John Wilson II & Mary Keith Scott family

JOHN WILSON SCOTT II b. 2 Jan 1788, the son of John & Nancy Keith Scott d. 18 Jan 1852 Dewitt co. Ill. m. ca. 1809 Mary Keith  d/o Alexander & Sarah Gailey Keith b. 20 Nov 1789 96 district, S. C. d. 14 Dec 1877 Daviess co. Missouri; John & Mary's marriage record has not been found- they were probably married in Jackson co. Tenn., and many of that county's records were lost in a fire.

John and Mary and their children are listed in the 1820 census for Jackson county, Tennessee, but their ages are a bit off:  John should be 32 and Mary 30, but they both list as aged "over 45".  Alex at 9 and Nancy at 7 are also listed in categories for ages 10-15.

John and his family stayed in Jackson county, Tennessee, after the rest of the family moved on to southern Indiana.  In the spring of 1827, he and his family moved to Jefferson county, Illinois.  They only stayed there until that fall, when they moved to where the rest of the family had arrived at, near Waynesville, in what was then Tazewell county Illinois.

John ran a grist and sawmill on the Kickapoo creek west of Waynesville for about two years, until it proved unprofitable.  That time period covered the "winter of the deep snow" (1830-31).  He also at some point ran a store of some kind in Clinton.  There is some evidence that he at some point was also a preacher.

After John died, Mary moved with many members of the Scott family to Daviess county, Missouri.  He is buried in Rock Creek Cemetary, near Waynesville, Illinois; she is buried under a large pine tree in Old Scotland Cemetery in Daviess co. Mo.

John and Mary were first cousins- Alexander Keith (Mary's father) and Nancy Keith (John's mother) were brother and sister.  Mary Keith Scott is described in every biography as being a devout member of the Christian church, and the word "zealous" is always used. They had 9 or 10 children.


Author: Matt Scott