Submitted by Ron Locke
Ron wrote:
This story was taken from James M. Scott's civil war
records and several personal interviews with Ruel Lamont Scott
(born 14 November 1907) of Fairfield, Illinois in July-December 1996.
James M. SCOTT was 5 feet 7 ½ inches tall with a fair complexion blue eyes and dark hair. He was a farmer by profession and was born near the city of Waynesburg , Stark County, Ohio, on March 2nd 1838.
His parents were Thomas M. SCOTT and Susan KIMBALL, also born in the state of Ohio. At some point the Scott's decided to head south and moved their family from Ohio to Wayne County Illinois.
James married Sarah Melissa HUTCHINS on April 6th 1861 at her fathers residence near Jeffersonville, Wayne County, Illinois, by Rev George Martin, J.P.
The HUTCHINS family was also originally from Ohio. When Sarah was very young the family departed Ohio with two wagons pulled by mules. They traveled south along the Wabash river to Vincennes Indiana where they crossed the river on a ferry into Illinois and headed west. After several of Sarah's brothers had died of consumption, on the journey west, her mother put her footdown at Quincy Illinois and refused to go any further. They later moved to Wayne County, Illinois and settled. Sarah became the school teacher at Ward School and also made hats for the Milner Hat Store ran by the GRANDEN girls.
At the age of 24, on the 21st of August 1862, James M. SCOTT enlisted in the Union Army at Jeffersonville, Illinois for a period of 3 years. He was given the rank of private in Company of the 111 Regiment, of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry, commanded at the time by Captain Joseph SHULTZ.
Six months after James left with his company, Sarah gave birth to their first child, Martha S. SCOTT on the 7th of February 1863. On March 20th 1863 James received a furlough, presumably, the unit was nearby and he wanted to return home and see his new daughter. Later that year on October 30th James was placed in the U.S. General Hospital No 2, at Paducah, Kentucky.
On 7 August 1864 their daughter Martha S. SCOTT passed away. Although there is no headstone marking the grave, it is believed she was buried on the homeplace below the smokehouse and behind the bee hives near the rail fence. Ruel Scott recalls his grandfather and later his father forbidding the children from digging fishing worms in this area but never told them why.
James received an additional furlough permitting him to leave the hospital and go to Jeffersonville, Wayne County, Illinois, for a period of thirty days in 1864, presumably to attend to the family after the death of his daughter. W.A. Mayfield, the surgeon in charge, requested the furlough by reason of general debility and in his opinion he James) would not be fit for service in the next thirty days. It is not known by this researcher what the exact aliment was that kept James in the hospital for the last two years of his service.
In June of 1865 a telegram was received at headquarters in Springfield, Illinois from the War Department and forwarded to the hospital at Paducah stating, "James M. SCOTT is mustered out by authority of Special Order Number 11 Part I Med ** SVRS Ill dated June 2/65 as authorized by telegram from War Dept. of May 3/65 providing for discharge of patient in hospital to date May 31/65".
Shortly after returning from the war, while James was loading firewood onto his wagon, the mules spooked and the wagon ran over his left leg crushing it foot. It had tobe amputated above theknee to save his life. It is reported that James carved his wooden leg himself from a large branch of the caltapa tree near his house.
Their first son William S. SCOTT was born in 1865. Two years later John C. Scott was born on the 13th of September 1867 followed by Charles E. SCOTT born April 6th 1870; James Fred SCOTT born March 6th 1874; Thomas Montgomery SCOTT born December 12th 1877; Carrie Edythe SCOTT and William S. SCOTT died on the 9th of June 1893. In January 1898, on a pension application, the Scott's reported having the following children living: Charles, James, Thomas, Carrie, and Anna.
On the 18th of May 1912 James declared his eligibility for the Pension Act of May 11, 1912 and was subsequently granted a pension of $24.00 a month on March 2nd 1913 at the age of 75 years, by order of Pension Certificate No 232,125.
Reportedly, James was sick and bedridden in June of 1913 and decided he wanted to be baptized. After a large stock watering tank was placed on the front porch of their house a earby neighbor with a water tank on wheels, used for a thrashing machine, brought water to the house and filled the stock tank. The women boiled water and poured it into the stock tank to warm it. When the preacher, Son-in-law William LAMONT, arrived and all was ready, the men folk carried James from his bed and placed him in the tank with great commotion. Ruel Lamont SCOTT, his grandson remembers this event vividly. He recalls the women all praying and singing and his Grandpa screaming your going to kill me and cursing, and the preacher blessing. Ruel was kept back off the porch out of the way but he could hear everything, he didn't know what they were doing to his grandfather.
A few days later on the 5th of July 1913 at about 5 o'clock am James passed away at his residence near Jeffersonville. The cause of death was listed asdysentery, commonly known as "Flux" at the time, which he had had for a period of about 10 days. He was buried in the Oak Valley Cemetery about ½ mile from his home on the 6th of July at 1:00 am.
After the burial services were concluded several of the men folk, including his son Thomas and a neighbor friend William (Bill) MAUCK, began drinking James' whiskey which was secretly stored in the corn crib in the old barn behind the house. At some point in time the afternoon the women folk found the wooden leg under James' bed and brought it to the attention of the men. Shortly thereafter the men folk realized, James had been buried without his wooden leg. At which point Thomas retrieved it from the women and the two men (slightly intoxicated) decided James needed his wooden leg to get into heaven. The next conclusion was apparent to them...the wooden leg must be placed in the casket.
As the two men returned to the grave site with shovels and the wooden leg in hand the word spread among the others and before long Thomas' sister Anna Lucretia and her husband William G. LAMONT, the preacher, arrived at the grave site and forbid them from digging up the casket. This led to such an argument that Thomas later forbid Anna and her husband from ever stepping foot on the homeplace again, which reportedly William never did. Anna however, would sneak down to see her mother on Saturday's when Thomas went to town. No one knows for sure ... but it is believed the grave site was dug up and the wooden leg was placed near the casket because none of the grandchildren living at the homeplace ever remember seeing the wooden leg again.
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