Charles W. Scott
 

CHARLES W. SCOTT, clerk of Boone circuit court, Indiana, and an enterprising merchant of Lebanon, is of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, January 25, 1847, and was about five years of age when brought by his parents to Lebanon, Boone county, Ind., where he attended the public schools until he reached the age of seventeen years, when, filled With patriotic ardor, he enlisted, to assist in the preservation of the integrity of his beloved country; in company F one Hundred and Thirty-fifth Indiana volunteer infantry for 100 days, under Capt. R. A. Williamson. He was seized with chronic diarrhea however and for a time was confined in the hospital at Nashville, Tenn., but served out the full time of his enlistment, nevertheless, and on his return home, enlisted, April 1, 1865 in company G, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Indiana infantry, for one year. He was assigned to duty in the Shenandoah Valley, but was again attacked by his old disorder and was confined in the Federal hospital at Stephenson, Va., and then, again, at Cumberland, Md., and was sent thence to the general hospital at Claryville, Md. whence he went to Wheeling, W. Va., where he was discharged under general orders in the fall of 1865. He returned home a constitutional wreck, and for several months was unable to attend to business, and even to this day his health is in a shattered condition. When he had sufficiently recuperated, he joined his father in the mercantile business, but in 1875 sold out his interest and engaged for one year in the jewelry trade, when he again sold out; for four years afterward he clerked for Wilson & Baker, merchants of Lebanon, and then for five years was in the grocery business on the north side. In the fall of 1890, be was elected, on the democratic ticket, clerk of the Boone county circuit court, and being a very popular man, received a very large majority and succeeded a republican in the office. Mr. Scott was married June 30, 1871, at Lima, Ohio, to Miss Lizzie Kiplinger, daughter of William S. and Mary (Thatcher) Kiplinger. This lady's father was a contractor and builder and constructed many of the best edifices in Lima. Four children have been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Scott, and were named John William, Mary Lula, Wallace A. and May Queen, all of whom were born in Lebanon, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Scott were members of the Methodist church, and their daily walk through life shows the sincerity of their religious faith. Mr. Scott is serving his second term as commander of Rich Mountain post, No. 42. G. A. R., and has held all the chairs in Ben Adhem lodge, No. 472, I. 0. 0. F.; was also a member of the grand lodge, and grand senior warden of the grand encampment of the same order he is a member of the I. 0. R. M. Winnebago tribe, No. 36 and has filled all the offices in the tribe likewise is a member of the grand council; as a K. of P. he is a member of Lebanon lodge No. 45, and is moreover, past chancellor of this order, and a member of the grand lodge. The remote ancestors of Charles W. Scott came to America in the colonial days and settled in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Samuel Scott, moved in his young days to Licking county, Ohio. He had married in Pennsylvania Sarah Moore, who bore him five children: Elizabeth J., Joseph, John M., James M. and Sarah C. The third child in the above family, John M., was born in Licking county, Ohio, in 1824, and married in Hardin, Ohio, April 19, 1846, Mary A. Blue, daughter of Barnabas and Mary (Hilliard) Blue, the result of which union was seven children, viz: Charles W., whose name opens this sketch; Edward L.; Flora G.; Amanda; Harry B., who died at the age of fourteen years; Hattie, and Lizzie, who died in infancy; of this family the three first named were born in Ohio, and the remaining four in Lebanon, Ind. His great grandfather, Joseph Scott, was born in Ireland, coming to this country when a young man. His great grandmother, ______ (Curry) Scott, was born in Scotland and also came to America in an early day and settled with her parents in Pennsylvania, near her to-be future husband. His grandfather, Samuel Scott, moved in his young days to Licking county, Ohio, having previously been married to Sarah Moore in Pennsylvania. His grandfather; Barnabas Blue, was born near Harper's Ferry, Va., and moved when a boy with his father to Miami county, Ohio, and settled. near the present city of Piqua; Mary (Hilliard) Blue was born and reared in and near Cincinnati; Ohio, until fifteen years of age, when her father. removed to what is the city of Piqua, Ohio, but at that time the present thriving city consisted of one log cabin; which was occupied by a French family. James M. Scott was apprenticed when fifteen years of age to Mr. Knapp, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, to learn the tailoring trade -- his father's contract with Mr. Knapp being that he was to serve until twenty-one years of age and then he was to receive one good suit of jeans clothes and a Bible. After passing four or five years in Logan and Shelby counties, Ohio, he came to Lebanon, Ind., in 1852, and opened a dry goods store, which he conducted for many years and became one of the best known business men of Boone county. Between 1854 and 1856 he was postmaster of the city, an office he filled to the entire satisfaction of the public. He took a leading part in the building of the Missionary Baptist church in the city, his wife being an ardent member of this denomination. In politics he was a Jacksonian democrat; but was a stanch supporter of the Union cause during the late Civil war, giving his only son old enough to enlist, Charles W., to the service of the Union cause. Mr. Scott was always active in the promotion of the best interests of the city of Lebanon, and erected some of its finest business blocks, among them, in company with G. W. Baird, the marble front on the corner of Lebanon and Main streets. He took an active interest in educational matters and in everything else that led to the public welfare. The business firms with which he was connected were Scott & McLaughlin, Scott & Baird, Scott & Daily and Scott & Son. His death took place August. 31, 1877, but his widow survived until August 2, 1887, and in their demise Lebanon sustained a severe loss.

Transcribed by: Chris Brown
Source: "A Portrait And Biographical Record of Boone and Clinton Counties, Ind.," pp 449-450, published in 1895 by A. W. Bowen & CO. Chicago