John Scott (Missouri politician)

John Scott (May 18, 1782 – October 1, 1861) was a Delegate and a U.S. Representative from Missouri.

John Scott
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's at-large district
In office
August 10, 1821 – March 3, 1827
Preceded byHimself (Delegate)
Succeeded byEdward Bates
Delegate to the
U.S. House of Representatives
from the Missouri Territory's
at-large district
In office
August 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byHimself (Representative)
In office
August 6, 1816 – January 13, 1817
Preceded byRufus Easton
Succeeded byHimself
Personal details
Born(1782-05-18)May 18, 1782
Hanover County, Virginia, U.S.
DiedOctober 1, 1861(1861-10-01) (aged 79)
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican (Before 1824)
National Republican (1824–1834)
EducationPrinceton University (BA)

Born in Hanover County, Virginia in 1782,[1] Scott moved with his parents to Indiana Territory in 1802. He was graduated from Princeton College in 1805. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, in 1806. He owned slaves.[2] He presented credentials as a Delegate-elect to the Fourteenth Congress from the Territory of Missouri and served from August 6, 1816 to January 13, 1817, when the election was declared illegal and the seat vacant.

Scott was elected as a Delegate to the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses and served from August 4, 1817, to March 3, 1821. Upon the admission of Missouri as a State into the Union, Scott was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Seventeenth Congress, reelected as an Adams-Clay Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, and elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth Congress and served from August 10, 1821, to March 3, 1827. He served as chairman of the Committee on Public Lands (Nineteenth Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1826 to the Twentieth Congress. He resumed the practice of law. He died in Ste. Genevieve on October 1, 1861.

Personal life

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Scott had a son, Andre J. Scott who went to the California gold fields. His son was made the treasurer for the company of gold miners he fell in with. One of the men, Chas. Orr Baker of Boston, MA asked him to account for a $9 accounting discrepancy. In a fit of alcohol fueled temper, Andre stabbed the man. His fellow miners found him guilty of murder and hanged near Placerville, California April 3, 1851. Andre requested to be shot to spare his father's feelings because of his position in society, but was denied after a vote.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Lives of Eminent Missourians
  2. ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, January 19, 2022, retrieved July 10, 2022
  3. ^ Hutchings, James Mason (1980). Seeking the Elephant, 1849. The Arthur H. Clark Company.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from the Missouri Territory's at-large congressional district

1816–1817
Vacant
Title next held by
Himself
Vacant
Title last held by
Himself
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from the Missouri Territory's at-large congressional district

1817–1821
Succeeded by
Himself
as U.S. Representative
Preceded by
Himself
as U.S. Delegate
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's at-large congressional district

1821–1827
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the House Public Lands Committee
1826–1827
Succeeded by