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.
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Dallas Herald, February 8, 1868. John H. Jenkins, ed., The Papers of the Texas Revolution, 1835–1836 (10 vols., Austin: Presidial Press, 1973). Memorandum Book of Applications for Land, Texas General Land Office, Austin. Texas Sentinel, March 4, 1840. Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, eds., The Writings of Sam Houston, 1813–1863 (8 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1938–43; rpt., Austin and New York: Pemberton Press, 1970).
Categories:
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Third Legislature (1849-1850)
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Fourth Legislature (1851-1853)
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House
Time Periods:
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Texas Revolution
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Republic of Texas
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Antebellum Texas
Places:
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Houston
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Upper Gulf Coast
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East Texas
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Mary E. Decherd,
“Scott, James W.,”
Handbook of Texas Online,
accessed July 01, 2022,
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/scott-james-w.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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Original Publication Date:
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1952
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Most Recent Revision Date:
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November 14, 2017
This entry belongs to the following Handbook Special Projects:
