Thomas Scott
Thomas Scott was born on the thirty-first day of September, 1772, at Old Town or Skipton, at the junction of the north and south branches of the Potomac River. He came of that sturdy Scotch-Irish stock which has furnished very many remarkable and valuable men to the bar, army, navy and legislature of America. His grandparents emigrated to the United States very soon after the battle of the Boyne and settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, from whence the father of Judge Scott removed to and settled in Virginia.
In May, 1796, Mr. Scott married Catherine, daughter of Robert and Catherine Dorsey Wood. He very early connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church throughout his long life. He was licensed a preacher when only seventeen years of age by Bishop Asbury, and was ordained at eighteen. At this period of life, Mr. Scott fully intended to devote himself to the ministry, and he prudently learned the tailoring trade so as to be sure of the necessaries of life while in charge of the then very poor and scattered flocks of the Methodist Church.
In 1793, he was placed in charge of the Ohio Circuit, and in 1794, was sent as delegate to a conference held in Lexington, Kentucky. By this time he had resolved to study law, and he began reading under the auspics of James Brown, of Lexington. But he was so poor that he was compelled to labor at tailoring much the greater portion of the time. In this strait, his wife (who, beside possessing in an eminent degree, all the noble attributes of womanhood, was an unusually well educated and intellectual lady) sat beside his work and read to him "Blackstone," "Coke upon Littleton," and the other law books usually put into the hands of law students in those days. Whether licensed to practice or not, and it does not appear that he was, he certainly appeared as a lawyer in the courts of Flemingsburg, Kentucky, and even prosecuted for the State in 1799 and 1800. Early in 1801, he came to Chillicothe, Ohio, and there was licensed to practice law in June, 1801. In the following winter, he was Clerk of the Territorial Legislature. In November (from the first to the twenty-ninth), he was the Secretary of the Constitutional Convention. In January, 1803, he was commissioned Prothonotary of Common Pleas, which he held until the reorganization of the Courts, and in April of that year, he was Clerk of the Common Pleas, pro tempore, and candidate for the permanent clerkship, but was defeated for the position by John McDougal. He was then commissioned the first Justice of the Peace of the county and continued in that position for three or four years, although, meanwhile, he practiced in Common Pleas, and was also Prosecuting Attorney in 1803 and 1804.
In the Fall of 1805, he was chosen Clerk of the Ohio Senate, and continued such, by successive annual elections until 1809, when he was elected to the Supreme Bench of the State, upon which he remained with good credit, until 1815. He was then Register of Public Lands from 1829 to 1845. When, after the "era of good feeling"' which existed during Monroe's administration, men began to divide up again on political questions, Judge Scott took his place with the Republican party. But President Adams, having made him the promise to appoint him District Judge of the United States for Ohio and this having been prevented by the interference of Clay, who obtained the place for another, Judge Scott immediately became a zealous and active Jackson Democrat. He continued his affiliation with the Democracy until 1840, when he went over again to his old partisan friends, then called Whigs, and supported General Harrison's candidacy. He remained a Whig during the remainder of his life, but strongly sympathized with the anti-slavery movement which gave birth to the present Republican party. We must not forget to mention that in all the vicissitudes of his long and busy life, he continued to fill the pulpit of the Methodist Church whenever called to supply it as a "local preacher."
He died February 13, 1856, at the age of eighty-three, and at that time had been longer in the active practice of law than any other person in Ohio, and probably, longer a preacher of the Gospel than any mimster in the United States. His excellent wife survived him about two years. As a lawyer, Judge Scott was painstaking, laborious and precise to a remarkable degree. Some of his briefs are marvels of patient research and also of prolixity. He had a wide reputation for learning, in the laws of realty especially, and was employed abroad in some very important cases, and for his services, received a few large, fees.
It will be noticed that in the foregoing sketch of his life, that, true to the instincts of the Virginian, Judge Scott loved official distinction. No position was too high for his solicitation, and none too humble for his acceptance. As a husband and a father, never was mortal man more gentle, affectionate and provident.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900