William Thornton Scott (1812 - 1896)

Born 8 Apr 1812 in Jessamine, Kentucky

Ancestors

Died 10 Feb 1896 at age 83 in Holton, Jackson, Kansas

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Biography

William Thornton Scott was born on April 8, 1812, to Samuel Scott and Martha (McCorkle) Scott.

He was married to Sarah Sellers in 1834, and had seven children with her.

He died in February 1896.

Excerpt from "Genealogy of the Descendants of John Walker of Wigton, Scotland

"His mother was a sister of Joseph McCorkle. The father died when he was but eight years old, but the mother lived to be ninety-five. Many times she related to this her youngest child the stories of the trials and privations of her early life when her parents came as pioneers to Kentucky, and of their narrow escape from the Indians at Boone Station. She also told him of his father's joining the volunteer forces raised to march against Ferguson in North Carolina. There is no record of Samuel Scott's service in this battle, but William Thornton Scott, who lived to be eighty- three years and ten months old (died in Feb., 1896), left a written statement of the facts in the case, and upon this statement several descendants of Samuel Scott have joined the Revolutionary Societies of this country. William T. Scott was a member of one of these and was invited by the Sons of The American Revolution to attend their meeting in Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 7, 1895. This meeting was held on North Carolina day of the Atlanta Exposition. There were many patriotic speeches, one by W. T. Scott, the only surviving son of the nine hundred patriots of that battle.

When the civil war broke out he, being too old to go himself, sent three sons to fight for the Union. After the close of the war the family moved to Holton, Kansas. His daughter, Mrs. Martha A. Hand, served several years as State Regent for the Daughters of the Revolution in Kansas. She joined this society in recognition of her grandfather, Samuel Scott's, service at King's Mountain. W. T. Scott was a member of the Presbyterian Church, serving as a ruling elder for over fifty years. He attended three of the General Assemblies as a delegate, an honor conferred on few elders. It was my good fortune to see and know this good man. He was an unusually good conversationalist, and being possessed of a remarkable memory, could relate many interesting and amusing incidents relating to the early history of the family. He told of attending the wedding of Samuel Scott Walker (my grandfather) and Sarah Allen; Scott Walker as he was called, being a nephew of W. T. Scott's. He also mentioned the fact that his father's family of fifteen children were never all at home at one time, some of the older ones being married and living in homes of their own before he, the youngest one, was born."

Obituary, The Holton Recorder, February 13, 1896

William Thornton Scott was born in Jassamine county, Kentucky, April 8th, 1812 and died in Holton, Kansas, February 10th, 1896, aged eighty-three years, ten months and two days. The parents of Mr. Scott, Samuel and Martha Scott, were Virginians and immigrated to Kentucky in 1774, when that now fair country was known as the "dark and bloody ground," on account of the almost daily conflicts between the settlers and the Indians. Mr. Scott well remembered hearing his mother tell of taking refuge from threatened Indian ravages, in the fort of Boonesboro, with the celebrated frontiersman and Indian fighter, Daniel Boone. Mr. W. T. Scott came to his well known and intense patriotism, honestly. His father, though but fifteen years old, was one of the band of patriots that fought at the battle of King's Mountain, and vanquished the proud Britain, Col. Fergeson, and drove the invaders from North Carolina. Mr. Scott was the youngest of fifteen children, who, remarkable to relate, all grew to man and womanhood; and a number of whom lived to extreme age. It has been only a little over a year when a sister died in Missouri at the age of ninety-four, and some two or three months ago he received word of the death of his last remaining sister at Knobnoster, Missouri, aged eighty-six. Mr. Scott received what education was available to boys in his station in Kentucky, and although he did not receive a degree, he fitted himself to teach and was for several years a successful teacher. In 1834 he was married to Sarah A. Sellers, of Versailes, Kentucky, with whom he lived in perfect happiness fifty-three years, and to whom were born seven children. Of these, one Wallace, preceded the mother and father to the "better land," Those that remain are Joseph A., Samuel H. T., Dr. John T. and Frank S. Scott, and Mrs. M. H. Beck and Mrs. Martha A. Hand, all of whom, with a number of his grandchildren, were at his bedside when the last summons came. In the year 1836, Mr, and Mrs. Scott moved to Putnam county, Indiana, were they lived until 1870, when they came to Holton, where they have since resided The deceased joined the Presbyterian church at the age of twenty-one and was a faithful, zealous, devoted member of the same for sixty-three years, and for fifty-three years held the office of ruling elder in the church. He was a delegate to three general assemblies of the church, one at Wilmington, Delaware in 1859; one at Brooklyn in 1865 and another in Brooklyn in 1876 ,... The deceased was an enthusiastic member of the order of the Sons of the Revolution. The pall bearers were his four sons mentioned above, and two grandsons, Fred Scott and Will Beck

Research Task List

• List other children on wikitree
• List other siblings on wikitree
• Add spouse on wikitree

Sources

• White, Emma Siggins, Genealogy of the Descendants of John Walker of Wigton, Scotland. Pages 296-298.