Person:William Scott (222)

Person of interest to Scott DNA Family in Georgia, Maryland and North Carolina

Is William Scott the Father of William Hazelton Scott?

William Scott and family in the 1850 US Census^[1] fit a number of family stories about the father of William Hazelton Scott: females named Emma and Helen; within walking distance of William Hazelton Scott and family; a male named Sewell^[4].

William Scott’s son Sewell is the father of Sewell Davis Scott, who, along with his sisters and brother, has been identified as a “cousin” of at least two of William Hazelton Scott’s grandchildren.^[2] Descendants of at least one branch of the family also believe that William Hazelton Scott’s father was born in Georgia. There is also general agreement in family stories that William Scott, father of William Hazelton Scott, was William Covington Scott, son of a Thomas David Scott who married a Lady Covington.

The grandchildren who identify Sewell Davis Scott as a cousin claim that William Hazelton Scott’s father had five children by his first wife, who died; that he then married a widow with five children; and that they had five additional children. The will for Margaret Scott identifies a fifth child of William and Margaret.^[3] This child, Sophia C. Scott married a Levi Todd, and had a grandchild whose middle name was Covington.

Based on information in the 1850 Census and on Margaret’s will, it would appear that William and Margaret married in Delaware sometime after 1821 and before 1825, and that the family moved to Pennsylvania sometime between 1825 and 1831, then to Cecil County, Maryland sometime after 1835, and that William died before 1854, most likely in Maryland.

Efforts to identify William in earlier census records using household reconstruction have so far been unsuccessful.^[5]

Of the other members of William’s 1850 household, Gilbert Rut(t)er suggests a potential link to Mary Ann Short’s family, as his mother was apparently a Short, although her relationship to Mary Ann Short (wife of William Hazelton Scott) is unknown.^[6] William McDannele appears at present to be unrelated, and may have moved west.

Problems

So far, there are no records that link William Scott of Georgia with WHS. As well, if his age as stated in the 1850 Census is correct, he is too young to be the father of WHS. What is needed is either another record showing an earlier birth date for William Scott, or (preferably) showing him as the father of WHS, or (even better) both.

Is William Scott Related to the Scotts and Covingtons who migrated from Maryland to North Carolina and to Georgia?

A DNA test for William Hazelton Scott has three matches, two with men from Georgia, one with a man from North Carolina. (See: Scott DNA Family in Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina) The North Carolina match and at least one of the Georgia matches appear to have had ancestors in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland. A significant out migration from Queen Anne’s County, Maryland to Anson County, North Carolina included several Covington families, along with at least some Scott families. At least two of these Covingtons moved again to Georgia, including a William Covington who moved to Lincoln County, Georgia. (This William Covington had an uncle James Covington who married a Mary Scott. James and Mary apparently remained in Maryland, as their son Ebenezer appears in the 1820 Census for Queen Anne’s County, and is presumably the Ebenezer Covington who lived near a James Scott in the 1810 Census.) Several Scotts had early land warrants in Wilkes County, Georgia (parent county of Lincoln County), including one Thomas Scott. There is also a Samuel C. Scott who died in Lincoln County, with William Covington's son standing Surety for the administration of the estate. Could one or the other of these men be the father of William Scott?

Scott Mills in Cecil County, Maryland

If family stories are reasonably accurate, then William (Covington?) Scott would have been a miller. As such he may have had some connection or association with the John Scott (auger maker) and his son David who owned Scotts Mills near Cowantown, Cecil County, Maryland.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland (3rd Electoral District, 1st Subdivision), in United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432).

   William Scott, 60 male, farmer, b. Georgia
   , Margaret, 59 female
   , Thomas, 29 male, farmer, b. DE
   , Sewall B., 17, male, farmer, b. PA
   , Amanda, 19, female, b. PA
   , Helen, 16, female, b. PA
   , Emma, 15, female, b. PA
   William McDannele, 22, farmer, Cecil Co.
   Gilbert Ruter, 11, b. Cecil Co.

2. ↑ Beulah Scott, Octa Scott, in Scott Family Letters.
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Cecil County, Margaret Scott (1854-44), in Maryland, United States. Maryland, Probate Estate and Guardianship Files, 1796-1940. (FamilySearch Record Search).

   In the name of God Amen I Margaret Scott of Cecil County and State of Maryland, being sick and week in body . . . .
   My body to be decently buried . . . my debts and funeral charges and my board from last Christmas to the time of my death [to be ] paid . . .
   to my son Sewall B. Scott $25
   to my daughter Susan Kerman, wife of William Kirman, $50
   to my daughter Sophia C. Todd the sum of $25
   to my daughter Amanda M. Scott $25
   to my daughter Julia Emma Scott $25
   to my Executor my house and lot in the Northern liberties in the State of Pennsylvania, which was devised to me by the last will and testament of my late father Jacob Burkhard, to be sold as soon after my death as may be, and the proceeds applied to payment of my debts, funeral charges and board and then to the payment of the legacies herein before bequeathed to my children, and if there be any proceeds undisposed . . . to be divided between my children Sewall, Helen McCrone, Sophia Todd, Amanda M., and Julia Emma Scott . . . and none of my other children shall have any part of my estate
   and my son-in-law Levi Todd of Cecil County and State of Maryland to be executor
   Signed 8 April 1854, Margaret Scott
   Witnesses, J. S. Hanes, Thomas S. Scott, Richd Grason
   -------
   On 8 May 1854, Levi Todd entered will into probate
   and John S. Hanes, Thomas S. Scott, and Richard Grayson made oath as witnesses

4. ↑ James Thomas Scott said he saw his grandparents “many times” [before 1854 when he moved to Missouri], while his brother William Covington Scott walked to visit his “grandparents” and had a conversation with “Aunt Helen”. (TS of "letter written by Mary Ida Godfrey (Nee Scott) to Niece Myrtle Scott Davis, McCall, Idaho, Sept. 13, 1960") James Thomas Scott named his youngest son Sewell. Various branches of the family, including descendants of David Garret Scott, say that WHS had a sister named Emma or Emma Covington.
5. ↑ A search was made of the 1840 Census in Maryland, Delaware, and Delaware and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania looking for a HH headed by a William or Wm Scott with 5 or more persons under age of 20, 2 or more persons over the age of 20 in June 2011. No reasonable matches were found.
   No marriage record was found for William Scott and Margaret:
   The only William Scotts recorded as marrying in Cecil County, Maryland between 1777 and 1840 (DAR book and Family Search) are William Hazelton Scott (in 1833) and William T. Scott in 1855).
   A marriage between a William Scott and a Margaret Mills occurred in Dorchester County, Maryland in 1804 (Ancestry.com), but this seems too far afield. Another William Scott married a Margaret Baxley in Baltimore County, Maryland on 21 Oct 1818 (Ancestry.com), but there were no William Scotts with an appropriate household in Baltimore County in 1840.
   Note: Persons marrying in Maryland between 1777 and 1886 were required to obtain a marriage license and be married by a clergyman, except for blacks, Quakers, and where banns were read in lieu of a license.
   Earlier searches of New Castle County, Delaware Church records, although focused on the birth of William H. Scott or a marriage for his parents, also yielded no results of note. The Family Search Delaware Marriages, 1713-1953 index, admittedly incomplete, also yielded no results for a marriage of a William Scott.
   Note: The state of Delaware did not require registration of births, marriages or deaths until 1913.
   Similarly, an earlier search of Chester County, Pennsylvania church records yielded no results, although the period 1840-1850 was not the focus of the search.
   Note: Chester County, Pennsylvania (except for 1852-1855) did not require registration of marriages until 1885.
   See also: Search for WH Scott’s father
6. ↑ Gilbert Ruter [Rutter] was born about 1839 and appears to be the son of Gilbert Rutter and Margaret Ann (Short) Rutter. (See Rutter Family Tree, Margaret Ann Short accessed 21 Npv 2012.) Although Gilbert Ruter is not shown on the tree, there is a gap in the listing of children where he would belong; there is a son in the family in the 1840 census who is the right age to be Gilbert, and there are no other Ruter/Rutter families in the area.) His mother was apparently the daughter of Johnathon Short and Rebecca Shields, and a possible cousin of the wife of WHS. He has not been found in Census records after 1850. Gilbert (Sr.) and family moved to Wilmington, but other Rutters remained in Cecil County, and were there earlier.