Scott, Allen

SCOTT

Posted By: Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer
Date: 7/8/2019 at 19:16:06

Allen Scott
Hamilton Township, Decatur County, Iowa

Allen SCOTT, who lived on section 19, one of the very first of the pioneers, was a remarkable character and included in his make-up both the virtues and the vices of the class and time of which he belonged. He was somewhat of enterprising spirit, having the first store, the first postoffice and the first mill in the township. Some of the timbers of the framework of the old mill were still to be seen standing in a field by Sand Creek bridge as late as in the '80s.
After Mr. SCOTT had lived in the township some years he was visited one winter day by a wife and daughter whom he had abandoned in the old Indiana home. After making the call and receiving the blessing in the shape of some silk dress patterns from his store, they left his place on foot for the purpose of returning to the home of a relative living beyond Davis City. While crossing the prairie, bottom land intervening, they were overtaken by a fierce snowstorm and blizzard, and being blinded by its force, they became bewildered and lost their way. They wandered aimlessly about until benumbed by the freezing rain, and overcome by the stupor which affects persons in such cases, they dropped in the snow, and after the storm was over, were found frozen to death. Their bodies were buried in what is now the orchard of this writer.

In those early times horse racing was one of the chief forms of recreation and dissipation. Between Scott's house and the river a track was laid out and his place became the rendezvous of sporting men from all parts of the country, in order to test the speed of their horses, gaining and losing money.

Horse thieves abounded in those days and many times the best animals of the honest farmers came up missing. The matter finally became so grievous that it was found necessary to adopt heroic measures in order to put a stop to the serious losses incurred in this way. The farmers quietly banded together, and at night visited those known to be engaged in this nefarious business, took them out to the timber and treated them to a liberal application of hickory switches. This method of procedure effectually cured the evil, the parties receiving treatment speedily betaking themselves from the country, one dose being found quite enough.

One one occasion it was strongly suspected that SCOTT knew more about such things than he was willing to tell, and it was proposed to use radical measures to make him willing. One night he was rather forcibly invited to an interview under an oak in the road leading to Pleasanton. A noose on the end of a rope was placed about his neck, the other end was thrown over a limb, and he was shot rapidly skyward. After dangling in the air for some time he was lowered to the ground and given an opportunity to share the desired information with his friends, but he was still unwilling; and a second application also failing to elicit any knowledge from him, he was set free, His captors thinking that after all he might be wrongly suspected. The tree on which the operation took place was afterwards known as the Al SCOTT tree and remained a prominent landmark in the highway until it was cut down a few years ago for firewood, much to the regret of the old settlers.

At one time there was quite an excitement over the alleged discovery of gold on the SCOTT place in the bed of Sand Creek. There was a considerable amount of gold found, but there is reason to believe that the particidar spot where the supposed discovery was made had been salted for commercial purposes, that the value of the land being raised SCOTT would be able to sell his farm at high price. However, the plan did not work, for the gold was sought with such avidity that the supply gave out before any trade for the farm was consummated, and the excitement soon died out. The salting of the creek bed was easily accomplished by collusion with one or more of the many gold seekers who were constantly passing to and fro on the California trail during the days of the gold fever in 1849 and the '50s. The SCOTT place was a noted resort for such parties. The farm remained in his possession until 1876, when it was sold to Stephen BEACH.

But SCOTT was not all bad. He had his good points. Like most of us, he was a mixture of the worst and the better elements in the human aggregation. He was generous and hospitable. Everybody was welcome to his board and no one was refused a bed when occasion required. The needy were never turned away empty handed, and those in want of accommodation cheerfully received such help as he could give. But like many another free-hearted soul who failed in recognition of the higher aspects of life, he lived long enough to become a pensioner on the bounty of his friends. He was misuited to the conditions which followed the war; his property gradually frittered away, until he found himself without a home, but not altogether without friends.

SOURCE: CAMPBELL, Dunca. "Hamilton Township Before the War." History of Decatur County and Its People. Chapt. IV. Pp. 46-7. S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Chicago. 1915.

Transcriptiond by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2013