The Scott House on Stewarts Ferry Pike

Who: Thomas Scott Likely

Thomas swore in 1833 that he was "born in Maryland not certain in what County." A Scott researcher's copies of old Maryland land records put his parents, Samuel Scott, a millwright, and Mary Jones, in Prince George's County, in the old Queen Anne Parish near today's Leeland and Upper Marlboro.

The family's own tracts, with names like "The Girls Portion" and "William and Mary Increased," have not been located on a map, so the pin marks the parish church.

Who: Thomas Scott and Lettice Russell; Samuel Scott born here in 1777 Proven by records

From Maryland, Thomas was "carried to North Carolina Wilkes County." In 1777 he volunteered for a tour "against the Indians" on the frontier and was stationed at Fort Crider, at today's Lenoir. He married Lettice Russell in Burke County in 1775, and their son Samuel was born there on June 19, 1777.

In the fall of 1780 Thomas rode with the mounted militia to Kings Mountain, "was in said Battle," and stayed to care for the wounded. The family lived in Burke County until about 1808. The farm itself hasn't been found, so the pin marks Morganton, the county seat.

Who: Samuel and Lydia (Long) Scott; Russell born here in 1808 Family story

Samuel and Lydia farmed "about three miles from Albany, on Spring Creek," with a mill on the creek and a cave where they made saltpeter, the main ingredient of gunpowder. Their sons Russell (1808) and Julian (1810) were born here.

Samuel rode off to the War of 1812 as a sergeant in Captain William Wood's company of Kentucky mounted volunteers, and came home "having epaulets on his shoulders."

"My father owned a farm and lived about three miles from Albany, on Spring Creek. He had a mill on the creek. He owned a cave from which they made saltpeter."Russell Scott, 1895, as written down by his son Zachary

Who: Thomas and Lettice Scott in their old age Proven by records

Thomas lived his last 25 years "at the State Line between Kentucky and Tennessee." He was too frail to reach his own county court, so in 1833 he crossed into Fentress County, Tennessee, to swear his pension declaration. He died on March 1, 1834, and Lettice in early 1837.

Who: Samuel and Lydia Scott and their children Proven by records

In 1821 the family moved to Morgan County, Tennessee, and settled at Montgomery on the Emory River. Samuel built "a large double house" and a mill, bought most of the land around the town, and in 1825 helped found the new county seat.

He was a justice of the peace and kept the town's inn, "Ye Olde Tavern," on the Nashville-Knoxville road. He owned several enslaved people, who did the work of the tavern. Samuel died in 1841 and is buried under a stone gravehouse in the Montgomery Cemetery above the river. The tavern was lived in until about World War I and is now gone.

Who: Russell and Mary "Nancy" (Webb) Scott and their children Likely

Samuel also bought a large tract "about two miles up the river." Russell's daughter Rhoda was born on that land in 1845, and Russell's wife Mary was buried in the nearby Elizabeth Cemetery in 1854. Later the lumber town of Gobey grew up on part of it.

Who: Russell Scott in his last years; Zachary Taylor Scott; John Long Scott born 1882 Proven by records

Zachary Taylor Scott was born near Sunbright in 1849 and married there in 1871. His son John Long Scott was born at Sunbright in 1882. Russell Scott died near Sunbright in 1896 and is buried in the Hall Cemetery east of town. The exact homestead hasn't been found.

Who: Zachary and Mary Scott; John and Alta Scott and their children Likely

In 1901 Zachary bought a 55-acre farm at Huffman, a whistle stop on the railroad two miles north of Sunbright. John and Alta raised their family there with him. The family's own descriptions, and a creek on the government map named Scott Branch, place the farm in the little valley where the railroad fill crosses.

Alta moved the family to Lancing about January 1925, because the country school kept closing. Zachary's verdict: they had "got too fine to live in the country." By 1975 only the chimney stones were left.

"Our place was located in a small valley. The railroad fill crossed the valley, separating our farm from our neighbors. I always enjoyed seeing the train crossing the fill."Jewell Scott Voss, journal, 1942

Who: John and Alta Scott; Russell grows up here Likely

In Lancing the family first rented the Hixon House beside the tracks, then lived for decades in a white frame house next to the Lancing Presbyterian Church and its manse. John worked at the Lancing depot. Russell grew up here, played football at Central High in Wartburg, and wrote home here all through the war.

The 1950 census found John and Alta's household at Lancing. John died in 1961; Alta was photographed at the Lancing house that May.

"There is a little village known as Lancing. It happens to be my home town. The houses, mostly of white-painted frame construction, nestle in the cup formed by surrounding ridges."Dorothy Scott, "The Hills of East Tennessee," 1951

Who: Margaret Grey Patching grows up the grocer's daughter Proven by records

A few miles down the line, Margaret Patching was born in Oakdale in 1923. Her father Walter ran the Walter Patching grocery from the 1920s until 1951. The 1950 census lists him as a retail grocery merchant with his own business on Highway 27, the old U.S. 27 just outside Oakdale that is now Old Harriman Highway.

Who: Russell Julian Scott at Tennessee Tech Proven by records

After the war Russell went to Tennessee Tech. In January 1947 his mail came to 809 Arnold Avenue, Cookeville, a street that no longer appears on today's maps. That September 26 he married Margaret Grey Patching, with his brother Bill as best man.

Who: Russell and Margaret, newlyweds Proven by records

Russell finished his degree in transportation at the University of Tennessee. The April 1950 census found Russell, 29, and Margaret, 26, in Apartment 2 at 727 Dale Avenue, in the Fort Sanders neighborhood near campus. No children yet.

Who: Russell and Margaret raise Nancy and Gary Proven by records

Russell made his career with the airlines, and the family lived "for many years" in Chattanooga, where they belonged to Brainerd United Methodist Church. Nancy was born in 1953, and she and Gary grew up here. The pin marks the church; the house itself hasn't been found yet.

Who: Russell and Margaret back home in Morgan County Likely

After Russell retired from United Airlines in 1980, he and Margaret came home to Morgan County. The state property record for an old farmhouse with a barn on 31 acres at 1121 Old Harriman Highway, outside Oakdale, still lists Russell J. Scott's mailing address. It stands on the same old highway where Margaret's father kept his store. The house left the family in 2023.

Margaret died in 2000 and Russell in 2013. They are buried side by side at Morgan Memorial Gardens in Wartburg.

Who: Gary and Gloria Scott, Abigail and Arthur Proven by records

Gary and Gloria bought Lot 8, eight acres of woods near Gladeville, about 1993, and Gary built the house in 1997. Fifty-four years earlier his father had camped in a pup tent in "the maneuver area - near Lebanon."