USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Lodge no. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkesbarr?, Pa. with a collection of masonic addresses > Part 40
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While a resident of Wilkesbarré Colonel Pickering lived in the house known now as the Ross house (somewhat modernized in style and changed in appearance from what it was one hundred years ago), on the East side of South Main street, below Northampton.
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under the direction of his son, Lord Butler, Esq., Sheriff. Although Captain Schott's dragoons were not yet a part of the militia, yet, by ten o'clock in the morning following the abduction, he had gathered together eighteen of his horse- men and started in pursuit of the rioters. It was subse- quently charged against Schott that, being personally un- friendly to Pickering, he had not earnestly and vigorously pursued the rioters with his troop, but had dallied and dawdled and simply "made a bluster in order to satisfy the Government." In consequence of this charge the Executive Council was urged by some of Schott's unfriendly critics here not to commission him as Commander of the "Light Dragoons." Under date of July 29th, 1788, Colonel Butler addressed a communication to the Council, in part as fol- lows :
"By Captain Schotts I am informed that in consequence of repre- sentations respecting his conduct in the expedition up the River his character suffers much in the view of the Council. I have only to in- form that he was censured here, and on his own request I summoned from the Battalion a number of Company officers who composed a regular Court of inquiry, and after hearing the complaint and the de- fence of Captain Schotts, the Court acquitted him with honour."
Later Schott and his troop were paid by the county of Luzerne £23: 10s. for eight days' services "in suppressing the riot at the abduction of Colonel Pickering."
Early in the following September Captain Schott went to Philadelphia, and under date of the 12th wrote home :
"I arrived here save and found all things to my satisfaction. * I have got the Commissions for the Troop and Infantry. Matters were not so as W- reported, he is a Lier. I am in as good as- teem by the first people as ever. I am in heart. * * There were fifteen who remonstrated against the return of officers in the Troop, but very little Notice was taken. Council know'd that I was one of the first man who turned out and have since been informed that those actions call'd so were not so desperate."
Three days later he wrote to the Council a formal ac-
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knowledgment of the receipt of his commission as Captain of the "Light Dragoons," expressed his thanks for the same, and then said :
"Your Honours may be asured that with the utmost of my appillity I shall indeavour to promote peace and good order in said County, but one difficulty arises, the Troop is not armed yet, and can't possi- ble get armed untill next spring. Being informed that the Honour- able the Supreme Court will set in said County of Luzerne about the beginning of November next to try John Franklin and others, and it would perhaps be of great Service if the Troop was armed to meet the judges and ascord them to Wilksbarre and perhaps it may be neces- sary to keep a gaurd to prevent Riots and disorders."
In conclusion he requests that there may be sent to him "20 pairs of Pistols and Swords, a Stantart [standard] and Drumbit [trumpet]." Council directed that Captain Schott should "be furnished with the articles asked for, on loan-he to return them when called for." Sixteen months later-in January, 1790-he wrote to the Council as follows :
"You have been pleased to astablish a Troop of Light Dragoons for this County, and have Commissioned me to Command the same ; but as the County is but poor yet, those who Ingaged to serve in the Troop are not able to furnish themselves with Swords & Pistols, as they cant get them without Cash ; and whereas they are in the line with other Melisha, do request your Honourable Board to furnish us with forty Swords and pistols, a Standard and Trumpet, and I will account for the same."
December 4th, 1790, Captain Schott was appointed by Governor Mifflin a Justice of the Peace for Wilkesbarré, to serve during good behavior. This office he held until he removed from the town.
In the Spring of 1792 he leased from Jonathan Hancock a house and stable located on the north side of Centre, or Public Square, and about half way between Main and Mar- ket streets, and opened a public house. This he kept until the Fall of 1793, when Thomas Duane, of Kingston, who had purchased the property, moved in and Captain Schott
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removed to a new building which he had just erected on the east side of North Main street, very near the north-east corner of the Public Square. It was a large frame house of two stories, and in it for a number of years Captain Schott resided and also carried on a store for the sale of general merchandise. One of his advertisements in the Wilkesbarré Gazette (in January, 1799,) informed the public that he had "lately opened an assortment of dry-goods, hardware, &c., broadcloths, tammies, fustians, cut nails, screw augurs, watch-chains and seals-with many other articles too tedious to mention." He also kept in this building for some time a tavern, or "house of entertainment" as he denominated it in an advertisement to the public December 24th, 1803, and the meetings of LODGE 61 were held there for more than seven years .* Captain Schott occupied this property until February, 1804, when he sold it to George Griffin, Esq. The building was destroyed in the big fire of 1855.
In 1802 Captain Schott was, with Rosewell Welles, Esq., a candidate for the State Legislature, but was defeated. In the Summer of 1804 he removed with his family to Phila- delphia, where he received an appointment as one of the inspectors of customs in the U. S. Custom House, Gen. Peter Muhlenberg being Collector of the Port at the time. One of Captain Schott's fellow-inspectors was his Masonic Brother, and former comrade-in-arms, Gen. Thomas Proc- ter ; and in 1809 another of his old military and Masonic friends-Gen. John Steelet-succeeded General Muhlen- berg as Collector. Captain Schott held the office of Inspec- tor until within a few months of his death. He was also a United States pensioner for a number of years.
JOHN PAUL SCHOTT was made a Free Mason in a Lodge
* See pages 29, 33, 37 and 463, ante.
+ See pages 21, 22 and 26, ante.
# See pages 263 and 464, ante.
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in his native country, and during his service in the Ameri- can army was connected with one of the Military or Travel- ing Lodges then in existence-probably with Lodge No. 19, attached to Colonel Procter's regiment. He was the prime mover in petitioning for the establishment of LODGE 61, and was named in its Warrant as Senior Warden. He served in this office during the first year of the existence of the Lodge, and from him and Capt. George Sytez, the first Mas- ter of the Lodge, the Brethren received their early instruc- tions in the usages, customs and landmarks of the Fraternity. He was the principal "worker" in the Lodge during the first two or three years of its life. He served as Worshipful Master in 1795, '96, 1800, 'I and '2, and as Steward for several years. He withdrew from the Lodge in April, 1804, upon the eve of his removal to Philadelphia.
April 19th, 1811, he joined as a charter member Philan- thropy Lodge No. 127, Philadelphia (Warrant dated April Ist, 1811), and was Treasurer of the Lodge in 1814, '15 and '16, and Worshipful Master from December, 1814, to De- cember, 1815. He remained a member thereof until 1818, when, "on account of the infirmities of age," he withdrew. He died in Philadelphia July 29th, 1829, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His wife died August 31st, 1829, in the seventy-fourth year of her age.
At the time of Captain Schott's death the following obitu- ary, written by the Hon. Joseph R. Chandler,* editor of The United States Gazette, Philadelphia, was printed in the columns of that paper :
"Our obituary column a few days since contained a notice of the death of Capt. JOHN PAUL SCHOTT, of this city, aged 85 years. It is due to the memory of a good man-it is due the cause of virtue-that
* See pages 92-94, 293 and 469, ante, for other references to Mr. Chandler.
He was editor of the Gazette from 1822 until 1847, when it became the North American.
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some public notice be made of the services of those who have directly ministered to the public good, either in defence of national rights in the tented field, or by a salutary example in the quiet walks of private life. It is ill with a people 'when the righteous die, and no man layeth it to heart.'
"Few persons of foreign birth, we believe, entered the Continental Army with purer motives or stronger attachment to the cause of rational liberty, than Captain SCHOTT ; and none identified their own interests more immediately with the sacred cause. The many letters, and special directions, from Washington, Hamilton, and other worthies of the Revolution, which are now found among his papers, show how fully his talents and devotion to his adopted country were appreciated ; and the relinquishment of considerable possessions in his native coun- try, together with entire expatriation, is evidence that his zeal was ac- cording to his knowledge, and that he knew how to enjoy that which he had labored to attain.
Well educated in youth, and early accustomed to the discipline of Frederick's army, and subsequently associated with such men as Washington, Knox, and Hamilton, it is not surprising that Captain SCHOTT should possess the manners that constitute the nameless charm and imposing dignity of age. Few men had a heart more sus- ceptible of feeling for the afflictions of others, or a hand more open for deserved charity ; yet none knew better how to conceal his beneficence, or applaud similar virtues in others. The piety of Captain SCHOTT was deep, fervent, but unobtrusive-regulating his life and conspicu- ous in his death ; not assumed for times and seasons, but mingling in and influencing all his intercourse with his fellow-men.
His youth had been marked by undivided attention to those pur- suits that were intended to open to him usefulness and honor; his manhood was distinguished by devotedness to the cause of public liberty and social happiness ; and his old age was found in that 'way of righteousness that maketh the hoary head a crown of glory.'"
John Paul and Naomi (Sill) Schott were the parents of four sons and one daughter who grew to maturity. Twin daughters were born to them in June, 1781, but they died the next month. In a letter written by Obadiah Gore at Wilkesbarré, July 21st, 1781, and which the writer of this has lately read, appears this paragraph : "Mrs. Schot has been delivered of two daughters-both are now dead, and the
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woman's life was for a time despaired of; but she is now in a likely way to recover."
JOHN PAUL SCHOTT, Jr., the eldest son of Captain Schott, was born at Wilkesbarré in the Summer of 1782. The min- utes of LODGE 61 show that August 7th, 1800, the commit- tee on the application of John P. Schott, Jr., reported : "His character stands fair, but he is under 21 years of age, viz., about 19." (In fact, he was only a month or two past 18.) "It was therefore moved and seconded that as the applicant is about to travel to a distant country and on business of consequence that the general Rule be dispensed with, to which the Lodge agreed, and the applicant was balloted for and initiated an Entered Apprentice as an Ancient York Mason, and member of this Lodge." Four days later he was "passed" and "raised." About this time he was mar- ried to Emily Eliza, daughter of John Markland, who had been a Lieutenant in the 3d Penn'a Regt., Continental Line, and who in 1823 was one of the Commissioners of Phila- delphia. Brother Schott affiliated with Philanthropy Lodge No. 127 shortly after its institution, and was its Secretary in 1813. He withdrew from the Lodge June 8th, 1814. For more than twenty years he was a successful merchant in Philadelphia. He had a son, John Paul, 3d, who was born in 1802, and died March 30th, 1853. He, also, was a mer- chant in Philadelphia, and was admitted as a Master Mason to Lodge No. 51 in November, 1829.
JAMES SCHOTT, the second son of Captain Schott, was born in Wilkesbarré in 1784. He accompanied his parents to Philadelphia in 1804, and as early as 1809 was a mer- chant at 63 North Front street. For some years he was engaged with his brother-in-law, Henry D. Mandeville, in the manufacture and sale of powder, their mills being at Frankford. Later he was engaged in mercantile business with his brother John P. at 54 South Front street. He married Rebecca, daughter of Guy and Martha (Matlack)
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Bryan, who bore him several children. He died at his resi- dence on Penn Square, Philadelphia, October 23d, 1870. Guy Bryan Schott, son of James, was born February 11th, 1822. He was graduated from Yale College in 1841; studied medicine for one year, and law for two years, and was then admitted to the Bar of Philadelphia. He died September 6th, 1871.
GEORGE S. SCHOTT was born at Wilkesbarré in 1786, and accompanied his parents to Philadelphia in 1804. He studied medicine with Dr. Parrish of Philadelphia, and then practiced his profession in that city for twelve or fifteen years. In 1828 his office was at 61 South Seventh street. About 1840 he removed to Luzerne county, and practiced there until his death at Nanticoke June 29th, 1863. He was made a Free Mason in Lodge No. 51, in March, 1830, and was Master of the Lodge in 1834. In 1835 he was Grand Sword Bearer of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, in 1836 Junior Grand Deacon, and in 1837 and '38 Senior Grand Deacon. He was appointed Grand Marshal of the Grand H. R. A. Chapter of Pennsylvania in May, 1833, and was elected M. E. Grand Scribe in November, 1835 (Joseph R. Chandler being M. E. High Priest), and was re-elected in 1836, '37 and '38. He withdrew from Lodge 51 November 28th, 1844, after his removal from Philadelphia.
Captain Schott's only daughter who grew to maturity was Charlotte, born at Wilkesbarré in 1788, and married at New York city in October, 1809, to Henry D. Mandeville, the business partner of her brother James.
CHARLES SCHOTT, the youngest child of Captain Schott, was born at Wilkesbarré January 26th, 1790. His death occurred at Philadelphia January 26th, 1810, as the result of an explosion which occurred in one of the powder mills of his brother and brother-in-law on the IIth of that month, whereby considerable property was destroyed and several lives were lost.
HON. DAVID SCOTT.
William Scott (born September 28th, 1744; died 1803) and Anna Boies (born November 14th, 1748; died 1831) were married at Suffield, Hartford county, Connecticut, November 19th, 1766, and became the parents of thirteen children.
Gardner, the eldest, born September 10th, 1767, settled near Geneseo, N. Y.
George, born in 1784, came into Pennsylvania when a young man, married, and settled in Wysox township, Lu- zerne (now Bradford) county, and afterwards moved to To- wanda. In 1812, when the courts of Bradford county were organized, he became one of the Associate Judges; and in later years he served several terms as Prothonotary of the county. He was Treasurer of the county in 1823-'4. He was made a Free Mason in Rural Amity Lodge No. 70, Athens, Penn'a, August 26th, 1806, but withdrew from the Lodge March 17th, 1807, and affiliated the 3d of April following with Union Lodge No. 108,* which had just been constituted to meet alternately at Wysox and Orwell, and which was afterwards removed to Towanda. He was Master of this Lodge in 1808, '10, 'II, '13, '15 and '17.
Luther Scott, born at Blandford, Hampden county, Mass., August 27th, 1788, was the eleventh child of William and Anna (Boies) Scott. He was a man of considerable intelli- gence and of many accomplishments. He resided in Wilkes- barré for a time prior to 1811, and then went to Bradford county. In the Spring of 1812 he received a commission as Lieutenant in the U. S. Army. April 23d, 1812, he was initiated into Union Lodge No. 108, F. and A. M., and was "passed " at the same meeting. Three days later he was " raised," and then he withdrew from the Lodge in view of
* See notes, pages 28 and 134, ante.
HON. DAVID SCOTT.
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his intended early departure for the army. "During the War of 1812-'14 he distinguished himself by his activity, courage and fidelity, for which he received honorable mention." After the war, being then Captain in the artillery branch of the service, he accompanied Commodore Decatur on his expedition to Algiers. During the Creek Indian War he was stationed at different points in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, where, in the faithful discharge of his duties, which were arduous and perplexing, his health became im- paired. He died at New Orleans, La., April 8th, 1819.
DAVID SCOTT, the eighth child of William and Anna (Boies) Scott, was born at Suffield, Conn., April 3d, 1781. While he was a young boy his father moved to Blandford, Mass. About the year 1799 David left home and went to reside with his brother Gardner at Geneseo. There he re- mained three or four years, and then joined his brother George in Pennsylvania, where he engaged in school-teach- ing-his school being in Towanda township, about a mile and a-half south of where the Bradford county Court House now stands. He also devoted considerable time to the read- ing of law.
In the Summer of 1807 he moved to Wilkesbarré, and became a student of law under the direction and guidance of Thomas Graham, Esq. During the next year and a-half he read law, taught school, engaged in some industrial pur- suits, and took a very active part in county politics. He was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne county January 3d, 1809, and on the 16th of the same month was commissioned by Governor Snyder Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, and Clerk of the Orphans' Court and of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Oyer and Terminer, of Luzerne county, to hold the offices " until the appointment be an- nulled." February 24th, 1810, he was commissioned Notary Public by the Governor. From 1813 to 1816 he was Judge Advocate of the 2d Brigade, 9th Division, Penn'a Militia.
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In August, 1816, Mr. Scott was nominated as one of the Democratic candidates for Congress in the district compris- ing the counties of Northumberland, Union, Columbia, Lu- zerne, Bradford, Susquehanna, Lycoming, Tioga and Potter. The district was entitled to elect two Congressmen, and there were several candidates nominated in the different counties. Rosewell Welles, Esq., of Wilkesbarré, was the Federalist candidate in Luzerne. In the Wilkesbarré Gleaner of September 20th, 1816, appeared the following :
"Immediately after the election of Simon Snyder to the office of Governor of Pennsylvania, a gentleman [Thomas Welles] who had some time held the office of Prothonotary and Clerk of our Court with great credit to himself and an honor to the station he filled-was re- moved from office without being charged with any offence (except the unpardonable and abominable heresy of Federalism) to make room for Mr. SCOTT, a young man who had been teaching school here, and who then bid fair, by his remarkable activity, and the zeal which he evinced in the cause of Democracy, to become a valuable acquisi- tion to the Democratic party. Since that time Mr. Scott has had be- stowed upon him all the most valuable appointments in the gift of the Governor, and he has had the good judgment and discretion to turn them to the best possible advantage. In short, if we may judge by the usual evidences in such cases, he has got rich by them. He is the only notary public in the county, and of course has the protesting of all the notes from the Bank, by which he cannot make less than $500 to $600 per annum and for which he has to do about an hour's writing each week. He has now held the different offices here seven years."
At the election in October David Scott and William Wil- son, also a Democrat, were elected to represent the district. Thereupon Mr. Scott resigned the various offices which he held in the county-being succeeded in the Court offices by Andrew Beaumont; but on the 21st of the following De- cember Governor Snyder appointed and commissioned Mr. Scott President Judge of the 12th Judicial District of Penn'a, composed of the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon and Schuyl- kill, to succeed Judge Amos Ellmaker,* who had resigned.
* David Scott's second wife, to whom he was married in 1836, was a niece of the wife of Judge Ellmaker. See note, page 364, ante.
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Judge Scott entered upon his judicial duties almost im- mediately-having first resigned the office of Representative to Congress-and in March, 1817, changed his residence from Wilkesbarré to Harrisburg. For about a year and a-half he attended to the exacting requirements of his office- administering justice fairly and impartially, and giving com- plete satisfaction to all having business in the courts over which he presided. Having suffered from a severe attack of erysipelas in the Spring of 1818, and believing Harris- burg to be an unhealthy place, he determined to resign his judgeship. The Hon. Thos. Burnside, President Judge of the IIth Judicial District, comprising the counties of Lu- zerne, Wayne and Pike, having resigned his office July 6th, 1818, Governor Findlay tendered Judge Scott the appoint- ment to the vacancy. The latter accepted it, resigned from the Bench of the 12th District, and was commissioned July 29th, 1818, to preside in the IIth District. He held his first Court at Wilkesbarré, August Term, 1818.
In 1819 he was one of the organizers of the Luzerne Bible Society, and was elected one of its Vice Presidents. From 1828 to 1830 he was its President. In 1819 he was elected a trustee of the Wilkesbarré Academy, in place of Henry Clymer, and he served as such for nineteen years. He has been credited with having been the founder of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church, Wilkesbarré, and with having instituted, and carried on for some time in his office, the first Sunday-school in Wilkesbarré. It is certain that for a number of years he took a great deal of interest and a very active part in Church and Sunday-school work-for some years serving as a lay-reader of St. Stephen's Church. Jan- uary 7th, 1824, the Luzerne Agricultural Society was organ- ized at Wilkesbarré, and Judge Scott was elected President. From May, 1824, to May, 1827, he was Burgess of the borough of Wilkesbarré; and in 1827-'29 was President of the Luzerne County Temperance Society.
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In May, 1825, David Scott, John Sergeant, Albert Galla- tin, and others, were appointed to constitute the State Board of Canal Commissioners ; and in August, 1829, Judge Scott was appointed one of the three commissioners of the State to treat with New Jersey for the use by Pennsylvania of the waters of the Delaware. For several years he served the State as Canal Commissioner, and for some time was Presi- dent of the Board of Public Works. As Commissioner he refused to accept any compensation, because as Judge he was already in receipt of a salary from the State-the mu- nificent sum of $1600 per annum ! "To him, George Den- ison and Garrick Mallery the people of Luzerne county were more indebted for the North Branch Canal than probably to all others combined." In a speech delivered July 4th, 1834, at the celebration of the completion of the Wyoming division of the canal, Judge Mallery said :
"On this day, while floating upon the canal and celebrating its com. pletion, the first man whom this scene brings to our recollection is Judge SCOTT. In its origin, in the commencement of the work, and in its progress, he had a most efficient and meritorious agency. If praise be due to anybody from us this day, it is due to him. As a member of the Board of Canal Commissioners his views were ex- tended over the State, and he saw and showed the importance, both to the public and to this section of country, of a communication from the city of Philadelphia through the great valley of the Susquehanna into the State of New York, and it was brought into the system. This county and the State are indebted to Judge SCOTT for the services which he rendered while a member of that Board."
Judge Scott, during his residence of thirty-one years in Wilkesbarré, was often called upon to deliver public ad- dresses before Churches, Masonic Lodges, Sunday-schools, and other organizations. As early as July 4th, 1810, he de- livered an oration at a Democratic celebration in Wilkes- barré, which was published in full in The Susquehanna Dem- ocrat of July 13th, 1810. The corner-stone of the Wyoming monument* was laid with impressive ceremonies July 3d,
* See pages 449 and 481, ante.
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1833-fifty-five years after the battle and massacre-and Judge Scott delivered the principal address upon the occa- sion. After referring at length to the mortuary customs of ancient nations, and to the funeral honors which were always " paid to those who had fallen in their country's battles," he said :
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