USA > Virginia > Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V > Part 86
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106
Of all men that I ever knew intimately, there was none that I admired or respected more than Robert E. Scott. He generally spoke on very important questions and rarely had a word to say in mere squabbles and quibbling over immaterial matters that spring up in all deliberative bodies, and that are pitched into by mere hair splitters. He had
VIR-65
1026
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
no talent for the discussion of trifles. He aimed to get at the very core of the subject, and to dissect it to its minuetest fibre in search of what was sound, and to expose what was unsound, and thus eliminate the true from the false of any theory or proposition submitted to the analysis of his great mind.
Like all men of great ability, foresight and strong convictions, he not infrequently found himself in a hopeless minority, but that fact never for a moment daunted him nor deterred him for an instant from preach- ing the gospel of sound government. On such an occasion he once said :
Valiant in the security that numbers afford, gen- tlemen freely boast of the majority anticipated ior the favored resolutions. The purpose of this boasting was obvious to all; for one I freely acknowledge its power; but when such an appliance was used to force through a favored measure, we may be excused a suspicion of its justice and truth. If the intention is to deter me from the opposition which I contemplate, the result will show how fruitless of its end the attempt will be. Whilst I deeply regret my separation, on this occasion, from other members on this floor, and deplore the neces- sity for opposition to their wishes, my resolution has never faltered; the path of duty lies plainly before me; and I will pursue its way if I tread that path alone. I see in the resolutions what I deem vicious and against its vices I raise my voice. * * *
I know that I stand here with a small minority, and in making opposition to this measure, I go counter to public prejudices, and subject myself to animadversion and reproach. My arguments are misrepresented, my motives assailed, and every influence that party intolerance can command, is employed to my prejudice. However I may lament this condition, my purpose is unshaken.
I love this Union, I love its peace, I love its blessings and I but discharge a duty when I pro- claim its danger. My voice will be unheeded in this hall, it may be unheeded out of it, but if the doctrine contained in these resolutions be followed to its consequences, and the time come when the people of this State, upon the issues now presented shall choose between the blessings of our glorious Union and the horrors of a dissolution, believe me the sentiments I have given utterance to will then find a response.
These words were spoken in the house of delegates of Virginia on January 11, 1849, in opposing certain resolutions reported by the joint committee on the Wilmot Proviso and other kindred measures then under con- sideration. How prophetic they were of conditions as they existed in the constitu- tional convention of 1861. As early as 1842, in a notable address showing his profound and accurate knowledge of the constitu- tional history of our country, he pointed
out with the greatest clearness and force the dangers resulting from the constantly in- creasing powers of the Federal executive and proposed to the legislature of Virginia an amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarding the exercise of that power and limiting the president to a single term.
Whilst he was a strong Union man, he was ever a consistent and earnest advocate of the preservation to the several states of their sovereign powers and just preroga- tives. On all occasions he denied the right of the Federal government to interfere with the Southern institution of slavery. With irresistable logic he pointed out that it was originally forced upon Virginia against her solemn protest, laws passed by her prohibit- ing it being vetoed by the king; that it was first practiced in the North, her citizens being the first slave traders, from which traffic they accummulated vast fortunes; that it was an institution existing and sanctioned by law at the time of the adoption of the Federal constitution, recognized by that in- strument and the laws passed pursuant thereto for generations thereafter and he demonstrated that as a social institution it was for the states alone in their sovereign capacity to deal with it as they thought fit.
Time and again during the days of the gathering storm which culminated in the Civil war, while earnestly advocating the preservation of the Union and solemnly pointing out, as subsequent events have shown, with inspired voice of prophecy, the evils and the results of the threatened con- flict, yet he sternly denied the right of the Federal government to invade the territory of a single state or to coerce any of them in their undeniable right to secede, declaring that any attempt to coerce them would be an act of aggression which would not be endured with honor and which should be re- sisted to the uttermost. And so in the se- cession convention of 1861, where he bat- tled so long and brilliantly in his efforts to keep Virginia in the Union, when Presi- dent Lincoln made his call for volunteers to coerce the seceding states and force them back into the Union, true to his principles and the fearlessness of his nature, he un- hesitantly accepted the gage of battle, voted for and signed the ordinance of seces- sion.
1027
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
He was, as we have said, ardently devoted to the preservation of the Union, but always he placed his allegiance to his state above all else, preferring service in her legislative halls to service upon the boarder arena of the national congress or the cabinet of the president. In 1858 he was urged by his friends and political associates to offer for a seat in the Federal congress from his dis- trict, when, as he was assured, the oppo- sition being divided, success was almost certain. To this he replied that if he had any desire for a seat in the house of repre- sentatives, business engagements would put it out of his power to engage in the can- vass, adding :
But in truth I have no such desire. When this county, composed part of a Whig district and we had a Whig party in active life, I several times declined nomination by conventions of my polit- ical associates, when a nomination was equivalent to an election. I preferred a service in the State Legislature, when opportunities for usefulness there presented themselves. * * * The field is already occupied by two gentlemen of the same political party, whose opinions as to our Federal politics are supposed to harmonize with those of the major- ity of the voters, and if, in this condition of strife in the party, I could be successful in running in be- tween the two, I could not regard the success as desirable.
Again in 1861, before he was elected to the convention of that year and before the passage of the ordinance of secession, when it was suggested by those speaking with authority that he would be given a seat in President Lincoln's cabinet if he would ac- cept it, he promptly declined to entertain the proposition. In a letter written on Jan- uary 18, 1861, to the gentlemen presenting the question for his consideration, he said :
I have several times seen my name mentioned in the newspapers in connection with a seat in Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, but nothing has reached me from any quarter authorizing the supposition that those notices contained anything more than the mere speculations of the writers. If, however, as you seem to think, there is any real foundation for these reports, I have no hesitation in relieving the ques- tion at once of all embarrassment, for I have none of that vanity which might induce me to seek the eclat of a direct offer for a cabinet appointment. My habits of life, my pursuits, my tastes and incli- nations are all opposed to official station and with the exception of a brief service in the Legislature of my State, I have taken but small part in the political affairs of the country. Necessarily there- fore I must be but little prepared for the duties of a cabinet office. But if these objections did not stand in the way, there are others of a public nature that
would make it impossible for me to accept the place. With the new administration the Republican party is to be inaugurated into power and I under- stand that party to claim the right to exercise the Federal power to the prejudice of the institution of slavery as it exists in this country and to be committed to a policy that subordinates the inter- ests of the fifteen of the associated States to the interest of the other eighteen. Neither the letter nor the spirit of the Constitution warrants such a policy and it is no less condemned by the plain prin- ciples of justice and equity.
These considerations have taken firm hold of the Southern mind and unless the fatal policy is dis- avowed and measures be shortly taken to secure the Southern people against the recurrence of the obnoxious pretensions, it seems to me from present indications, that the new administration will find itself in a position to devote its exclusive energy to the more tasteful duty of cherishing the interests alone that pertain to the favored eighteen. I am strongly attached to the Union and believe that the best interests of both sections will suffer from its overthrow, but if the principles of equity and jus- tice on which it was established are disregarded by the government which springs from it, the latter must be reformed in its practices and so amended in its Constitution as to make it conform in the future to the principles on which the former reposes. I think the slaveholding States ought not, cannot and will not submit to any party, policy or power that denies to the interests that spring from slave labor the same consideration and respect that is extended by the government to the interests that spring from free labor. In this there must be strict equality. I regret to say that as yet I have discovered no movement in this direction on the part of any of the party leaders in Congress, and yet it must be obvious that in this way only can the Union be pre- served. I know it is extremely difficult for poli- ticians in the flush of victory to retrace their steps and abate from pretensions on which the battle was fought, but if in the ardor of the conflict they have gone too far and been betrayed into positions inconsistent with equality and justice, can they not upon sober thought surrender extreme pretensions, and strike hands with those who would cherish the Union and mold the government so as to make it perpetual? In December last I addressed a letter to a friend in Washington, expressing my views touching our present embarrassments, in which these considerations were more fully adverted to; that letter will be published and from it you will more readily apprehend how impossible it would be for one holding out such sentiments to give the sanction of his name to a policy or a party obnox- ious to these objections.
Upon the passage of the ordinance of se- cession, Mr. Scott at once returned to his native county to join in the preparation for the defense of his state. He organized and equipped a company of infantry, the War- renton Rifles, and his son, R. Taylor Scott, a gallant soldier and Christian gentleman, the future attorney-general of his state, be- coming its captain, served with distinction
1028
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
throughout the war. His one regret was that he, too old for service in the ranks, was unfitted for military command. Later, in the spring of 1862, when marauders were terrorizing his community, he gathered to- gether a few of his older friends and neigh- bors and led them in the pursuit. Sur- rounding the marauders in a house a few miles west of Warrenton, insensible to fear, he stepped up to demand their surrender, when without a word, through the partially open door, he was shot through the heart and instantly killed. Thus untimely died, foully murdered by two stragglers from the Federal army, one of the ablest and most devoted to Virginia's many able and de- voted sons.
In the full vigor of his intellect and the maturity of his great powers, foreseeing with the unerring vision of a prophet, the full consequences of his act, with unswerv- ing loyalty and unshaken courage, without a moment's hesitation he laid his all upon the altar of his state and rests to-day in a lonely grave far from the haunts of the teeming multitude. He rests well and sleeps peacefully at his beloved Oakwood, his an- cestral home, in the bosom of the county whose delight it was to honor him, ever relying upon his power, his wisdom and his services, a reliance which never failed and to which he was true even unto death.
Over his grave there stands a marble shaft, upon which is inscribed the follow- ing simple but eloquent tribute: "His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him, that nature might stand up and say to all the world, 'This was a man'."
In the "Richmond Dispatch" of May 9, 1862, a few days after his death, there ap- peared the following just tribute to his memory :
THE LATE ROBERT E. SCOTT.
This eminent citizen, who was foully murdered by a gang of Yankee marauders we yesterday alluded to, was a native of Fanquier and oldest son of the late Judge John Scott of that county, one of the most eminent jurists of his day. The family are all distinguished for talent; Captain John Scott, who was the original commander of the Black Horse Troop, and Dr. Martin Scott, formerly a professor in the Medical College of this city, younger broth- ers of Robert E., having already earned a high reputation, the one by his political writing and the other by his skill in his profession.
Robert E. Scott was educated at the University of Virginia, which he entered during the first ses- sion in 1825, and did not leave until he had passed
through all the classes, he took at college the stand which he maintained through life. He became noticed at once among his companions for his high spirit and lofty contempt of anything mean or shuf- fling, not less than for his powerful understanding, and earnest application to his studies. Throughout the time of his sojourn at the University, he stood among the first in his classes, and left the institu- tion with a high reputation of a mind stored with knowledge, he commenced the practice of law about the year 1830, and almost at a bound placed him- self on the same platform with the best and oldest of his associates. What he once gained he never lost. His application was equal to his talent, and he improved every day to the hour of his death. When that deplorable event occurred, he was among the ablest lawyers Virginia has ever pro- duced. Between the years 1835 and 1840 he was elected to the Legislature from his native county, and continued to represent it for many years. Among the many men of powerful talent who were in the Legislature during the time of his service he met with no superior. Had it been his fortune to represent his district in Congress it is believed that he would have made a national reputation, not in- ferior to that of any man who has represented Vir- ginia in its time. He was in the late Convention and was distinguished for the zeal with which he opposed secession, as long as he believed it possi- ble consistently with honor to hold on to the Union.
Robert E. Scott was a man with the most inflex- ible integrity. He thought for himself, and he thought powerfully. When his convictions were once settled, he maintained them with unflinching tenacity. Yet his firmness great as it was never degenerated into brute obstinacy. He was always open to reason, and if he seldom changed his mind it was because he was accustomed to study every question thoroughly before he made it up. He is believed to have been a perfectly just man, and his high spirit could not brook the manifestation of injustice on the part of others. Had he been a younger man he would doubtless have been a dis- tinguished officer in this war, for he had all the requisites of a great general except experience. Calm, unshaken courage; a high order of talent; great force of character; a will as determined as that of Ceasar and that talent for commanding the obedience of men without which all other talents are thrown away upon a general. It must make the blood of every Virginian boil in his veins when he thinks upon his fate. ROBT. E. SCOTT.
Robert Eden Scott married Henningham Watkins Lyons, daughter of James Lyons, of Richmond, born in 1800, died December 18, 1882, and his wife, Henningham (Wat- kins) Lyons ; James Lyons was distinguish- ed as a lawyer in Richmond and as a mem- ber of the Confederate States congress.
Robert Eden Scott Jr. was born in Fau- quier county, Virginia, October 15, 1858. He attended the Warrenton Male Academy, the Virginia Military Institute, and Rich- mond College, from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the
1029
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
year 1880. He began the active practice of his profession at Roanoke, Virginia, in 1882, and remained there until the year 1904, when he removed to Richmond and there engaged in active practice, and is now one of the leading attornies of that city, his own personal preference determining for him the choice of his life work. Mr. Scott is a mem- ber of the Phi Delta Theta, Greek Letter Society, Richmond Chapter, and of the com- monwealth and Westmoreland clubs of Richmond, Virginia. He is also a mem- ber of the St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church, of Richmond. He is especially fond of hunting and fishing.
Mr. Scott married, November 11, 1885, Mary, daughter of Henry and Susan F. (Hall) Arthur, of Loudoun county, Vir- ginia. They have had four children, only one of whom is living at the present time (1915) : Arthur Dulany, who is now a stu- dent at Woodbury Forest in Virginia.
Some of Mr. Scotts' noted ancestors were : Rev. John Scott of Scotland; Mr. James Lyons, who was at one time rector of Wil- liam and Mary College (Dr. Tyler is familiar with his Lyons pedigree and can tell more about it than Mr. Scott himself) ; John Scott was distinguished as a lawyer and judge, and as a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention; Robert Edgar Scott was distinguished as a lawyer and as a member of the Session Convention; Peter Lyons was distinguished as an advocate in the early days of the State and as a member of the Supreme Court of Appeals; James Lyons was distinguished as a lawyer in Richmond and as a member of the Confed- erate States Congress.
Carrington. The paternal ancestor of Alexander Broadnax Carrington was Colo- nel George Carrington, born in Saint Philip's Parish, Barbadoes, West Indies, in 17II, son of Dr. Paul Carrington, of Barba- does, by his second wife, Henningham (Cod- rington) Carrington ; the latter named died in 1673, and she was a granddaughter of Christopher Codrington, Esq., who in the time of Charles I. moved with his entire property to the Island of Barbadoes.
Colonel George Carrington came to Vir- ginia with his brother-in-law, Joseph Mayo, in September, 1723. Mr. Mayo had been a merchant in Barbadoes. After he arrived in Virginia he purchased land and opened a
store near the foot of the falls of the James river, the ancient seat of the chiefs of the Powhatan tribe of Indians. George Car- rington resided with him for some years as assistant storekeeper. Prior to June 26, 1732, he married Anne, daughter of Major William Mayo, the surveyor, who conveyed to the young couple a tract of land on Willis river containing two thousand eight hun- dred and fifty acres. This property they named "Boston Hill," and on it they settled about two miles from the mouth, in the present county of Cumberland. At the No- vember court, 1734, George Carrington, who had been commissioned by the president and masters of William and Mary College, qualified as an assistant surveyor of Gooch- land county, also at the same time qualified as justice of the peace of the county. He patented immense tracts of land, bought from others, and was possessed of a very large estate. He was burgess from Gooch- land county in 1747 and 1749 from the new county of Cumberland, and practically served continually until 1765. He was a captain in 1740, major in 1743, and later lieutenant-colonel and colonel of Goochland county. On the organization of the new county of Cumberland, May 22, 1749, he was made first county lieutenant and presid- ing justice. From 1774 to 1776 he was chair- man of the Cumberland county committee. He was a vestryman, or church warden, from early manhood until death. He died at his seat in Cumberland county, February 7, 1785. and on February 15, 1785, his wife, Anne (Mayo) Carrington, followed him, after a happy married life of fifty-three years. Their wish, often expressed, was granted, death coming to them both at about the same time. From Colonel George Car- rington spring the Carringtons of Virginia, with their many noted collateral lines, Cabell, Venable, Mayo, and many others.
Judge Paul Carrington, son of Colonel George and Anne (Mayo) Carrington, was born March 16, 1733. About 1748-50 he went to that part of Lunenburg which is now Charlotte county, Virginia, to study law under Colonel Clement Read. He began to practice at the age of twenty-one, and hav- ing practiced in his county as an attorney for twelve months, in May, 1755, he re- ceived a license to practice law. He met with success in his profession from the be- ginning. He resided at "Mulberry Hill,"
1030
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
near the junction of the Little Roanoke with Staunton river on a beautiful site. He was appointed King's attorney of Bedford coun- ty, May 3, 1756; major of Lunenburg niilitia, 1761 ; colonel of Charlotte militia, December 3, 1764; represented Charlotte in the house of burgesses from its first forma- tion from Lunenburg in March, 1765, until 1772; was appointed King's attorney of Mecklenburg, November 3, 1767; of Bote- tourt, May 4, 1770; of Lunenburg, October 18, 1770; county lieutenant and presiding judge of Charlotte, April II, 1772; clerk of Halifax county, November 17, 1772. He was a member of the Mercantile Association of 1770; of the Convention of August, 1774; chairman of the Charlotte county commit- tee, 1774-76. This committee, at its meeting on January 13, 1775, indorsed the resolu- tions of the late Continental congress, and at its meeting on February 6 passed strong resolutions respecting persons suspected of disloyalty to the American cause. He was a member of the Convention of March 20- 27, 1775, and of that of July 17 to August 26, 1775. He was a member of the first state committee of safty, August to December, 1775 ; of the convention of December 1, 1775, to January 20, 1776; of the second state committee of safety, January to July, 1776; of convention of May 6 to July 5, 1776. He was a member of the house of delegates from 1776 to 1778. He was elected a judge of the first general court of the new repub- lican form of government, January 23, 1778, under the act of October session, 1777, and commissioned, February 28, 1778. and so continuing became one of the judges of the court of appeals, as organized by the act of May session, 1779, which exalted position he continued to fill until the constitution of the court of appeals was changed by the act passed by the general assembly, December 22, 1788. He was again chosen under the new constitution a member of the same court, and continued to discharge the duties thereof until 1807, when he resigned. He was a member of the celebrated convention of June 2-27, 1788, and voted for the consti- tution. His letter of resignation, dated Jan- uary I, 1807, addressed to Governor Wil- liam H. Cabell, begins thus : "Having served my country for forty-two years, without intermission-twenty-nine of those years devoted to the judiciary Department-and being now in the seventy-fifth year of my
age, I think it time for me to retire from public business to the exalted station of a private citizen." He was for many years vestryman and church warden of Cornwall Parish.
Judge Carrington married (first) October I, 1755, Margaret, daughter of Colonel Clement Read. She died May 1, 1766. He married (second) March 6, 1792, Priscilla Sims. She died September, 1803. Judge Carrington died January 23, 1818, at his residence in Charlotte. Among his children were: Henry, Mary, Robert, Paul, Lettice. Paul (2) Carrington, son of Judge Paul and Margaret (Read) Carrington, was born Sep- tember 20, 1764. He was speaker of the legislature ; a member of the general court nineteen years, and as such held the first circuit court of Charlotte. He was a man of fine mind, and of the highest integrity, wielding much influence in the community in which he lived. He married Mildred H. Coles, daughter of Walter Coles, of Halifax county. She was a woman of strong char- acter and great intelligences. He died on January 8, 1816, leaving a widow and seven children, five sons and two daughters: Gen- eral Edward, who married Eliza Preston, sister of William C. Preston ; William Allen. married Sarah Scott; Paul S., of whom fur- ther ; Walter, married Alice Cabell and Anne Hix; Annie, married Dr. Fontaine and Mr. William B. Green, of Charlotte county ; Lightfoot, who married Isaac Coles; Isaac, married Sarah E. Read; he was his father's youngest child, and inherited his home, Syl- van Hill, in Charlotte county.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.