"Elizabeth Scott (1708?–1776), hymn-writer, … was born at Hitchin about 1708. Her father writes of her (1 March 1740) as ‘one who devotes herself to doing good, as a protestant nun.’ Her letter to Doddridge, 10 May 1745, shows that she was suffering from religious depression, not unconnected with family troubles (Humphreys, Correspondence of Doddridge, iii. 424, iv. 408 sq.) She married (1), at Norwich, in January 1751–2, Elisha Williams, formerly rector of Yale College, with whom in March 1772 [error for 1752; Col. Williams died in 1755] she removed to Connecticut; (2) Hon. William Smith of New York, whom she survived, dying at Wethersfield, Connecticut, on 13 June 1776, aged 68. Prior to 1750 she had written many hymns; three manuscript collections are known, the largest containing ninety hymns. The first publication of her hymns was in ‘The Christian's Magazine’ (edited by William Dodd [q. v.]), 1763 pp. 565 sq., 1764, pp. 42, 90, 182 sq.; the communicator of some of these signs ‘CL-T,’ and was probably the grandfather of Thomas Russell or Cloutt [q. v.] Nineteen of her hymns were given in Ash and Evans's baptist ‘Collection,’ Bristol, 1769, and twenty in Dobell's ‘New Selection,’ 1806. Of these about fifteen are in use; one of the best is ‘All hail, Incarnate God.’"
