectures at the Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, and in the spring of 1847 began the practice of his profession at Hopewell, Indiana.

After practicing there for two years he took another course of lectures at the above college from which he graduated in the spring of 1849, returning at once to his practice in Indiana.

December 13, 1849, he was married to Maria Protsman, the neice[sic] of his former preceptor, Dr. Chamberlain, and continued in the practice of medicine at Hopewell and Franklin, Indiana, until 1857 when he came to Kansas.

On Dec 13th 1849 he married Maria Protsman.

Dr. Scott first came to Kansas in 1857, with an associate he built the first house on the present town site of Olathe, Johnson county. Olathe was the center of a proslavery settlement from So. Carolina. Dr. Scott was a conspicuous figure in the free-state ranks.

He bought an original interest in the townsite of Olathe, which had just been located, and in connection with one Charles Osgood, built the first house erected on the townsite.

In the fall he returned to Indiana and the following spring brought his family to Olathe. Owing to the unsettled condition of the country and the scenes of violence that were continually occurring in the town Olathe was not then a desirable place of residence for his family.

Kansas Nebraska Act and Bloody Kansas or the Border War

If one considers the historical events taking place at this time in Kansas history, one will understand Dr. Scott's concerns about his family's safety.

Through the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Congress kept a tenuous balance of political power between North and South. In May 1854, the Kansas–Nebraska Act created from unorganized Indian lands the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 called for "popular sovereignty"—that is, the decision about slavery was to be made by the settlers (rather than outsiders). It would be decided by votes—or more exactly which side had more votes counted by officials. At the heart of the conflict was the question of whether Kansas would allow or outlaw slavery, and thus enter the Union as a slave state or a free state.

Immigrants supporting both sides of the question arrived in Kansas to establish residency and gain the right to vote. However, Kansas Territory officials were appointed (1854) by the pro-slavery administration of President Franklin Pierce (in office 1853–1857),

Thousands of non-resident pro-slavery Missourians entered Kansas with the goal of winning elections. They captured territorial elections, sometimes by fraud and intimidation.

In response, Northern abolitionist elements flooded Kansas with "free-soilers." Anti-slavery Kansas residents wrote the first Kansas Constitution (1855) and elected the Free State legislature in Topeka; this stood in opposition to the pro-slavery government in Lecompton.

The two Territorial governments increased as did the strife between the two sides resulting in what is referred to as Bleeding Kansas. A series of violent political confrontations, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements in Kansas between 1854 and 1861.

The last major outbreak of violence was touched off by the Marais des Cygnes massacre in 1858, in which Border Ruffians killed five Free State men. In all, approximately 56 people died in Bleeding Kansas by the time the violence ended in 1859. see [Bleeding Kansas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia] .

In June of 1858 Dr. Scott fearing for the safety of his family moved to Allen county and took up a claim near Carlyle where he lived for the next sixteen years.

Almost from his first location in the state Dr. Scott had interested himself actively in the various projects looking to the building of railroads into this section of the State.

Among the numerous meetings and conventions held in the interest of these projects the most important was a convention held at Topeka in the year 1859.

The purpose of this convention was to agree upon a system of railroads upon which the State would go to Congress, asking for land grants to aid in the building of the roads, and the chief contest was between the proposed line from Leavenworth south (now the Southern Kansas) and the proposed line then designated as the Border Tier road (now the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis.) The committee appointed to draft outlines of the system of roads decided in favor of the Border Tier, leaving out the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston, as it was then and for many years afterward called.

As a dissenting member of this committee Dr. Scott made a minority report in favor of the L. L. and G., and succeeded in carrying it through the convention, thus securing the grant of land which made possible the building of that road. When the company was organized he became one of the directors, and when the road was finally built, in 1869, he was appointed Land Commissioner.

In the fall of 1859 he was elected to the Territorial legislature which met at Lecompton and afterwards adjourned to Lawrence,—the first Free State legislature.

He was re-elected in 1860 and chosen Speaker of the house.

On Jan. 29th, 1861 Kansas was admitted into the Union as a state. In 1861 he was elected a member of the first State legislature, and in the absence of the Speaker presided during most of the session. During this session, on April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, and at its close most of its members entered the Union army.

Dr. Scott enlisted in the Fourth Kansas Volunteer Infantry and was elected surgeon. He served with the Fourth during the fall and winter of 1861-2 being in charge of the general hospital at Fort Scott. When the Third and Fourth regiments were consolidated and became the 10th Kansas he became the surgeon of that regiment and served until May, 1863, when he resigned on account of the long and serious illness of his wife. In the fall of the same year, his wife's health having been restored, he re-entered and served to the end of the war, returning then to his Carlyle farm.

In 1866 he was elected to the State Senate, was elected president pro tem of that body and presided during the session on account of Lieutenant Governor Greene serving as Governor, vice Governor S. J. Crawford resigned.

Although always interested in politics and often actively engaged in the contests as a member of conventions and as a speaker in the campaigns, and frequently mentioned as an available candidate for Congress and other high positions, he was not again a candidate for any office during the remainder of his residence in Kansas.

in 1869, he was appointed Land Commissioner.He remained in that capacity eight years, during which time he was the chief agent in securing the railroad title to the land to which it was entitled and in disposing of the lands to settlers. During most of this time also he was a member of the State Board of Agriculture, taking an active and efficient part in organizing and conducting the State Fairs which were a feature of those early years.

From 1873 to 1879 he served as Regent of the State University, helping to lay the foundations of that great institution.

After closing his connection with the railroad he returned to Iola, the family having removed from the Carlyle farm to that place in 1874, and in 1876 engaged in the drug business, purchasing the stock of John Francis.

In 1883, without solicitation on his part, he was appointed agent for the Ponca, Pawnee and Otoe Indians, taking charge of the Agency January 1, 1884. He served in this position until October, 1885, when he resigned and returned to Iola to resume the conduct of his drug business.

He conducted this business until 1891, when he sold it to J. H. Campbell in order to accept an appointment as Inspector for the Bureau of Animal Industry. He was assigned to duty at Kansas City and served until 1893, when he resigned.

Desiring to retire from active business he went with his wife and daughter Belle, then constituting his family, to Clifton, Oklahoma, to visit his oldest son, who had taken a claim there. The climate and country pleased him so well that when the Oklahoma school lands were thrown open he leased a quarter section and with the energy which always characterized him proceeded to improve it, as if he were in his youth instead of in his seventieth year.

He lived there quietly and happily until the fall of 1898, when his neighbors, almost without respect to party, although he was still an ardent Republican, as he had been since the organization of that party, insisted that he serve as their candidate for the Territorial legislature. He reluctantly consented, and was elected, although the district contained a largely adverse party majority. He was not in his usual health when the session opened early in January, 1899, and in going to the Capitol he suffered some exposure which brought on an attack of pneumonia which resulted in his death, which occurred January 19, 1899.

In honor of his memory the legislature adjourned and a committee of its members was appointed to accompany the remains to Iola where they were interred. A further and most touching proof of the respect and affection in which he was held by his colleagues was given by the fact that during the entire remainder of the session his chair on the floor of the house remained draped, and every morning there was on his desk a bouquet of fresh flowers.

And so he died as he had lived, honored and beloved by all who knew him, a man who loved his family with a rare devotion, who was an important and influential factor in the development of two new States, who served his State and his country, in office and out of it, in peace and in war, with great ability and with incorruptible integrity, and who in all the relations of life was worthy of love and honor.

The children of John W. and Maria P. Scott were: William Alexander, born September 29, 1850; Walter Winfield, born September 4, 1853; Clara Belle, born September 14, 1855, Angelo Cyrus, born September 25, 1857; Charles Frederick, born September 7, 1860; Emma Louisa, born April 23, 1865, died September 4, 1879; Susie Flora, born April 6, 1867, died September 1, 1873; Effie June (Mrs. E. C Franklin) born August 4, 1871.

Timeline

1823

• August 29: John Walter Scott is born in Birmingham, Pennsylvania.^[1][2][3]

1849

• December 13: John marries Maria Protsman in Switzerland County, Indiana. The two were married by S. Parker Crawford.^[4]

1850

• August 14: J.W. Scott (age 27) resides in Union, Johnson, Indiana with his wife, Marie (age 21). His occupation is physician.^[5]
• September 29: John's son, William Alexander, is born.^[1]

1853

• September 4: John's son, Walter Winfield, is born.^[1]

1855

• September 14: John's daughter, Clara Belle, is born.^[1]

1857

• John moves to Kansas.^[6][2]
• September 25: John's son, Angelo Cyrus, is born.^[1]

1860

• June 26: John W. Scott (age 36) resides in Allen County, Kansas with his wife Maria P. (age 30), his children, William A. (age 9), Matthew H. (age 8), Carrie B (age 4), Angelo O (age 2), his inferred siblings Jane E. Scott (age 25), Hannan Scott (age 32), and Noah M. McAlister (age 22). Per the 1860 census, John's occupation is physician and the value of his personal property was $300.^[7]
• September 7: John's son, Charles Frederick, is born in Iola, Kansas.^[8][9]

1865

• April 23: John's daughter, Emma Louisa, is born.^[1]

1867

• John was a member of the Kansas State Senate.^[2]
• April 6: John's daughter, Susie Flora, is born.^[1]

1870

• July 4: John W. Scott (age 46) resides in Deer Creek, Allen County, Kansas with his wife, Mariah (age 41) and children, William A. (age 20), Bell (age 15), Anglo (age 13), Charles F. (age 11), Emma (age 7) and Susan (age 4). Per the 1870 census, John's occupation was farming and the value of his real property was $6,000 and his personal property was $1,000.^[10]

1871

• August 4: John's daughter, Effie June, is born.^[1]

1873

• September 1: John's daughter, Susie Flora, dies at 6 years old.^[1]

1874

• September 4: John's daughter, Emma Louisa, dies at 14 years old.^[1]

1880

• June 1: John W. Scott (age 56) resides in Iola, Allen County, Kansas, with his wife, Maria (age 50), and daughter, Belle (age 24). John's profession is listed in the census as "druggist."^[11]

1883

• John is appointed by President Arthur as agent of the Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe and Nez Perce Indians.^[2]

1895

• John moves to Oklahoma.^[6]

1899

• January 19: John dies at 76 years old in Guthrie, Oklahoma.^{[6] [3]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} L. Wallace Duncan, and Charles [Chas.] F. Scott, editors, History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas (Iola, Kansas: Iola Register, Printers and Binders, 1901), 491-495; digital images, Google Books (https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Allen_and_Woodson_Counties_Ka/SBA1AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 : accessed 16 March 2023).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} "Death of Dr. J.W. Scott: A Man Whose Career Was Closely Identified with Early Kansas History Passes Away at Guthrie, Ok.," Osborne County News, Osborne, Kansas, p. 7. Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/424456081/?clipping_id=120910095&article=db1d3911-da20-4a11-9e75-49f36d4880d8&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQyNDQ1NjA4MSwiaWF0IjoxNjc4OTc3NDA5LCJleHAiOjE2NzkwNjM4MDl9.mtPos53VksfJKNmaXu2qT8n5Crl3Zznk4tZHFLtZf6c : accessed 16 March 2023).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71475832/john-walter-scott: accessed 16 March 2023), memorial page for Dr John Walter Scott (29 Aug 1823–19 Jan 1899), Find a Grave Memorial ID 71475832, citing Iola Cemetery, Iola, Allen County, Kansas, USA; Maintained by debilyn (contributor 47160033).
4. ↑ "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939N-YMHW-M?i=35&cc=1410397&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AKFZG-TX3 : accessed 16 March 2023), entry for J. Walter Scott and Maria Protsman (license issued 10 December 1849); citing Indiana Commission on Public Records, Indianapolis.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1850", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRLS-JS2?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMHJL-TV9&action=view&groupId=TH-266-11571-67797-53 : accessed 16 March 2023), entry for J.W. Scott (age 27), page 17 (penciled), Union, Johnson, Indiana.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} "Dr. John W. Scott," The Girard Press, 26 January 1899, p. 2. Image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/186452495/?article=98c217f7-ce00-463f-b20e-42c7b1b37b6d : accessed 16 March 2023).
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9B9V-ZMG?cc=1473181 : accessed 16 March 2023), entry for John W. Scott (age 36), page 13, Allen, Kansas; citing "NARA microfilm publication M653."
8. ↑ William E. Connelley, secretary, History of Kansas Newspapers: A History of the Newspapers and Magazines Published in Kansas from the Organization of Kansas Territory, 1854, to January 1, 1916, Together with Brief Statistical Information of the Counties, Cities and Towns of the State (Topeka, Kansas: Kansas State Printing Plant, 1916), 47; digital images, Kansas Memory (https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/211020 : accessed 17 March 2023); citing Kansas Historical Society, Department of Archives.
9. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93H-W4JK?i=437&cc=1804002 : accessed 16 March 2023), John W. Scott and Maria Protsman listed in license for Charles F. Scott and Helen W. Raymond (married 7 March 1937), book 1417, page 211, no. 3430; citing California State Board of Health, Los Angeles County.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-64LS-FZK?i=13&cc=1438024&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMCJX-251 : accessed 16 March 2023), entry for John W. Scott (age 46), page 15, Deer Creek, Allen, Kansas; citing "NARA microfilm publication M593."
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYB-SJ6?cc=1417683&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMFPN-8F8 : accessed 16 March 2023), entry for John W. Scott (age 56), Iola, Allen, Kansas, enumeration district (ED) 9, p. 95A; citing "NARA microfilm publication T9."