Solomon Scott is one of my 3x Great-Grandfathers. He is the father of Scoatney (Scott) Cooper, partner of Cherry (surname unknown) and then of Nellie Little. Put differently, he is the father of my mother’s mother’s father’s mom. And like others in this generation, he saw a seismic shift in American life: the Civil War and the transition from enslavement to freedom that it brought.
Solomon Scott → Scoatney Scott → Noah Cooper → Elnora Cooper → Mom → Me
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| Solomon Scott's "mark" in the 1867 Return of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Book for Hancock County, GA. (Ancestry.com) |
Abt. 1820: Solomon Scott is born to unknown parents somewhere in Georgia, perhaps Putnam County. All evidence currently suggests that he was born into slavery.
Bet. 1846 and 1852: Son Fed Scott is born. His mother may have been Cherry Scott, but the large age gap between Fed and Solomon’s next recorded child means it’s possible Solomon had a partner before Cherry and that she was Fed’s mom.
1860 or 1861: Daughter Scoatney Scott is born. Her
mother is Cherry Scott, meaning Solomon *may* have married Cherry between 1859 and
1861, if Cherry wasn’t also the mother of Fed Scott.
1861, January 19: Georgia secedes from the United States. Months later, in April, the Civil War begins at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1863, January 1: President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, theoretically freeing the enslaved populations of rebel states, including Georgia. But this order is impossible to enforce without the presence of Union troops.
Abt. 1863: Solomon and Cherry welcome a second daughter, Masonia Scott, into the world.
1864, Nov. 15 – Dec. 21: Union General William
Tecumsah Sherman leads his March to the Sea, leading over 60,000 soldiers from
Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia to intimidate the state's
Confederate-supporting civilians. Passing within miles of where Solomon and his family likely live, they raid properties for food and supplies,
and burn what they are unable to carry.
1865, April 9: The Civil War ends.
1865, Dec. 6: The 13th Amendment is ratified, ending slavery except as punishment for a crime. Solomon, wife Cherry, and their children legally become free, though when and how word reached them in currently unknown.
Abt. 1866: Solomon and Cherry’s son Daniel is born. He is their first child born into freedom.
1867, July 24: In perhaps one of his first major acts as a free man within the United States, Solomon takes an oath professing his qualifications to vote within the state of Georgia. He does so in Election Precinct 2 of Hancock County, Georgia, in the 20th Registration District. He makes his mark with an “X,” indicating that he was likely unable to read or write. (See image at top.) He is about 47 years old.
1868, July: The state of Georgia is readmitted to the
Union and ratifies the 14th Amendment, which makes all persons born in the United States - including the formerly enslaved - United States citizens. Daughter Mary is born
sometime this year, and is perhaps the first in the family to be born into their status as a citizen.
1870: Five years after the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment, fifty-year-old Solomon Scott appears in the U.S. Census for the first time as a free person. He is living with his presumed wife Cherry (listed as Chansy), and their children Fed (18), Scoatney (10, listed as Scotney), Masonia (7, listed as Mason), Daniel (4), and a male baby (1 year old, whose identity I am still unsure of). They are living in Militia District 114 of Hancock County, Georgia. Solomon works as a farmer while Fed works as a field hand. Cherry earns wages as a house servant, likely for a nearby white family, while Scoatney is “at home,” likely assisting in the running of the family household.
Bet. 1870 and 1872: Solomon’s wife Cherry likely dies, leaving Solomon with a household of children to care for. It’s possible son Fed assists his father, and almost certain that daughter Scoatney, and perhaps even daughter Masonia, take on extra duties in the home as well.
Bet. 1872 and 1877: Solomon’s son James Solomon Scott is born. His mother is likely Cherry; this is what his death certificate says, and he names one of his daughters Masonia Cherry, supporting this. But the various years of birth (1872, 1875, 1877) confuse this, as Solomon has remarried and Cherry has disappeared by 1872.
1872, November 16: Solomon marries Nellie Little, in Putnam County, GA, five days after obtaining their marriage license from the county Ordinary. Nellie is about 37 to Solomon’s 52 and was born in Virginia, though she had been living in Georgia since at least the mid-1850s, when several of her children were born in the state. In fact, she brings to their union at least five children – Turner (about 16), Alfred (about 11), Allen (about 9), Spratley (about 7), and Mary (about 4) - plus at least one older child who is no longer in the home, Rebecca (about 20 years old). Note: The 1880 Census doesn’t show a Mary, who would have been about 12 at the time, but it does show an 11-year-old Nellie (who would have been about 3 when the older Nellie and Solomon married), and a 13-year-old Nancy (who would have been about 5 when they married). Mary might have been the first or middle name of either Nancy or Nellie, maybe the census enumerator got something wrong in 1870 and/or 1880, or something else, but its safe to say the older Nellie brought at least 5 children into the marriage.
1874-1878 or 1879: Solomon and son Fed are employed by William B. Latimer in Militia District 114 of Hancock County, GA. Solomon owns anywhere from $261 to $624 worth of property, including animals (horses, mules, cattle, and/or livestock), household and kitchen furniture, and “other property.”
1875: Solomon and wife Nellie welcome a son, John William Scott, into the world.
Abt. 1877: Solomon and Nellie welcome another son, Ananius Scott, into the world. (This may be one and the same as Sydney Borden Scott, who seems to change his name from A. S. Scott in 1898 or 1899. As Sydney Borden Scott, he neither appears in the Scott household in 1870 nor 1880.)
Abt. 1879: Solomon and his previous partner Cherry’s oldest daughter Scoatney Scott, about 18 years old, marries July Cooper. Meanwhile, Solomon and current wife Nellie welcome daughter Louisa Scott into the world.
1880: Solomon and his blended family are living in the 96th Militia District of Washington County, GA. At 60 years old, Solomon continues to work as a farmer, but he is helped by Nellie, who “keeps house” for their family, as well as most of their 13 children, from Fed, who at 32, continues to live with them, to10 -year-old Mary, who, like the older ones, “works in farm.” The youngest – 8-year-old Solomon (likely James Solomon) to 1-year-old Louisa - are likely doing light work or being cared for by the others.
Bet. 1880-1883: Solomon and Nellie welcome daughter Lula A. Scott into the world. It’s possible Solomon becomes a grandfather during this time as well, through daughter Scoatney.
1883-1886: Solomon is employed by Henry Coleman, then Mrs. Coleman, and then A. C. Harrison, in Giles, Washington County, Georgia. Solomon owns between $247 and $300 worth of taxable property in this time, including animals, furniture, and tools. For most of this time, Fed is listed alongside him.
Abt. 1887: Solomon and Cherry’s daughter Masonia marries Henry Worthen. Two of their oldest children, born between 1887 and 1892, are named Solomon and Cherry Ann.
October 1895 and 1896: Solomon is listed a a registered voter in Hancock County, Georgia, as is his son, Fed.
1896: It is likely that Solomon Scott passes away, at about 70 years old, perhaps in Hancock or Washington County, Georgia. He is a father, a grandfather many times over, a survivor of the Civil War, a man who knew both slavery and freedom. It is currently unknown where he is laid to rest.
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