James W. Scott, b. 26 Jul 1826

SIMISON, GAULT, CHAIN, GIBSON

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 2/20/2004 at 12:03:30

James W. Scott, an honored citizen of Perry Township, is numbered among the most promiment and influential of the practical and able farmers and stock-raisers of Jackson County, whose sagacity and enterprise have made them important factors in developing its resources and making it one of the great agricultural centres of the country. He is numbered among the pioneers of this part of Iowa, and at one time owned 400 acres of valuable farming land here. He now lives on his father's homestead, of which he is the owner, and he has recently sold the farm which he himself developed from the wild prairies. His present farm comprises 240 acres of exceedingly fertile land, and since it came into his possession he has made many valuable improvements. It has a fine location on section 28 with beautiful natural groves of cedars and other trees, and an orchard of choice fruit trees, and the land is well watered by Little Cedar Creek. Mr. Scott belongs to the Horse-Breeders' Association at Perry, and has some valuable Percheron horses. He also raises full-blooded Short-horn cattle and Chesterwhite hogs. He also pays attention to raising grain and other farm products adapted to the soil and climate of this State.

The father of our subject, James Scott, Sr., was born near Boston, Mass., being a son of Andrew Scott, a native of England, who, coming to America before the Revolution, located in Boston, and there carried on his trade of a blacksmith. He enlisted in the Continental army to take part with the Colonists in their struggle against the mother country, and served faithfully until the war closed. He received a wound, being shot in the left thigh, which made him lame for life. He removed to Pittsburg, Pa., and subsequently went to live with his sons in Mercer County, and there died at the ripe old age of ninety-six years. The father of our subject was reared in Massachusetts, learned the blacksmith's trade in Lowell, and later went to Pittsburg, where he worked in an iron foundry, working a trip-hammer. From there he went to Zanesville, Ohio, where he put up a shop and manufactured edge tools. While living in Boston he had taken part in the War of 1812, proving to be a brave and efficient soldier. He was married, in 1824, to Martha Simison, who was born near Palestine, Columbiana Co., Ohio. Her father was born in England, and he was a civil engineer by profession. He came to America and located in Ohio, and he cast his fortunes with the Colonists during the Revolution, and aided them in gaining their freedom from the mother country. After coming to this country he engaged in surveying, and at one time caught a severe illness from exposure and died in Columbiana County, Ohio.

In 1830 Mr. Scott removed with his family to Mercer County, Pa., and locating near Wellington, he engaged in the manufacture of edge tools in that place three years. After that he moved to Pulaski in Lawrence County, and bought a farm, a grist and sawmill. Three years later he exchanged that property for another farm in Lawrence County. He continued farming there until 1861, when he sold his possessions in Pennsylvania, and, coming westward, located in Perry Township. He bought 240 acres of land, and continued his residence here until his death in 1854, at the age of sixty-five years. He was honored by his sturdy fellow-pioneers as a man of much ability, sterling sense, and genuine worth of character. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in his politics was an old-line Whig. After the father's death the mother of our subject made her home with him until she too passed away, in 1886, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. To her and her husband were born eight children, as follows: James W.; Harriet, living in Mercer County, Pa.; Catherine, deceased; Simison, in Iowa; Margaret, in Crawford County, Ill.; Austin, in Clay County, Neb.; Wylie, in Perry Township; Sarah, in Missouri. Simison was a soldier in the late war, a Sergeant in Company A, 9th Iowa Infantry, serving from 1861 until the war closed; he was wounded in the left leg at Vicksburg. Austin was a lieutenant in the 2d Iowa Cavalry, Company M, serving from 1861 until the war closed; Wylie was sergeant in the 1st Iowa Cavalry from 1861 until the close of hostilities; he was severely wounded in the stomach, but finally recovered.

The subject of this brief biography was born in Zanesville, Ohio, July 26, 1826, and he was but a child when his parents removed to Mercer County, Pa., where he was reared on a farm. He was educated in the district school, which was kept in a log house. He remained at home on the farm after leaving school, engaged in agricultural pursuits and also at the cooper's trade until 1850. In that year, in the prime of young manhood, he resolved to try life in the Western country, and in the spring of that year he came to Iowa by boat, and after a three-weeks' voyage on the great river highways that led from Pennsylvania to this State he landed in Bellevue in the 11th day of April. He worked at the carpenter's trade here all summer, and in the fall returned to his old home. In the spring of the following year he came back again and located in Perry Township, where he entered land on the northwest quarter of section 18. He engaged in farming and carpentering until his marriage, and then spent the most of his time in agricultural pursuits, making many valuable improvements in his farm. He finally rented his place and removed to his father's old homestead, where he has since resided. He has made various improvements, and the place is provided with substantial buildings, including a comfortable dwelling and commodious barns, and is well fenced.

Mr. Scott was married, in March, 1854, to Miss Elizabeth Gault, a native of Mercer County, Pa. Mrs. Scott's father, Maj. James Gault, served through the War of 1812, and was wounded. Previous to the war he had located in Shenango Township, Mercer Co., Pa., was one of the first settlers in that locality, and there became a well-to-do farmer before his death. The maiden name of his wife was Margaret Chain. Mr. and Mrs. Scott are the parents of nine children - Clara B., James A., Sarah, Wylie, Jessie, Mattie, Mary, Winfield and Harriet. Clara married J. L. Gibson, a farmer of Perry Township; James A. is married, and is farming in Dakota; Sarah married R. C. Gibson, a farmer of Perry Township; Wylie is a carpenter in Ireton, Sioux County. Jessie is a dressmaker in Ireton; Mattie died at the age of six years. The other children are at home with their parents. Mary has been a student in Epworth College.

Mr. Scott is an invaluable citizen of this township, a man of noble character, genial disposition, unswerving integrity; his fellow-men have always placed the greatest confidence in him, and have often solicited his wise counsel and aid in the guidance of public affairs. Thus he has served ten years as Assessor, and Township Trustee seven years; has also been Township Clerk and a member of the School Board. He is one of the leaders of the Republican party in this section of the county; has been a delegate to County and State Conventions, and has been a member of the central committee. He has served on both the Grand and Petit Juries. He is prominent among the members of the A. O. U. W., and is Master of the lodge at Andrew. Mrs. Scott shares the respect in which her husband is held, as she is in all things a truly good woman. She is a valued member of the Presbyterian Church.

("Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County, Iowa", originally published in 1889, by the Chapman Brothers, of Chicago, Illinois)