Larcena (Pennington) Scott (1837 - 1913)

Born 10 Jan 1837 in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA

Ancestors

Wife of John Hempstead Page — married 24 Dec 1859 in Tucson, Arizona, USA

Descendants

Died 31 Mar 1913 at age 76 in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, USA

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Biography

Larcena (Pennington) Scott is Notable.

Western Folk Heroine. She was a member of a pioneer family for whom Pennington Street in Tucson, Arizona, was named.

Larcena was a newlywed of only a few months when she was abducted by Tonto Apaches in 1860, along with her 10 year old student, Mercedes Sais Quiroz. They told her they had killed her husband (they didn't, in fact he was tracking them by following her footprints). Then they ransacked her house before they took their captives. Unable to keep up with her captors, since she was recovering from malaria, she was stabbed more than 10 times, pushed off a cliff and left for dead in Madera Canyon. Larcena crawled through the desert for two weeks before finding help.

Incredibly she survived the wounds. Her September 1, 1860 census has a notation: "Mrs Page has recently returned from Indian captivity - she bears dreadful wounds upon her person."

Her husband, John Page, was killed in 1861 by Indians, while she was pregnant. About 6 months after his death, she gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Mary Ann.

She married Judge William Fisher Scott on 27 Jul 1870. They lived in Tucson, on Main Street next to the Eagle Flour Mill, in a brand new house William had built. They had two children together, William and Georgia.

Her former student, and fellow captive Mercedes, lived nearby with her husband Charles.

A 23 year old American pioneer who was kidnapped, wounded, and left for dead by Apache natives in Arizona. Unable to stand, she crawled 15 miles (24 km) over the next sixteen days to reach safety. After her kidnapping, Larcena was indirectly involved in several other incidents with Apaches, and much of her family were either killed by the natives or died of disease.

In 1857 Larcena's family moved out to Arizona to make a new life on the frontier. She was married two years later and moved out to Madera Canyon to live in a small camp with her husband, John Page, William Randall and 11 year-old Mercedes Quiroz.

Things were going pretty well until one day when Page and Randall were out hunting and Larcena's camp was raided by Apache Indians. Larcena ran to get her revolver, but the Apaches managed to subdue her before she could turn the weapon against them. They captured Larcena and Mercedes, and informed them that the men of the camp had already been killed.

Over the next several hours, the Apaches forced Larcena and Mercedes march through the treacherous Arizona desert. The ladies briefly tore off small pieces of their clothing to leave a trail for John and William to find, but the Indians caught on to this and forced them to stop under penalty of angry spear poking.

After roughly sixteen miles through the wilderness Larcena, who had been recovering from illness (probably malaria), finally started to lose her strength. She fell behind, and when it became obvious that she would be unable to keep up the Apaches decided she was of no further use to them. They took her to the edge of a mountain bluff, stripped her down to her petticoat, stabbed her repeatedly with their spears, shot her a couple times and then finally chucked her off the cliff. She fell sixteen feet to the snow-covered ground below. As she lay there motionless, some of the Indians threw rocks down on her.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLK-KRY : 4 March 2021), S Pennington in household of E G Pennington, Fannin, Texas, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4Z6-GK7 : 18 February 2021), Larcena A Page in entry for Jno H Page, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC2K-QJJ : 28 May 2021), Lacinda A Page in entry for Margaret Pennington, 1870.

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9VZ-JBN : accessed 6 June 2021), Lurcena Scott in household of William F Scott, Tucson city (all south of Ochoa from 6th Ave. to city limit) Ward 2, Pima, Arizona Territory, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 48, sheet 18A, family 393, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,047.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVVZ-4DG : accessed 6 June 2021), Lascina Scott in household of William F Scott, Tucson Ward 2, Pima, Arizona, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 106, sheet 19A, family 368, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 41; FHL microfilm 1,374,054.

• "Arizona Deaths, 1870-1951," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLVL-3VC : 6 April 2020), Larcena A Scott, 1913; citing Tucson, Pima, Arizona, reference , Department of Library and Archives, Phoenix, Arizona; FHL microfilm 2,114,407.

• "Arizona Deaths, 1870-1951," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLVK-6ZW : 6 April 2020), Zariena Pennington in entry for William Pennington Scott, 1924; citing Tucson, Pima, Arizona, reference , Department of Library and Archives, Phoenix, Arizona; FHL microfilm 2,114,519.

• "Arizona Deaths, 1870-1951," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLJW-PC2 : 6 April 2020), Larcena Pennington in entry for Georgie S. Forbes, 1946; citing Tucson, Pima, Arizona, reference , Department of Library and Archives, Phoenix, Arizona; FHL microfilm 2,114,733.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #29865354 Larcena_Pennington_Page

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larcena_Pennington_Page

• https://truewestmagazine.com/25045-2/

• http://tucson.com/news/local/the-ordeal-of-larcena-ann-pennington-page/article_22cc672f-8f8c-58bf-9741-273a5e27fc22.html

• http://www.badassoftheweek.com/pennington.html

• https://www.penningtonresearch.org/Resources/Documents/Larcena%20Pennington%20-%20Group%2022.pdf

• http://tubacaz.com/event/larcena-pennington-a-reenactment-saturday-november-16-2pm/

• https://books.google.com/books?id=fdhK-OcNABIC&pg=PA251&lpg=PA251&dq=Dr+Robert+Forbes+and+Georgie+Scott+Forbes&source=bl&ots=jWyN2FzzIM&sig=-s9lp7phWWZF-SL76lD2LwstA3E&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjri5C8v9zeAhWoFjQIHX2yBJAQ6AEwCnoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=Dr%20Robert%20Forbes%20and%20Georgie%20Scott%20Forbes&f=false

• book - "With Their Own Blood" by Virginia Culin Roberts

• https://www.gvnews.com/news/history-at-sopori-pioneers-helped-write-states-story/article_7a31c58e-6593-11e7-b129-db4e66ae1cfb.html