1834 - aft 1900
England/Scotland - Pennsylvania - California
Ah, Walter, we hardly knew ye.
He was born, according to the 1900 census in October 1834. Or maybe 1838. There are two entries for him in 1900, one by himself and one with his son. He mostly says he was born in England (except for when he claims he was born in Pennsylvania, which is patently untrue). His parents were George and Margaret Scott; he had at least one sister Jane.
He says he emigrated to the US in 1847. I found one possible match for him in the Famine Ships books:
Ship: M Livingston 21 Oct 1847 from Liverpool I think it was the Mary Livingston
Scott, Mgt 64 f unk
Walter 15 none
George isn’t on this list, so maybe he went over earlier? Or maybe this is not our Walter at all. You would be amazed at how few first names the Scotts use.
He and his father and mother are in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania for the 1850 census:
1850 Pennsylvania Allegheny Indiana p. 61 - 11 Sept - l. 32
George Scott 73m merchant Scotland
Margaret 62 England
Walter 18 blacksmith “?
There are plenty of other Scotts in western Pennsylvania, many of them from very early times, but on the same page as these three is:
line 22 - DC Scott 31 physician Pa / Anna M 26 / Alexr 8 / Joseph 5 / James M 2
?J?W Snowden 20 physician - all b. Pa
But I have never found anything to indicate that this one might be related.
You would think, however, that they would have had more children than just Walter and Jane.
Be that as it may.
Walter got married in 1854, and finding his marriage record was a real piece of luck (for a change). The book I found it in only lists marriages from 1852-54, so.
Scott, Walter laborer res Tarentum b. England s/o George & Margaret
m 23 Aug 1854 Tarentum J-P - Brown, Emeline d/o Moses & Sarah Brown
Births, marriages & deaths of Allegheny Co., Pa., 1852-1854 / abstracted by K.T.H. McFarland. (Sorry that's all the bib info I've got - call # was F157.A4 M28 1999)
His sister Jane got married in 1853, which is the only way I know about her. And oddly enough, they both got married by a JP.
Walter and Emily had 10, maybe 11, children:
John 1854
George 1856
Margaret (Jane?) 1858
Walter E 1862
Henry 1865
James 1867
Emma/Emily 1870
Charles E Sept 1873 m. Alice Louella Pattee
Frank 1875
Anna 1877
??Bertha 1881
It seems odd that John is the oldest - I thought Scottish naming patterns called for the first son to be named after the father’s father. (Then the mother’s father, then the father, then the brothers . . . . However, there is (also) no Moses Scott, unless it is a middle name of one of the boys.)
In 1860, both Walter and sister Jane (who had married John Powell) were in Warren County, Pennsylvania, which borders New York, while their parents were still in Allegheny. As a matter of fact, Walter and Jane lived right next to each other:
1860 Pennsylvania Warren Deerfield PO Tidiante p. 229 28 Aug stamp 779
1870 - 194 John Powell 44m engineer Pa
Jane 35 Scot
John Goth? 21 engineer Pa
1871 - 195 Walter Scott 27 m Eng no occ given
Amy 21 Pa
John 6
George 4
Margaret 2 all kids Pa
Walter has “no occupation” - at least none listed - in 1860, but he was shortly to start working in the oil fields, first in Venango County, Pennsylvania, then in western New York.
1870 Pennsylvania Venango Venango Borough PO Porterfield 29 Aug p. 24 line 27
214-206 Scott, Walter 36 works on oil well 500 250 Pa
Emily 33 keeping house PA
John 15
George 14
Jane 12 (=Margaret? b. 1858)
Walter 9
Henry 6
James 3
Emily 4/12 all kids Pa
1880 New York, Cattaraugus - ED 25 sheet 36 line 31 - census taken 14 June 1880
272-299 Scott Walter mw 42 married tool dressing Eng Eng Eng
Emma wf 41 wife keeping house Pen Pen Pen
Margaret 20 dau Pen Eng Pen
Walter E 18 son clerk in store
Henry 15 son at home
James 13 son clerk in store
Charles 7 son
Emma 10 daughter
Frank 5 son
Anna 3 daughter
His sons John and George also worked in the oil fields, and later sons Charles and Walter and Frank would as well, although in California rather than Pennsylvania.
John
1880 Pennsylvania Butler Fairview p. ? Dist 40
Scott, John mw 25 oil pumper Pa Scot Pa
Sarah wf 24 keeping house Pa Pa Pa
Belle wf 4 dau
John wm 3 son
Walter wm 10/12
George
1880 Pennsylvania Butler Fairview p. 205a lines 24-27
George Scott mw25 Eng Eng Eng oil pumper
Hattie 24 Pa
Walter 2
Note: It is an assumption that these fellows are Walter’s sons. It seems like a pretty good match to me, but I have no proof. (Yet?) There is a John Scott in Cattaragus County for 1880, but later censuses give a lot of familiar names, so I thought this one was a better match, especially since there’s a possible brother there as well.
If you start with Allegheny County and work up in a northerly direction, you hit Butler and Venango counties, then if you jog a little NE, you’ll hit Warren and then Cattaragus Co, NY.
By 1890, Walter and at least one of his sons was in California. I do not know if Emily was with him then or not, but by 1900, he was a widower.
1890 Great Register for Los Angeles County
p. 181 Scott, Walter 56 Eng Newhall 1 Sep 1890 Naturalized
Walter E 29 PA Newhall 10 Sep 1890
And now, alas, comes the 20 year hiatus in census records. Walter next shows up in California, a widower, along with three of his sons.
Walter = 67
1900 California Los Angeles Soledad 289A - 7 June SD6 ED134 Sheet 3a - line 50 67-67
Scott, Walter head white male born Oct1838 (?), age 64, widower,
birthplace illegible blot, father born SCT,mother born ENG. Emigrated 1847.
Naturalized Occupation: laborer -- oil wells rents house
Walter and son Walter E
1900 California Los Angeles, LA Twp, pct 1, ward 1, formerly Gewauza Village?
18th June SD6 ED1 Sheet 5b. 123-139 Must be Garvanza
Scott Walter E head mw blank 1861 39 m3 Pa Eng Pa driller, owns, mortgage, house
Elizabeth wife Dec 1867 32 m3 1ch Il Oh Pa
Melvina D daughter May 1897 3 Cal Pa Il
Bertha blot sister? niece? Feb 1881 19s Pa Eng Pa
- this could be Dad’s Aunt Bertha?
Walter father wm Oct 1834 65 wd Eng Eng Eng emigrated 1847
been in country 53 years day laborer
Charles E
1900 California, Los Angeles, Soledad Twp, Newhall Precinct ED 134 sheet 4, line 17
census taken 9 June 1900 87-87
Scott, Charles E head w m Sep 1873 26 married 7 y Penna England Penna
laborer, oil wells, 0 mos unemployed, 0 mos school,
reads writes speaks English, owns, no mortgage, house
Alles L wife wf Dec 1877 age 22 married 7, 3 children, 3 living, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana
Walter Ch. son w m Sep 1894 5 single Calif, Penna Neb
Elmer E son w m Apl 1900 1/12 single ditto
Ethel daughter w f Apl 1897 3 ditto
Frank
1900 California Los Angeles Soledad Newhall -ed 134 - 291 stamp - l. 18 117-117
Scott, Frank head Nov 1874 25 s Penn Engl Penn driller
And that’s the last I’ve been able to find of him.
To Children of Walter and Emily
To next ancestor, Charles Scott
To wife, Emily Brown
To Brown Home Page
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Questions, comments, additions, corrections? Contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com