Alexander Scott family

ALEXANDER "ELIC" SCOTT  s/o John Wilson & Nancy Keith Scott b. late 1789 maybe Washington co. Va. (he said in both censuses, 1850 and 1860, that he was born in Virginia, and there is some evidence that his father lived in Washington county around 1789)  d. 1866 Daviess co. Mo. m. ca. 1814 Rebecca Blackburn (possibly Hall)  b. 1792 (3 Dec 1796?) Virginia? d. 3 Jan 1837 ("aged 44 years") McLean (now Dewitt) co. Ill. Rebecca's tombstone was said to have been found in a trash pile at the side of Rock Creek cemetery near Waynesville, Illinois. I have seen the tombstone myself, and the date of death on it is unquestionable. Their last child is said in many records to have been born in 1840, putting Rebecca's death date into question- however, that child (Elizabeth)'s age in census reports conflicts with that birthdate. Some records show Rebecca's tombstone to say "aged 44 years 1 mo."- this is NOT true, at least as far as I can tell.

After their marriage (their marriage record has not been found), they seem to have lived in Lee co. Va., because their eldest child's biography said he was born there.  However, I searched the county's records extensively, and have found no record of Alexander ever living there. The death certificate of James K. Scott, son of Dr. Alexander K. Scott (below), makes a point of stating that Alexander K. was born in Greenbrier county, (present-day West) Virginia.  A granddaugher's biography stated they moved from Virginia directly to Bloomington, Illinois when John B. Scott (their eldest) was a small boy (he was about 15 when we know they were in Ill.), but Alexander K. Scott's (below) biography states that they moved to Jackson co. Tenn. in 1818, and then to Illinois in 1826 (in fact they were in Macon county Illinois in 1830), to rejoin the rest of the family. However, I have yet to find them in the 1820 census- they are not in Jackson co. Tenn.

I'm becoming more and more suspicious about Rebecca's maiden name.  There is simply no Blackburn family anywhere missing a daughter or living near the Scotts at any point.  It's clear certain names Alexander and Rebecca gave their children- Jane, Ira G., Prudence, and maybe Elizabeth- were not used in the Scott family, and would follow that they were names of Rebecca's relatives.  Unfortunately, my suspicion is that the name Blackburn- listed as daughter Ruth's middle name- was simply applied as her mother's maiden name.  I have yet to see original proof that it was Rebecca's maiden name.  Also, on Ruth's death certificate, her mother's name is clearly listed as "Rebecca Hall".

Their eldest son, John B., seems to have the middle name "Benoni".  That is the original name of the Benjamin of the book of Genesis; it is typically (though not always) used as a middle name for a child born out of some kind of tragedy, like the death of the mother.  Could it be that John B. had a mother that died in childbirth, and then Alexander Scott married Rebecca Blackburn?

Andrew Jackson Scott, born in 1836, may in fact have been a son of John B. Scott, as some of John B. Scott's descendants believed, but I have yet to find proof of his parentage.  The information came originally from a descendant who was wrong about other things in her letter.  Either way, he was raised by Alexander Scott, but John B. Scott's other known son born before 1840 (William M. Scott) was raised by others as well.  Andrew not actually being the son of Alexander may also account for why he is not in the below photograph.  Jesse F. Scott (or Jesse Y.) was actually Jesse French (below) who was adopted by Ira Scott.

There is a record floating around the IGI in the LDS database (with no source) that says Jesse Y. Scott was the son of Alexander and Rebecca Hall Scott, and was born 1840 and lived in Dewitt county Illinois; Alexander and Rebecca were married ca. 1814/15; and Rebecca was born 3 Dec 1796 in Virginia.  I'm trying to track down the source of that information.

On the back of this photo, along with the names of the people on it, it says "Man's picture taken alone is Alexander Scott- Grandpap's Father from Scotland".  I take this to mean that there existed a photo of Alexander Scott at some time.

The children in this family show a remarkable tendency to give wildly varying ages on census returns.


L-R Back: Dr. Alexander K. Scott, Ira G. Scott, Ruth Blackburn Scott Terry, Rebecca Emaline Scott Troxel, Elizabeth Scott McCoy Thomas.  L-R Front: Nancy E. Scott Halsey, Jane Isabell Scott Troxel, Sarah Scott Brown, Prudence Scott Terry.  Missing from photo: John B. Scott (deceased), Andrew Jackson Scott (deceased), Mary C. (if there was one), and the daughter who died young.  If in fact they were deceased, and this is why they're not this photo, then this picture would have been taken between 1881 and 1895.

They had 13 children:

Author: Matt Scott