SCRUTCHFIELD, LOWRY HAMPTON (1824-1900). Lowry Hampton Scrutchfield, settler, the son of Fleming and Nancy Pool Scrutchfield, was born on June 11, 1824, in Nacogdoches. Some ten years later Lowry's widowed mother moved her family to Nashville-on-the-Brazos in Milam County, where they lived in the home of her oldest son, John C. Pool. Here Lowry spent his late childhood and met Maj. George B. Erath,^qv from whom he learned Indian scouting and surveying. He accompanied Erath in 1845 to the South Bosque valley, where he met the Neil McLennan^qv family and moved into their home. Scrutchfield assisted Erath in laying out the townsite of Waco village, and Robert A. Ross listed Lowry as being one of the twenty-one persons who built the first cabin in Waco. In 1851 Lowry Scrutchfield married Nancy Proffitt, and the couple moved to Bosque Territory, settling on the east side of the Bosque River several miles north of the site of present Valley Mills. One of the first original settlers in Bosque Territory, Lowry Hampton Scrutchfield emerged as the leader of the small group of pioneers who explored, settled, and organized Bosque County. He was elected the first county judge of the county on August 7, 1854, a position he held until 1858. Moving to Searsville, he helped form the first Masonic lodge there. During the almost fifty years that he lived in Bosque County, Scrutchfield played a leading role in its political affairs. In addition, much of his time was spent in defense against Indian attacks. He died on November 21, 1900.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bosque County History Book Committee, Bosque County, Land and People (Dallas: Curtis Media, 1985). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Elizabeth Torrence