Scott, James W. (ca. 1816–1868)

James W. Scott, legislator, businessman, and mail agent, son of Bennett and Ann (Pulliam) Scott, was born in Richmond, Virginia, about 1816. He arrived in Texas on April 21, 1836. In December he was a lieutenant in the Army of the Republic of Texas and went with Sam Houston to represent the government when Stephen F. Austin was buried at Peach Point. In May 1837 Scott was nominated and confirmed paymaster in the Texas army. In 1840 he was in the auction and commission business with Francis R. Lubbock in Houston. On July 9, 1840, Scott married Isabella Theresa McConnell. They made their home in Harris County, which Scott represented in the Third and Fourth legislatures, 1849–53. As a mail agent he traveled extensively over Texas before the Civil War. He died in Houston on January 30, 1868, and was buried beside his wife in a Houston cemetery.

Another James W. Scott came to Texas from Tennessee at age twenty-seven with his wife, Patsy, three sons, and a daughter in April 1831. He may have been the same James W. Scott who signed the Goliad Declaration of Independence on December 20, 1835.