Ancestors

James Murph Scott

James Murph Scott was born on 3 March 1812 at Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee. About 1838 he married Hester Ann McMahon, born in Hempstead County, Arkansas, in 1820. They made their home in Newton County, in the pine woods of deep East Texas along the Sabine River, where their eldest daughter, Mary Jane, was born on 17 February 1839.

Texas was an independent republic then. James served in the militia of the Republic, in the Newton County company commanded by a captain named Swinney, Second Regiment, Second Brigade. The militia was the citizen force each county kept for defense, called out when there was trouble on the frontier.

James and Hester raised eight children who lived to marry: Mary Jane, 1839, who married Wade Richard Cryer; James Benford, 1840; Margarete Caline, 1845, who married a Hawthorne; Felix Grundy, 1847; Frances, called Fannie, 1851, who married a Fuller; Sydney Rice, 1853; Cicely Ann, 1858, who married a Johnson; and Orinda Hester Ann, 1860, who married an Adams.

Hester died in October 1885. Mary Jane had died the year before at Floresville. James died in Newton County on 23 April 1887, aged 75, and was buried in the Watson Chapel Cemetery at Bleakwood. His stone carries the square and compasses of the Masons, and descendants replaced it in 1962.

The stone reads: "At rest, J. M. Scott, born Mar. 3, 1812, died Apr. 23, 1887. Servant of God well done, rest from thy loved employ. The battle fought, the victory won, enter thy Master's joy. Soldier of Christ well done, praise be thy new employ, and while eternal ages run, rest in thy Saviour's joy." His descendants later set a footstone for his service to the Republic and held a ceremony at the grave with Texas flags.

If James Murph Scott is in your family, start your own tree.

Cite: Heirology, "James Murph Scott (1812-1887)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/james-murph-scott-1812-1887-6dd005.