The Story of Winfield Scott by DeForeest B. Wright July 24, 1971
Collection: Winfield Scott
Title
The Story of Winfield Scott by DeForeest B. Wright July 24, 1971
Subject
Wright, DeForeest B.
Scott, Winfield
Biography
Description
The biography, The Story of Winfield Scott by DeForeest B. Wright was written in July 24, 1971. It begins with the history of his relatives before they came to America which dates back to the 1700s. He gives a detailed description of Winfield Scott's military service in the Civil War as well as his time as a pastor at several churches. He also shares how Winfield spent his last days. It is a comprehensive biography of Winfield Scott.
Creator
Wright, Deforeest B.
Source
Unknown
Publisher
Winfield Public Library, Winfield, Kansas USA
Date
1971-07-24
Rights
Format
text/plain
Language
English
Type
Essays
Citation
Wright, Deforeest B., “The Story of Winfield Scott by DeForeest B. Wright July 24, 1971,” Winfield Digital Collections, accessed June 23, 2026, https://winfield.digitalsckls.info/item/208.
Text
T H E
S T O R Y
OF
W I N F I E L D S C O T T
by
DeForeest B. Wright
Hollywood, California
July 24 1971
The History of the Seneca County Baptist Ass'n by the Reverend Lewis E Halsey 1879
History of Ridgefield Connecticut by David Teller
Ridgefield In Review (250th Commemorative of Ridgefield, Conn)
by Silvio Bedini
History of Scottsdale, Arizona by David Mathews
Federal Censuses of 1850 and 1880
Affidavits On File With The Pension Office at Washington, D.C.
Microfilm Records from the General Services Administration
Obituary and Write-Up from the San Diego (Calif) Tribune
Correspondence from various pastorates, town officials, schools
and libraries
New York State Department of Military Affairs
Connecticut Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men in the Revo -lution, 1775 - 1783
The first two books are on file in the Genealogical Department of the Los Angeles Public Library; the third book is also there having been donated by the author; and a copy of this record will find its way to the same place. The third and fourth books are also filed with the Library of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Sons of the Revolution, having been donated by the author who is a member.
The only existing portrait of Chaplain Winfield Scott, founder of Scottsdale, Arizona and Winfield, Kansas.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WINFIELD SCOTT
GENEALOGY
The subject of this record was born on February 26, 1837 in Novi, Oakland County, Michigan. He was the third child of James B. Scott (1806 - ) and Margaret E. Covert (1817 - ), both of whom were born in Scotts Corners (now Ovid Center), Seneca County, New York. They had gone to Michigan when that part of the state was opened up to settlement but returned to Scotts Corners a few years after the birth of Winfield.
The ancestry of this family in America starts with David Scott I. He arrived in the New World in 1704 and lived for a time in Fairfield, Connecticut. He was born either in England or Scotland about 1675 and died in Ridgefield, Connecticut at the age of 85 years. These
dates are taken from the book, Ridgefield In Review by Silvio A. Bedini, one of the curators of the Smithsonian Institure of Washington, D.C. The History of Ridgefield by David Teller, pastor of the Congre -gational Church, tells of various purchases of land from the Indians by a committee headed by David Scott. This land was formed into the new town of Ridgefield and divided into about 15 lots of which David Scott owned lot 13. Little is known about David Scott and there are no estate records or births in the probate courts in Hartford. How -ever, several early records exist which are of considerable interest. Page 88 of Volume I of the Fairfield County Court Records contains the record of a legal suit brought against David Scott on April 21, 1719 by Mary Scott of Ireland, of the town and county of Londonderry and also a new resident of Ridgefield. Mary Scott obtained a judgment against her husband and took three acres and seventy two rods by execution. Lack of additional documentation makes any interprettation of the legal suit a matter of guesswork. The implication is that David may have left his wife and family in Ireland. Whether he abandoned his family is a matter of con-jecture but the implication is obvious. No reconciliation appears to have taken place after this court action. David lived in his house and Mary lived in hers. The only town records relating to David Scott shows the sale of two slaves on February 13, 1740.
JAMES SCOTT was the eldest child of David and Mary Scott and was born in Ireland. His wife was Hannah Hyatt, a daughter of Thomas and Experience Hyatt who were also Original Proprietors in Ridgefield.
PAGE TWO
DAVID SCOTT II ( 2/21/1727 - 5/8/1809 ) was the third child of James Scott and Hannah Hyatt. His wife was Hannah Smith and both of them were born in Ridgefield. She was descended from at least four of the Original Proprietors in cluding Thomas and Experience Hyatt.
GIDEON SCOTT ( 12/12/1755 - 1826 ) was the third child of David II and Hannah Smith. His first wife was Anna Burt and both of them were born in Ridgefield. Anna Burt was a daughter of the town blacksmith and also descended from Original Proprietors. Connecticut Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men In The Revolution, 1775 - 1783, published by the Connecticut Historical Society in 1901 in Volume 8 shows Gideon Scott served in the War as a private in Captain Isaac Hines 2nd Company of the 16th Regiment commanded by Colonel Nehemiah Beardsley. The U. S. Census of 1790 lists him with his wife and children in Ridgefield but soon after, when Western New York State was opened up to settlers he took his family to Seneca County, New York and founded the town of
Scotts Corners (now Ovid Center). His home, known as the Scott-Powell House, is still there but in ruins. Most certainly he and Anna Burt as well as his second wife, Keziah Sherman, are buried in the beautiful little Scott Cemetery there at Ovid Center. However, no stones or other identification of their final resting places are there to prove this.
DANIEL SCOTT SENIOR ( 1780 - 9/24/1867 ), born in Ridgefield, Connecticut was the first child of Gideon Scott and Anna Burt. His wife, Sarah, was born in 1787 and died 8/4/1857. Both are buried in the Scott cemetery.
JAMES B. SCOTT, the first child of Daniel and Sarah Scott, was born in 1806 in Scotts Corners. His wife, Margaret E. Covert, was also born there in 1817. They lived for a time in Novi, Michigan where some of their children were born, including Winfield, as set forth above but whether they prospered there isn’t known. Neither is their final resting place known but presumably they are buried in the Scott cemetery at Ovid Center or perhaps in Interlaken, about five miles away.
(About 1844 John Bouton Scott, a nephew of Gideon Scott, came to Scotts Corners with his bride, Rosalinda Tibbetts, where they had a son and two daughters born. One of the daughters, Ann Elizabeth, married a neighbor, Benjamin Wright, and they lived next door to the Baptist parsonage. They were the parents of the author).
The Scotts have ever been an adventutous family - emigrating to new lands in order to develop communities as is evidenced by David Scott coming to the New World in 1704 and helping to found the town of Ridgefield, Conn -ecticut. During the Revolutionary War General Washington sent General Sullivan with a select force to destroy some Indian villages and farms in what is now Western New York State. These Indians were known to be supply ing the British with food. This is known in history as "Sullivan’s Raid.” The soldiers brought back glowing accounts of rich farming lands and so after the War land companies were formed and Gideon Scott was one of many w ho came into the newly opened territory to found the town of Scotts Cor ners/
PAGE THREE
The Scotts seemed to prosper where ever they went and always left the communities in far better condition than when they arrived. Also one of their first concerns was the erection of church and school; and not content with just founding these institutions they often took an active part either in teaching or preaching.
Such a man, but by no means the first one in this family, is the subject of this story, Winfield Scott. His great-grandmother, Keziah Scott, sec-ond wife of Gideon Scott, was directly responsible for bringing the church to Scotts Corners. She convened the first meeting in 1827 that resulted in the formation of the Seneca County Baptist Association and all of the meetings were held in her home until the new church was built the following year. She and her son, Daniel, donated the land for both the church and the parsonage across the road (now a state highway). At her death in January of 1848 she bequeathed five hundred dollars for the building of the rectory. This was erected the following year - 1849 - at a cost of $1,000.00.
MINISTRY
Winfield Scott was licensed and ordained a preacher of the Seneca Baptist Association in 1861 in Farmer Village (now Interlaken), also in Seneca County, New York, about five miles from Ovid Center. He was married July 11, 1861 in Ogden, Monroe County, New York by the,Reverend J. Byington Smith and the Reverend J. B. Jackson to Helen Louise Brown who was born January 8, 1838in Plainfield, near Richfield Springs, Otsego County, New York and to-gether they went to his first pastorate at the Second Baptist Church in Syr-acuse, New York.
MILITARY
In 1862, in answer to President Lincoln’s second call for volunteers, Win -field Scott raised a company of his friends and was commissioned a captain of Company C, 126th Regiment of New York Volunteers/(infantry). His congre-gation presented him with a sword./ I might add here, parenthetically, that |in 1908 he was created a Major by an Act of Congress. Although I am not cer-tain I believe that this was done in recognition of his services after the War as a chaplain in the army and also the G. A. R .
His army record is both an impressive and a brilliant one. He was wounded at Maryland Heights (Harper’s Ferry) in West Virginia on September 13, 1862, cap-tured, paroled and sent. home. A few months later he returned to the front on
Crutches and was in the thick of the fight at Gettysburg. At the Battle of the Wilderness, about May 5, 1864 Captain Scott was in command of both the 125th and the 126th regiments of New York volunteers. He was severely wounded while charging at Spottsylvania Courthouse on May 18, 1864 and the doctors despaired
PAGE FOUR
of saving his life. It was then that Mrs. Scott sprang into action. She applied for permission to see her husband and when that was denied she drove into Washington and obtained an audience with President Lin-coln. After hearing her story the President signed passes for her to enter the Union Lines and carry her husband on a stretcher to their home where she nursed him back to health. He received an Honorable Dis-charge at Annapolis, Maryland on September 23, 1864. On October 3rd of that same year he applied for a pension in Elmira, Chemung County, New York and gave his residence as Farmer Village (Interlaken), New York. His pension number was 42541. He was represented by the law firm of John H. Perry and Edwin A. Scott of Elmira, N.Y. The Honorable Edwin Scott (of the N.Y. legislature ) was his uncle.
MINISTRY AND TRAVELS
After recuperating from his many wounds and finally regaining his health and because his family at Scotts Corners was rather well-to-do, he de - cided that he would enjoy being a missionary preacher rather than the pastor of some long established church, thus carrying on the tradition of his family of going out into the world and developing new communities. The first record that we have of him is at Leavenworth, Kansas where he built the First Baptist Church and was its first pastor, serving from 1865 to 1871. He also started the first school there. On a following page are excerpts from the Official Records of the Church of Leavenworth. This was sent to me through the good offices of Mrs Doris Cooley of the Leavenworth Church.
The official town records of Winfield, Kansas show that the town was named for the Reverend Winfield Scott and in return for this honor he built a stone church there and preached the first sermon in 1870. See this record on a following page. And Miss Dorothy Bratton of the Winfield Library also sent some additional material, all of which is shown on following pages.
The next church that we have any record of is the Baptist Church at Denver, Colorado. Brought to Denver for the express purpose of building a new church Winfield Scott assumed the pastorate in November of 1871 and immed- iately plans were laid for the new church. I am inserting a letter from the church historian on another page which is most interesting and enlightening and shows the love and esteem in which Reverend Scott was held.
The church at Los Angeles, California was not built by Winfield Scott and he held but a short pastorate there. He is remembered however, with much love and gratitude for what he accomplished while there.
PAGE FIVE
He served pulpits in San Francisco, California (1878) and was pastor of the church at Petaluma, Sonoma County, California in 1879 at which time a letter home to his family at Scotts Corners was incorporated in a book written by the Reverend Lewis Halsey reference to which is made at the beginning of this story. I came across this book at the Los Angeles Public Library quite by accident and through it I discov-ered that I had such a cousin. The church at Petaluma could tell me nothing about Reverend Scott beyond the bare fact that he did, indeed, preach there in 1879; the Northern Baptist Association had only the information that after his service in Petaluma he served briefly in Oakland (1879) and San Francisco (1880-1881). After that they have no further record of him.
In my studies for ancestors while tracing my "Family Tree" I have observed that with the notable exception of; the Dutch Reformed Church most, if not all of the protestant churches keep almost no records of their church affairs save for those instances where large donations have been made; then indeed, names are mentioned and extolled.
On July 27, 1882 Winfield Scott was appointed a chaplain in the U. S. Army (probably in Arizona as I have heard somewhere that he had been in some engagements with the Indians) , also he was with the G. A. R.
He retired from the chaplaincy on March 26, 1898.
About the time that he accepted this appointment to the Chaplain Corps he and his family went to Arizona where he remained until about 1909 when they went to San Diego, California altho he returned to Phoenix to die.
SCOTTSDALE
Prior to 1882 Winfield Scott spent some time in Paradise Valley acquiring some eight hundred acres of land. Undoubtedly he planted to cottonwood trees that are now the giant trees there and he also started building his ranchhouse.
On July 27, 1882 he was appointed a chaplain in the United States Army. His brother George came down from San Francisco and worked the ranch while Chaplain Scott per formed his spiritual duties for the soldiers and their families. He must also have helped the Indians during his sixteen years as chaplain; he was in Arizona and mostly at or around Tucson. He retired March 26, 1898. Returning to his beloved Paradise Valley he set about sub-dividing his land and selling lots. A beautiful and healthful site it soon attracted many settlersand when it came time to name the town it was obvi-ous to all that it should be named for its founder, Winfield Scott. He spent some years in the Arizona Territorial Legislature and in 1899 he was elected (as a Republican) Speaker of the (Democratic) House. In 1903 he was elected Chaplain-In-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic; And in 1908 an Act of Congress created him a Major in the United States Army.
PAGE SIX
SAN DIEGO
In 1909 Winfield Scott and his family removed to San Diego, California. The reason for this move isn’t clear but it must have been the lust to bring more souls into the church. He held preaching services at Nor-mal Heights in August of that year and started a Sunday School. He conceived the idea of building a chapel where religious services could be held as a gift from himself and his wife. He didn’t live to see it completed as he returned to Phoenix to enter Sisters Hospital where he died October 19, 1910. However, Mother Scott, as she was affectionately known to her many friends, spent the rest of her life completing this gift and working for the church. One of her three daughters also lived in San Diego with her husband, Brigadier General (retired) Albright. The result of this prodigious effort is the imposing SCOTT MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH located at 2716 Madison Avenue, San Diego, California. She died November 11, 1931 and is buried beside her husband in the G.A.R. plot of Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego, California.
EXCERPTS from THE HISTORY OF THE SENECA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, by the Reverend Lewis Halsey, published in 1879 by Journal Association Book and Job Printing House. (A copy is in the Genealogical Department of the Los Angeles, California Public Library - #R-974.7 H.1963).
WINFIELD SCOTT, shown on pages 68, 69, 133, 252, and 266; reported as a licentiate for the ministry in 1861; shown as born in Novi, Oak -land County, Michigan on February 26, 1837, the son of James B. Scott and Margaret E. Sinclair. Licensed and ordained a preacher at Farmer Village ( now Interlaken ), New York in 1961.
Raised a company of men and was commissioned a captain in the United States Army on August 8, 1862; his church presented him with a sword.
Later a colonel in the 126th (N.Y.) regiment of volunteers. He saw action and was wounded on Maryland Heights. Was in active service un-til discharged for wounds in October of 1864.
Preached at Leavenworth 1865 to 1871; and in Denver, Colorado January 1st 1872 to September 1875; Editor of the EVANGEL for nearly a year but this was just too expensive for his purse; preached at Los Angeles, California 1876 and 1877; and at San Francisco 1878. Pastor at Peta -luma, Sonoma County, California 1879.
I came upon this book in the genealogical department of the L.A. Public Library and while ordinarily this book wouldn’t be exciting I was struck by the title which included the county in New York State where some of my immediate ancestore and other relatives were born and lived and also were Baptist Ministers.
I had never heard of Winfield Scott until I read of him in this book which mentioned his family which were - and are - closely related to me and it was thus that I got started on tracing his life.
Original Format
paper
Title
The Story of Winfield Scott by DeForeest B. Wright July 24, 1971
Subject
Wright, DeForeest B.
Scott, Winfield
Biography
Description
The biography, The Story of Winfield Scott by DeForeest B. Wright was written in July 24, 1971. It begins with the history of his relatives before they came to America which dates back to the 1700s. He gives a detailed description of Winfield Scott's military service in the Civil War as well as his time as a pastor at several churches. He also shares how Winfield spent his last days. It is a comprehensive biography of Winfield Scott.
Creator
Wright, Deforeest B.
Source
Unknown
Publisher
Winfield Public Library, Winfield, Kansas USA
Date
1971-07-24
Rights
Format
text/plain
Language
English
Type
Essays
Citation
Wright, Deforeest B., “The Story of Winfield Scott by DeForeest B. Wright July 24, 1971,” Winfield Digital Collections, accessed June 23, 2026, https://winfield.digitalsckls.info/item/208.Text
T H E
S T O R Y
OF
W I N F I E L D S C O T T
by
DeForeest B. Wright
Hollywood, California
July 24 1971
The History of the Seneca County Baptist Ass'n by the Reverend Lewis E Halsey 1879
History of Ridgefield Connecticut by David Teller
Ridgefield In Review (250th Commemorative of Ridgefield, Conn)
by Silvio Bedini
History of Scottsdale, Arizona by David Mathews
Federal Censuses of 1850 and 1880
Affidavits On File With The Pension Office at Washington, D.C.
Microfilm Records from the General Services Administration
Obituary and Write-Up from the San Diego (Calif) Tribune
Correspondence from various pastorates, town officials, schools
and libraries
New York State Department of Military Affairs
Connecticut Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men in the Revo -lution, 1775 - 1783
The first two books are on file in the Genealogical Department of the Los Angeles Public Library; the third book is also there having been donated by the author; and a copy of this record will find its way to the same place. The third and fourth books are also filed with the Library of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Sons of the Revolution, having been donated by the author who is a member.
The only existing portrait of Chaplain Winfield Scott, founder of Scottsdale, Arizona and Winfield, Kansas.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WINFIELD SCOTT
GENEALOGY
The subject of this record was born on February 26, 1837 in Novi, Oakland County, Michigan. He was the third child of James B. Scott (1806 - ) and Margaret E. Covert (1817 - ), both of whom were born in Scotts Corners (now Ovid Center), Seneca County, New York. They had gone to Michigan when that part of the state was opened up to settlement but returned to Scotts Corners a few years after the birth of Winfield.
The ancestry of this family in America starts with David Scott I. He arrived in the New World in 1704 and lived for a time in Fairfield, Connecticut. He was born either in England or Scotland about 1675 and died in Ridgefield, Connecticut at the age of 85 years. These
dates are taken from the book, Ridgefield In Review by Silvio A. Bedini, one of the curators of the Smithsonian Institure of Washington, D.C. The History of Ridgefield by David Teller, pastor of the Congre -gational Church, tells of various purchases of land from the Indians by a committee headed by David Scott. This land was formed into the new town of Ridgefield and divided into about 15 lots of which David Scott owned lot 13. Little is known about David Scott and there are no estate records or births in the probate courts in Hartford. How -ever, several early records exist which are of considerable interest. Page 88 of Volume I of the Fairfield County Court Records contains the record of a legal suit brought against David Scott on April 21, 1719 by Mary Scott of Ireland, of the town and county of Londonderry and also a new resident of Ridgefield. Mary Scott obtained a judgment against her husband and took three acres and seventy two rods by execution. Lack of additional documentation makes any interprettation of the legal suit a matter of guesswork. The implication is that David may have left his wife and family in Ireland. Whether he abandoned his family is a matter of con-jecture but the implication is obvious. No reconciliation appears to have taken place after this court action. David lived in his house and Mary lived in hers. The only town records relating to David Scott shows the sale of two slaves on February 13, 1740.
JAMES SCOTT was the eldest child of David and Mary Scott and was born in Ireland. His wife was Hannah Hyatt, a daughter of Thomas and Experience Hyatt who were also Original Proprietors in Ridgefield.
PAGE TWO
DAVID SCOTT II ( 2/21/1727 - 5/8/1809 ) was the third child of James Scott and Hannah Hyatt. His wife was Hannah Smith and both of them were born in Ridgefield. She was descended from at least four of the Original Proprietors in cluding Thomas and Experience Hyatt.
GIDEON SCOTT ( 12/12/1755 - 1826 ) was the third child of David II and Hannah Smith. His first wife was Anna Burt and both of them were born in Ridgefield. Anna Burt was a daughter of the town blacksmith and also descended from Original Proprietors. Connecticut Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men In The Revolution, 1775 - 1783, published by the Connecticut Historical Society in 1901 in Volume 8 shows Gideon Scott served in the War as a private in Captain Isaac Hines 2nd Company of the 16th Regiment commanded by Colonel Nehemiah Beardsley. The U. S. Census of 1790 lists him with his wife and children in Ridgefield but soon after, when Western New York State was opened up to settlers he took his family to Seneca County, New York and founded the town of
Scotts Corners (now Ovid Center). His home, known as the Scott-Powell House, is still there but in ruins. Most certainly he and Anna Burt as well as his second wife, Keziah Sherman, are buried in the beautiful little Scott Cemetery there at Ovid Center. However, no stones or other identification of their final resting places are there to prove this.
DANIEL SCOTT SENIOR ( 1780 - 9/24/1867 ), born in Ridgefield, Connecticut was the first child of Gideon Scott and Anna Burt. His wife, Sarah, was born in 1787 and died 8/4/1857. Both are buried in the Scott cemetery.
JAMES B. SCOTT, the first child of Daniel and Sarah Scott, was born in 1806 in Scotts Corners. His wife, Margaret E. Covert, was also born there in 1817. They lived for a time in Novi, Michigan where some of their children were born, including Winfield, as set forth above but whether they prospered there isn’t known. Neither is their final resting place known but presumably they are buried in the Scott cemetery at Ovid Center or perhaps in Interlaken, about five miles away.
(About 1844 John Bouton Scott, a nephew of Gideon Scott, came to Scotts Corners with his bride, Rosalinda Tibbetts, where they had a son and two daughters born. One of the daughters, Ann Elizabeth, married a neighbor, Benjamin Wright, and they lived next door to the Baptist parsonage. They were the parents of the author).
The Scotts have ever been an adventutous family - emigrating to new lands in order to develop communities as is evidenced by David Scott coming to the New World in 1704 and helping to found the town of Ridgefield, Conn -ecticut. During the Revolutionary War General Washington sent General Sullivan with a select force to destroy some Indian villages and farms in what is now Western New York State. These Indians were known to be supply ing the British with food. This is known in history as "Sullivan’s Raid.” The soldiers brought back glowing accounts of rich farming lands and so after the War land companies were formed and Gideon Scott was one of many w ho came into the newly opened territory to found the town of Scotts Cor ners/
PAGE THREE
The Scotts seemed to prosper where ever they went and always left the communities in far better condition than when they arrived. Also one of their first concerns was the erection of church and school; and not content with just founding these institutions they often took an active part either in teaching or preaching.
Such a man, but by no means the first one in this family, is the subject of this story, Winfield Scott. His great-grandmother, Keziah Scott, sec-ond wife of Gideon Scott, was directly responsible for bringing the church to Scotts Corners. She convened the first meeting in 1827 that resulted in the formation of the Seneca County Baptist Association and all of the meetings were held in her home until the new church was built the following year. She and her son, Daniel, donated the land for both the church and the parsonage across the road (now a state highway). At her death in January of 1848 she bequeathed five hundred dollars for the building of the rectory. This was erected the following year - 1849 - at a cost of $1,000.00.
MINISTRY
Winfield Scott was licensed and ordained a preacher of the Seneca Baptist Association in 1861 in Farmer Village (now Interlaken), also in Seneca County, New York, about five miles from Ovid Center. He was married July 11, 1861 in Ogden, Monroe County, New York by the,Reverend J. Byington Smith and the Reverend J. B. Jackson to Helen Louise Brown who was born January 8, 1838in Plainfield, near Richfield Springs, Otsego County, New York and to-gether they went to his first pastorate at the Second Baptist Church in Syr-acuse, New York.
MILITARY
In 1862, in answer to President Lincoln’s second call for volunteers, Win -field Scott raised a company of his friends and was commissioned a captain of Company C, 126th Regiment of New York Volunteers/(infantry). His congre-gation presented him with a sword./ I might add here, parenthetically, that |in 1908 he was created a Major by an Act of Congress. Although I am not cer-tain I believe that this was done in recognition of his services after the War as a chaplain in the army and also the G. A. R .
His army record is both an impressive and a brilliant one. He was wounded at Maryland Heights (Harper’s Ferry) in West Virginia on September 13, 1862, cap-tured, paroled and sent. home. A few months later he returned to the front on
Crutches and was in the thick of the fight at Gettysburg. At the Battle of the Wilderness, about May 5, 1864 Captain Scott was in command of both the 125th and the 126th regiments of New York volunteers. He was severely wounded while charging at Spottsylvania Courthouse on May 18, 1864 and the doctors despaired
PAGE FOUR
of saving his life. It was then that Mrs. Scott sprang into action. She applied for permission to see her husband and when that was denied she drove into Washington and obtained an audience with President Lin-coln. After hearing her story the President signed passes for her to enter the Union Lines and carry her husband on a stretcher to their home where she nursed him back to health. He received an Honorable Dis-charge at Annapolis, Maryland on September 23, 1864. On October 3rd of that same year he applied for a pension in Elmira, Chemung County, New York and gave his residence as Farmer Village (Interlaken), New York. His pension number was 42541. He was represented by the law firm of John H. Perry and Edwin A. Scott of Elmira, N.Y. The Honorable Edwin Scott (of the N.Y. legislature ) was his uncle.
MINISTRY AND TRAVELS
After recuperating from his many wounds and finally regaining his health and because his family at Scotts Corners was rather well-to-do, he de - cided that he would enjoy being a missionary preacher rather than the pastor of some long established church, thus carrying on the tradition of his family of going out into the world and developing new communities. The first record that we have of him is at Leavenworth, Kansas where he built the First Baptist Church and was its first pastor, serving from 1865 to 1871. He also started the first school there. On a following page are excerpts from the Official Records of the Church of Leavenworth. This was sent to me through the good offices of Mrs Doris Cooley of the Leavenworth Church.
The official town records of Winfield, Kansas show that the town was named for the Reverend Winfield Scott and in return for this honor he built a stone church there and preached the first sermon in 1870. See this record on a following page. And Miss Dorothy Bratton of the Winfield Library also sent some additional material, all of which is shown on following pages.
The next church that we have any record of is the Baptist Church at Denver, Colorado. Brought to Denver for the express purpose of building a new church Winfield Scott assumed the pastorate in November of 1871 and immed- iately plans were laid for the new church. I am inserting a letter from the church historian on another page which is most interesting and enlightening and shows the love and esteem in which Reverend Scott was held.
The church at Los Angeles, California was not built by Winfield Scott and he held but a short pastorate there. He is remembered however, with much love and gratitude for what he accomplished while there.
PAGE FIVE
He served pulpits in San Francisco, California (1878) and was pastor of the church at Petaluma, Sonoma County, California in 1879 at which time a letter home to his family at Scotts Corners was incorporated in a book written by the Reverend Lewis Halsey reference to which is made at the beginning of this story. I came across this book at the Los Angeles Public Library quite by accident and through it I discov-ered that I had such a cousin. The church at Petaluma could tell me nothing about Reverend Scott beyond the bare fact that he did, indeed, preach there in 1879; the Northern Baptist Association had only the information that after his service in Petaluma he served briefly in Oakland (1879) and San Francisco (1880-1881). After that they have no further record of him.
In my studies for ancestors while tracing my "Family Tree" I have observed that with the notable exception of; the Dutch Reformed Church most, if not all of the protestant churches keep almost no records of their church affairs save for those instances where large donations have been made; then indeed, names are mentioned and extolled.
On July 27, 1882 Winfield Scott was appointed a chaplain in the U. S. Army (probably in Arizona as I have heard somewhere that he had been in some engagements with the Indians) , also he was with the G. A. R.
He retired from the chaplaincy on March 26, 1898.
About the time that he accepted this appointment to the Chaplain Corps he and his family went to Arizona where he remained until about 1909 when they went to San Diego, California altho he returned to Phoenix to die.
SCOTTSDALE
Prior to 1882 Winfield Scott spent some time in Paradise Valley acquiring some eight hundred acres of land. Undoubtedly he planted to cottonwood trees that are now the giant trees there and he also started building his ranchhouse.
On July 27, 1882 he was appointed a chaplain in the United States Army. His brother George came down from San Francisco and worked the ranch while Chaplain Scott per formed his spiritual duties for the soldiers and their families. He must also have helped the Indians during his sixteen years as chaplain; he was in Arizona and mostly at or around Tucson. He retired March 26, 1898. Returning to his beloved Paradise Valley he set about sub-dividing his land and selling lots. A beautiful and healthful site it soon attracted many settlersand when it came time to name the town it was obvi-ous to all that it should be named for its founder, Winfield Scott. He spent some years in the Arizona Territorial Legislature and in 1899 he was elected (as a Republican) Speaker of the (Democratic) House. In 1903 he was elected Chaplain-In-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic; And in 1908 an Act of Congress created him a Major in the United States Army.
PAGE SIX
SAN DIEGO
In 1909 Winfield Scott and his family removed to San Diego, California. The reason for this move isn’t clear but it must have been the lust to bring more souls into the church. He held preaching services at Nor-mal Heights in August of that year and started a Sunday School. He conceived the idea of building a chapel where religious services could be held as a gift from himself and his wife. He didn’t live to see it completed as he returned to Phoenix to enter Sisters Hospital where he died October 19, 1910. However, Mother Scott, as she was affectionately known to her many friends, spent the rest of her life completing this gift and working for the church. One of her three daughters also lived in San Diego with her husband, Brigadier General (retired) Albright. The result of this prodigious effort is the imposing SCOTT MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH located at 2716 Madison Avenue, San Diego, California. She died November 11, 1931 and is buried beside her husband in the G.A.R. plot of Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego, California.
EXCERPTS from THE HISTORY OF THE SENECA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, by the Reverend Lewis Halsey, published in 1879 by Journal Association Book and Job Printing House. (A copy is in the Genealogical Department of the Los Angeles, California Public Library - #R-974.7 H.1963).
WINFIELD SCOTT, shown on pages 68, 69, 133, 252, and 266; reported as a licentiate for the ministry in 1861; shown as born in Novi, Oak -land County, Michigan on February 26, 1837, the son of James B. Scott and Margaret E. Sinclair. Licensed and ordained a preacher at Farmer Village ( now Interlaken ), New York in 1961.
Raised a company of men and was commissioned a captain in the United States Army on August 8, 1862; his church presented him with a sword.
Later a colonel in the 126th (N.Y.) regiment of volunteers. He saw action and was wounded on Maryland Heights. Was in active service un-til discharged for wounds in October of 1864.
Preached at Leavenworth 1865 to 1871; and in Denver, Colorado January 1st 1872 to September 1875; Editor of the EVANGEL for nearly a year but this was just too expensive for his purse; preached at Los Angeles, California 1876 and 1877; and at San Francisco 1878. Pastor at Peta -luma, Sonoma County, California 1879.
I came upon this book in the genealogical department of the L.A. Public Library and while ordinarily this book wouldn’t be exciting I was struck by the title which included the county in New York State where some of my immediate ancestore and other relatives were born and lived and also were Baptist Ministers.
I had never heard of Winfield Scott until I read of him in this book which mentioned his family which were - and are - closely related to me and it was thus that I got started on tracing his life.
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