I didn't know he lived in Glasgow for a short time. The description of his public speaking prowess and interest in temperance and religion fits what we already know of him very well.
Showing posts with label Thomas Chalmers Scott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Chalmers Scott. Show all posts
Monday, February 2, 2015
Scottish Obituary for Thomas Chalmers Scott
From The Dundee Courier, Friday January 12, 1877, p. 4.
I didn't know he lived in Glasgow for a short time. The description of his public speaking prowess and interest in temperance and religion fits what we already know of him very well.
I didn't know he lived in Glasgow for a short time. The description of his public speaking prowess and interest in temperance and religion fits what we already know of him very well.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Obituary of Sarah (Hawley) Scott
From the Ontario Evangelist, Vol 1, Number 12, April 1887, Guelph, Ontario:
Monday, July 14, 2014
Thomas Chalmers Scott's Toronto Property
In his will, Thomas Chalmers Scott left four adjacent pieces of property to his children; three with houses built on them, and one lot which was being used as a garden. Scott refers to this property as being on Shuter Street. I have also found references in his obituary to property he owned on Pembroke Street. (Pembroke and Shuter are both in the same area, close to Allan Gardens in Toronto.) What was this area like when the Scott family were living there? I have found an interesting online publication which gives us an idea of the development of the area which the Scott family would have seen. It's called A Storied Past: The History of 103 Pembroke Street and it was produced by Caerwent House Stories.
William Allan, a Scottish immigrant who became Toronto's first postmaster and customs collector, became wealthy through various business ventures and in 1819 bought a hundred acre property, covered in original pine forest, in the area which includes both Pembroke and Shuter Streets. On this land he built an estate called Moss Park, after his childhood home in Scotland, Moss Farm. William Allan had only one child who survived to adulthood, George William Allan. William gave his son half of the family property when George William married, and George William inherited the entire estate upon his father's death in 1854, and in 1854 he began to subdivide and sell off land.
From the Toronto Public Library website:
From A Storied Past: The History of 103 Pembroke Street:
"It was in 1855, the year of his election as Mayor, that George W. Allan officially registered the subdivision in which Pembroke St. was located. At that time, perhaps due to the fact that he was now holding office, George Allan began to sell off the 64 lots he had created within Plan 150. Two of those lots, Lots 43 and 44, were sold in 1855 to one Thomas Chalmers Scott, who was perhaps a friend of Allan’s father. Like William Allan before him, Thomas C. Scott was a customs official, his official title was that of Surveyor of Customs. Thomas C. Scott bought the two properties in 1855 and by the early 1860's had built a substantial two-storey brick house on the property which was designated as 99 Pembroke St. He lived there with his family, which at the time of his death in 1876
included one daughter and two sons. Thomas Scott was a devoted Baptist, and according
to his obituary, held regulars religious meetings at his home (Appendix 1). In 1876,
Thomas Scott died and at that time his heirs sold the south part of Lot 43, Plan 150 to Frederick J.A. Stewart."
Thomas Chalmers Scott would probably spin in his grave to hear himself described as a Baptist; he was a Disciple of Christ. I am not at all sure that he held religious meetings in his home--his obituary says that he "erected a meeting-house on Pembroke Street", which to me implies that this was a separate building. The address given, 99 Pembroke Street, is in fact closer to Allan Gardens than to Shuter Street. Thomas Chalmer Scott's wife Ann Galloway had died in 1854, a year before Scott bought this property; he would move in with his second wife Sarah Hawley. I'm not sure his children ever lived there. His son John Galloway Scott was married by the 1860s and living with the Elliot family, right next door to his father and stepmother, according to the 1861 census.
In the 1871 census, he is still in St. David's ward. It's hard to tell if he is in the same dwelling, but he has different neighbours.
"Originally or by 1858, there were approximately three large houses with perhaps a few adjacent
carriage houses, etc. on this subdivision... Further south, there were more houses; however, the street was still not heavily developed. In the years from 1858 to the end of the 1870's the street’s popularity grew, eventually becoming one of the city's most prestigious addresses, which become home for many of Toronto's wealthiest manufacturers, judges, lawyers, and the like. For instance, during
the late 1860's Paul Kane – the well known Canadian painter who lived from 1810 to 1871
– owned property on Pembroke St. During the period up until the 1870's, the street was
not fully developed and was fairly rustic...During the later part of the 18th century, Pembroke St. continued its position as a premier address. In 1878 a pavilion modeled after London’s famous Crystal Palace was erected, and 1885 the grounds were beautified, adding to the prestige to the
community.".
William Allan, a Scottish immigrant who became Toronto's first postmaster and customs collector, became wealthy through various business ventures and in 1819 bought a hundred acre property, covered in original pine forest, in the area which includes both Pembroke and Shuter Streets. On this land he built an estate called Moss Park, after his childhood home in Scotland, Moss Farm. William Allan had only one child who survived to adulthood, George William Allan. William gave his son half of the family property when George William married, and George William inherited the entire estate upon his father's death in 1854, and in 1854 he began to subdivide and sell off land.
 |
| Moss Park, Home of the Hon. G.W. Allan and family, circa 1898. The home no longer exists. |
From the Toronto Public Library website:
 |
| 1854. "Villa Lots for Sale on the Moss Park Estate Toronto the Property of G.W. Allan Esq." |
From A Storied Past: The History of 103 Pembroke Street:
"It was in 1855, the year of his election as Mayor, that George W. Allan officially registered the subdivision in which Pembroke St. was located. At that time, perhaps due to the fact that he was now holding office, George Allan began to sell off the 64 lots he had created within Plan 150. Two of those lots, Lots 43 and 44, were sold in 1855 to one Thomas Chalmers Scott, who was perhaps a friend of Allan’s father. Like William Allan before him, Thomas C. Scott was a customs official, his official title was that of Surveyor of Customs. Thomas C. Scott bought the two properties in 1855 and by the early 1860's had built a substantial two-storey brick house on the property which was designated as 99 Pembroke St. He lived there with his family, which at the time of his death in 1876
included one daughter and two sons. Thomas Scott was a devoted Baptist, and according
to his obituary, held regulars religious meetings at his home (Appendix 1). In 1876,
Thomas Scott died and at that time his heirs sold the south part of Lot 43, Plan 150 to Frederick J.A. Stewart."
Thomas Chalmers Scott would probably spin in his grave to hear himself described as a Baptist; he was a Disciple of Christ. I am not at all sure that he held religious meetings in his home--his obituary says that he "erected a meeting-house on Pembroke Street", which to me implies that this was a separate building. The address given, 99 Pembroke Street, is in fact closer to Allan Gardens than to Shuter Street. Thomas Chalmer Scott's wife Ann Galloway had died in 1854, a year before Scott bought this property; he would move in with his second wife Sarah Hawley. I'm not sure his children ever lived there. His son John Galloway Scott was married by the 1860s and living with the Elliot family, right next door to his father and stepmother, according to the 1861 census.
 |
| 1861 Census, St. David's Ward. Thomas Scott's family is living in a 2 storey brick house on King Street East, north side. |
"Originally or by 1858, there were approximately three large houses with perhaps a few adjacent
carriage houses, etc. on this subdivision... Further south, there were more houses; however, the street was still not heavily developed. In the years from 1858 to the end of the 1870's the street’s popularity grew, eventually becoming one of the city's most prestigious addresses, which become home for many of Toronto's wealthiest manufacturers, judges, lawyers, and the like. For instance, during
the late 1860's Paul Kane – the well known Canadian painter who lived from 1810 to 1871
– owned property on Pembroke St. During the period up until the 1870's, the street was
not fully developed and was fairly rustic...During the later part of the 18th century, Pembroke St. continued its position as a premier address. In 1878 a pavilion modeled after London’s famous Crystal Palace was erected, and 1885 the grounds were beautified, adding to the prestige to the
community.".
I find it exciting to know that that Thomas Chalmers and his wife lived in the same neighbourhood as Paul Kane. I wonder how well they knew him?
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Who Were The Parents of Ann Galloway?
Ann (Galloway) Scott is the wife of Thomas Chalmers Scott, and the mother of John Galloway Scott, David Scott and Catherine Ann (Scott) Elliot. Who were her parents?
We have a birth year of 1802 for Ann, based on her tombstone, which says that she was 52 years old at her death on September 1, 1854. We also have the record of her marriage to Thomas; they were married in Dundee, Scotland on December 12, 1833. The record names Ann's father as John Galloway, but does not give an occupation. Thomas was working as a draper at this time. Thomas and Ann were both of the Dundee parish. Ann would have been 31 years old in 1833, and Thomas would have been 27. Unfortunately this time period is too early to be covered by census records.
David Oliphant's Christian Banner ran an obituary for Ann but mentioned nothing about her birth place or family.
According to familysearch.org, there was an Ann Galloway born on October 16, 1802 to a John Galloway and his wife Margaret Harly. The birthplace is Clackmannan, Scotland. The year and the name fits but more research is needed before we can definitively state that John and Margaret are indeed the parents of Ann (Galloway) Scott.
We have a birth year of 1802 for Ann, based on her tombstone, which says that she was 52 years old at her death on September 1, 1854. We also have the record of her marriage to Thomas; they were married in Dundee, Scotland on December 12, 1833. The record names Ann's father as John Galloway, but does not give an occupation. Thomas was working as a draper at this time. Thomas and Ann were both of the Dundee parish. Ann would have been 31 years old in 1833, and Thomas would have been 27. Unfortunately this time period is too early to be covered by census records.
David Oliphant's Christian Banner ran an obituary for Ann but mentioned nothing about her birth place or family.
According to familysearch.org, there was an Ann Galloway born on October 16, 1802 to a John Galloway and his wife Margaret Harly. The birthplace is Clackmannan, Scotland. The year and the name fits but more research is needed before we can definitively state that John and Margaret are indeed the parents of Ann (Galloway) Scott.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Obituary for Ann (Galloway) Scott
Ann Galloway, wife of Thomas Chalmers Scott, is a family member I haven't been able to find out much about. Her birth family and location is unknown. I found an obituary for her in David Oliphant's newspaper The Christian Banner of October 1854, on page 280.
Unfortunately it doesn't tell us anything about her early life. It is interesting that the informant is William Elliot; yet another example of the close connection between the Scott and Elliot families.
Unfortunately it doesn't tell us anything about her early life. It is interesting that the informant is William Elliot; yet another example of the close connection between the Scott and Elliot families.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Portrait of Thomas Chalmers Scott
This portrait of Thomas Chalmers Scott, father of John Galloway Scott and immigrant to Canada from Scotland, is in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was painted by William Sawyer in 1850. Oil on canvas. Thomas Chalmers Scott was a very charismatic and passionate speaker and lay preacher. It's interesting to see a family portrait from several generations back--there's a lot of intelligence in his face, I think.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
The Unhappy Death of David Scott
It occured to me the other day that Thomas Chalmers Scott and Anne Galloway had three children, and I really only knew about two of them; John Galloway Scott, the son through whom we descend, and Catherine Anne Scott, who married Robert Watt Elliot. Both of them lived and died in Toronto. But Thomas' obituary mentions says he is survived by two sons, and the Scott immigration documents list Thomas, Anne, John, Catherine and David Scott. I set out to find more about David Scott and why he disappeared from the family record. A little searching revealed several newspaper articles and a sad story indeed.
This is from The New York Times, November 3, 1887:
This is from The New York Times, November 3, 1887:
"DAVID SCOTT IN HIDING
AND A PAPER FIRM'S FUNDS MISSING
VERNON BROTHERS AND CO. FIND THAT A
PARTNER HAS HELPED HIMSELF TO
$100,000.00 AND DISAPPEARED
Under stress of great financial difficulties, David Scott, a business man prominent in his line, and a well known club man, has absconded, leaving his firm in the lurch for $100,000.00. The firm of Vernon Brothers and Co....[own] several large paper mills in the East...[and are] stockholders in several other paper milling establishments for which it is also the selling agent. Among these is the Ivanhoe Manufacturing Company, of Paterson, N.J....
...Mr. Thomas Vernon made the following statement yesterday: 'David Scott, a prominent member of this firm, came to us as a boy about thirty years ago. He was bright and intelligent, and rapidly rose in the estimation of my brother, Samuel Vernon...and of myself, and about five years later he was admitted to a small partnership interest, which was increased about 17 years ago, when my brother died. Mr. Scott was a cultivated man and respectably connected in Ontario, Canada, whence he came. His father was Surveyor of Customs at that port, and, as a zealous member of the Church of the Disciples, occasionally preached from its pulpits. He has a brother and other relatives there also, all of them highly respectable people. I had known Mr. Scott to be a good liver for years, but had no knowledge of any bad habits of his until recently. Then I learned that he had got into expensive habits, and was neglecting business for the race track and other forms of dissipation. It shortly after came to my knowledge that he had considerably overdrawn what he was entitled to as a member of the firm. I am an old man, and, having every confidence in Mr. Scott, I gave his management of the finances of the firm but superficial attention.
When I discovered what I have told you I asked him what he had done with the money he had drawn out, and he said he had made some investments in Manitoba, but of what character he did not say. When I asked him if he could not realize upon his investments and return the money he merely shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands as indicating that he could not convert them into money. Last Saturday week...I had just returned from the bank, where I had learned of the existence of certain negotiable obligations of ours which I had no previous intimation. I had a talk with him about it and about certain parties with whom he was associating to his injury and ours. He seemed sober at the time, but hadn't his accustomed cheerfulness and seemed oppressed with the weight upon his mind of some impending evil. He gave me no satisfaction regarding our affairs, nor did he intimate any intention of going away. But I saw him then for the last time...
...Mr. Scott was a member of the Lotos and two or three other fashionable clubs. He lived quietly...but liked fast horses and expensive associations, and has lately given the time to those which we supposed he was devoting to business in Paterson and among our customers...An old friend of Mr. Scott said he was generous to a fault, and was a source of charitable aid to all his embarassed compatriots at all times. For years he had lived at the rate of $15,000 to $20,000 a year, and he was hail fellow well met in all society..."
The New York Times followed this article up on November 4, 1887:
"The disappearance of Mr. Scott...under circumstances indicative of suicide...has painfully shocked a large circle of men of prominence in this city who have been his friends. That he could have been guilty of premeditated dishonesty none of them will believe. He is said to have been the wheelhorse of the firm to which he is connected. He was its widest-known member in the trade, and upon him devolved entirely the entertainment of its customers. One of his intimate associates said that if he had drawn $40,000 beyond his account from Vernons the firm had got the better of it, for Mr. Scott's personal expenses had not, to his knowledge, exceeded $3,000 a year for the last three years...
...S. Webber Parker, Treasurer of the Ivanhoe [paper] Manufacturing Company, said he had no doubt Mr. Scott had committed suicide, and that his body would be found somewhere about Niagara Falls in the course of a few days. A telegram from a brother-in-law in Toronto yesterday [this must have been Robert Watt Elliot] said that Scott had not been seen there. His personal effects, clothing, and some furniture... remained as he had left them when he left away. Some friends yesterday paid the small balance due his landlady, and removed the effects to a storage room..."
On November 7, 1887, the New York Times published a third article, this time detailing John Galloway Scott's visit to New York to investigate his brother's disappearance:
"DAVID SCOTT PROBABLY DEAD/THE INVESTIGATIONS OF HIS BROTHER INTO THE CAUSE OF HIS FLIGHT
The strange disappearance last month of David Scott...is still exciting much interest. John G. Scott, of Toronto, who is a brother of the missing man, arrived here Friday for the purpose of straightening out his brother's affairs. Saturday morning Mr. Scott called on Thomas Vernon, the senior member of the firm, and urged him to sign a statement exonerating David Scott from all criminal action. Mr. Vernon later wrote a letter to the brother, in which he said, as to the statement that he had charged Mr. Scott with forgery: 'This is false. I never charged him with this or any other criminal offense. With all his faults, and they were many, he had a warm and generous heart, which gave him a large circle of friends.'
Mr. Scott said his investigation confirmed him in his belief that his brother had committed suicide by jumping off the suspension bridge at Niagara. In a letter written from the falls to Albert Hall, of the Lawrenceville Cement Company, David said: 'I long for final rest.'...'My brother was connected with the firm of Vernon Brothers and Co. for thirty years' he said. 'The first five years he was employed as a clerk, and was then taken into partnership with 40 per cent. of the profits as his portion. He...was soon given the management of the entire business. I accordingly expected to find him worth at least $500,000, but I am told his account is overdrawn to the amount of $60,000. That is a matter I can't understand. With the exception of about $2,000 this overdrawn account consists of notes advanced for the support of one of the paper mills which the firm was carrying....the whole transaction is regularly entered in the books of the firm and can hardly have escaped the notice of Mr. Vernon or the other partners....Experts are now examining the books of the firm, and I hope to return home by Tuesday with every stain removed from my brother's memory."
The Paterson Weekly Press of Paterson, New Jersey, ran an extensive article on November 10, 1887:
"DAVID SCOTT DISAPPEARS // THE PRESIDENT OF THE IVANHOE PAPER COMPANY GOES TO PARTS UNKNOWN.
The New York newspapers this morning announce the disappearance of Mr. David Scott, the president of the Ivanhoe Paper Company, of this city. When the control of the paper mill passed out of the hands of Mr. Henry V. Butler a majority of the stock was bought by Mr. Scott and Mr. S. Webber Parker and they have since managed the concern. Mr. Scott was very well known in Paterson and nearly everybody had a kind word for him. After the recent explosion Mr. Scott showed himself as a kind-hearted and liberal man, willing to do all he could to alleviate the sufferings of those who had been injured. He visited the hospital where the wounded were lying and personally saw to it that they were provided with everything they could wish for, having given directions that the expense be charged to himself...
...R.F. Ware, vice-president of...[ I.X.L. Fireworks company] said: 'Neither myself nor others of Scott's friends doubt that he will turn up before long. He repeatedly threatened suicide of late, but in the opinion of those who knew him it is not probable that he would go to Niagara Falls to do so. All that I have seen think that he is suffering temporary aberration of the mind.'
...An intimate friend of Mr. Scott said yesterday: ' Mr. Scott's private charities will never be known. He was generous,charitable, and open handed. There are three tombstones in Greenwood that he has had erected over young men who had died friendless. One of these was the son of William Lyon MacKenzie, the Canadian patriot of 1837. Many men have told me with tears in their eyes of what Scott has done for them. He has been a changed man for a year past, has drank some and been to races, but I can't understand what he has done with his money.'
Mr. Scott has a brother in Toronto, John G. Scott, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Province of Ontario. A letter was received from that gentleman yesterday by a friend of David Scott, announcing that the missing man was not in Toronto. John G. Scott went to Niagara Falls to look for his brother. The latter's name was found registered at the Cataract House, but nothing was known of him at the hotel.
...S. Webber Parker...said: 'Scott borrowed $20 from me the day before he left, which proved that he hadn't any money with him. His physician had warned him that he was working too hard, and would die of apoplexy if he persisted. He told me that he would kill himself before any such thing would happen. I believe that he found that his money was all gone, and that he was gradually losing his place in the firm he was with, and ended his life in a fit of despair. I know that the stories that Scott lived a fast life are false. He spent a great deal of money entertaining customers who came to town, and paid the expenses for this hospitality out of his own pocket instead of charging them to the firm. This accounts for his having overdrawn his account with Vernon Brothers. There is more underneath all this than now appears on the surface, and it will come out one of these days, I hope.'
The same paper transcribed a copy of a suicide note that David Scott had written to a "warm friend", Mr. Albert Hall. The letter was dated N.Y. Suspension Bridge, October 23, 1887 and was postmarked October 25th:
"Dear Albert,
By the time this reaches you I shall have gone to another world, but before I take the final step I want to say some things and ask you to do some. For months--I may say two years--I have had no real sleep. Slept I have, but it was a disturbed and (?)ful sleep. I went to bed tired and rose more so. Now, with the idea of another life, there is a feeling of exultation that is difficult to put into words. Therefore I won't attempt it. I feel that I am to take a rest, which I have not had for twenty years. *** Now, old fellow, I have said about all I want to on business matters, and I only ask you to remember me as we were. The fates have seemed against me. I have labored hard. Now it is over. I don't know that I have much to regret. I have tried to be generous and just, despite what some and appearances may say. Yours faithfully, D. Scott."
David Scott would have been around 49 years old when he took his life. It must have been a deep blow to the whole family. It sounds like he spoke of his suicidal thoughts to several people, but they were unable to help him. Thankfully his mother and father had already passed away by 1887. It's hard to know from these reports whether Scott made some bad investments, gambled money away on horse races, or just spent too much of his own money propping up a failing business. Did he keep "fast" company? Despite his life's tragic ending, he sounds like a person of great warmth, charisma, and generosity.
...Mr. Thomas Vernon made the following statement yesterday: 'David Scott, a prominent member of this firm, came to us as a boy about thirty years ago. He was bright and intelligent, and rapidly rose in the estimation of my brother, Samuel Vernon...and of myself, and about five years later he was admitted to a small partnership interest, which was increased about 17 years ago, when my brother died. Mr. Scott was a cultivated man and respectably connected in Ontario, Canada, whence he came. His father was Surveyor of Customs at that port, and, as a zealous member of the Church of the Disciples, occasionally preached from its pulpits. He has a brother and other relatives there also, all of them highly respectable people. I had known Mr. Scott to be a good liver for years, but had no knowledge of any bad habits of his until recently. Then I learned that he had got into expensive habits, and was neglecting business for the race track and other forms of dissipation. It shortly after came to my knowledge that he had considerably overdrawn what he was entitled to as a member of the firm. I am an old man, and, having every confidence in Mr. Scott, I gave his management of the finances of the firm but superficial attention.
When I discovered what I have told you I asked him what he had done with the money he had drawn out, and he said he had made some investments in Manitoba, but of what character he did not say. When I asked him if he could not realize upon his investments and return the money he merely shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands as indicating that he could not convert them into money. Last Saturday week...I had just returned from the bank, where I had learned of the existence of certain negotiable obligations of ours which I had no previous intimation. I had a talk with him about it and about certain parties with whom he was associating to his injury and ours. He seemed sober at the time, but hadn't his accustomed cheerfulness and seemed oppressed with the weight upon his mind of some impending evil. He gave me no satisfaction regarding our affairs, nor did he intimate any intention of going away. But I saw him then for the last time...
...Mr. Scott was a member of the Lotos and two or three other fashionable clubs. He lived quietly...but liked fast horses and expensive associations, and has lately given the time to those which we supposed he was devoting to business in Paterson and among our customers...An old friend of Mr. Scott said he was generous to a fault, and was a source of charitable aid to all his embarassed compatriots at all times. For years he had lived at the rate of $15,000 to $20,000 a year, and he was hail fellow well met in all society..."
The New York Times followed this article up on November 4, 1887:
"The disappearance of Mr. Scott...under circumstances indicative of suicide...has painfully shocked a large circle of men of prominence in this city who have been his friends. That he could have been guilty of premeditated dishonesty none of them will believe. He is said to have been the wheelhorse of the firm to which he is connected. He was its widest-known member in the trade, and upon him devolved entirely the entertainment of its customers. One of his intimate associates said that if he had drawn $40,000 beyond his account from Vernons the firm had got the better of it, for Mr. Scott's personal expenses had not, to his knowledge, exceeded $3,000 a year for the last three years...
...S. Webber Parker, Treasurer of the Ivanhoe [paper] Manufacturing Company, said he had no doubt Mr. Scott had committed suicide, and that his body would be found somewhere about Niagara Falls in the course of a few days. A telegram from a brother-in-law in Toronto yesterday [this must have been Robert Watt Elliot] said that Scott had not been seen there. His personal effects, clothing, and some furniture... remained as he had left them when he left away. Some friends yesterday paid the small balance due his landlady, and removed the effects to a storage room..."
On November 7, 1887, the New York Times published a third article, this time detailing John Galloway Scott's visit to New York to investigate his brother's disappearance:
"DAVID SCOTT PROBABLY DEAD/THE INVESTIGATIONS OF HIS BROTHER INTO THE CAUSE OF HIS FLIGHT
The strange disappearance last month of David Scott...is still exciting much interest. John G. Scott, of Toronto, who is a brother of the missing man, arrived here Friday for the purpose of straightening out his brother's affairs. Saturday morning Mr. Scott called on Thomas Vernon, the senior member of the firm, and urged him to sign a statement exonerating David Scott from all criminal action. Mr. Vernon later wrote a letter to the brother, in which he said, as to the statement that he had charged Mr. Scott with forgery: 'This is false. I never charged him with this or any other criminal offense. With all his faults, and they were many, he had a warm and generous heart, which gave him a large circle of friends.'
Mr. Scott said his investigation confirmed him in his belief that his brother had committed suicide by jumping off the suspension bridge at Niagara. In a letter written from the falls to Albert Hall, of the Lawrenceville Cement Company, David said: 'I long for final rest.'...'My brother was connected with the firm of Vernon Brothers and Co. for thirty years' he said. 'The first five years he was employed as a clerk, and was then taken into partnership with 40 per cent. of the profits as his portion. He...was soon given the management of the entire business. I accordingly expected to find him worth at least $500,000, but I am told his account is overdrawn to the amount of $60,000. That is a matter I can't understand. With the exception of about $2,000 this overdrawn account consists of notes advanced for the support of one of the paper mills which the firm was carrying....the whole transaction is regularly entered in the books of the firm and can hardly have escaped the notice of Mr. Vernon or the other partners....Experts are now examining the books of the firm, and I hope to return home by Tuesday with every stain removed from my brother's memory."
 | |||||||
| Currier and Ives print of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge |
The Paterson Weekly Press of Paterson, New Jersey, ran an extensive article on November 10, 1887:
"DAVID SCOTT DISAPPEARS // THE PRESIDENT OF THE IVANHOE PAPER COMPANY GOES TO PARTS UNKNOWN.
The New York newspapers this morning announce the disappearance of Mr. David Scott, the president of the Ivanhoe Paper Company, of this city. When the control of the paper mill passed out of the hands of Mr. Henry V. Butler a majority of the stock was bought by Mr. Scott and Mr. S. Webber Parker and they have since managed the concern. Mr. Scott was very well known in Paterson and nearly everybody had a kind word for him. After the recent explosion Mr. Scott showed himself as a kind-hearted and liberal man, willing to do all he could to alleviate the sufferings of those who had been injured. He visited the hospital where the wounded were lying and personally saw to it that they were provided with everything they could wish for, having given directions that the expense be charged to himself...
...R.F. Ware, vice-president of...[ I.X.L. Fireworks company] said: 'Neither myself nor others of Scott's friends doubt that he will turn up before long. He repeatedly threatened suicide of late, but in the opinion of those who knew him it is not probable that he would go to Niagara Falls to do so. All that I have seen think that he is suffering temporary aberration of the mind.'
...An intimate friend of Mr. Scott said yesterday: ' Mr. Scott's private charities will never be known. He was generous,charitable, and open handed. There are three tombstones in Greenwood that he has had erected over young men who had died friendless. One of these was the son of William Lyon MacKenzie, the Canadian patriot of 1837. Many men have told me with tears in their eyes of what Scott has done for them. He has been a changed man for a year past, has drank some and been to races, but I can't understand what he has done with his money.'
Mr. Scott has a brother in Toronto, John G. Scott, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Province of Ontario. A letter was received from that gentleman yesterday by a friend of David Scott, announcing that the missing man was not in Toronto. John G. Scott went to Niagara Falls to look for his brother. The latter's name was found registered at the Cataract House, but nothing was known of him at the hotel.
...S. Webber Parker...said: 'Scott borrowed $20 from me the day before he left, which proved that he hadn't any money with him. His physician had warned him that he was working too hard, and would die of apoplexy if he persisted. He told me that he would kill himself before any such thing would happen. I believe that he found that his money was all gone, and that he was gradually losing his place in the firm he was with, and ended his life in a fit of despair. I know that the stories that Scott lived a fast life are false. He spent a great deal of money entertaining customers who came to town, and paid the expenses for this hospitality out of his own pocket instead of charging them to the firm. This accounts for his having overdrawn his account with Vernon Brothers. There is more underneath all this than now appears on the surface, and it will come out one of these days, I hope.'
The same paper transcribed a copy of a suicide note that David Scott had written to a "warm friend", Mr. Albert Hall. The letter was dated N.Y. Suspension Bridge, October 23, 1887 and was postmarked October 25th:
"Dear Albert,
By the time this reaches you I shall have gone to another world, but before I take the final step I want to say some things and ask you to do some. For months--I may say two years--I have had no real sleep. Slept I have, but it was a disturbed and (?)ful sleep. I went to bed tired and rose more so. Now, with the idea of another life, there is a feeling of exultation that is difficult to put into words. Therefore I won't attempt it. I feel that I am to take a rest, which I have not had for twenty years. *** Now, old fellow, I have said about all I want to on business matters, and I only ask you to remember me as we were. The fates have seemed against me. I have labored hard. Now it is over. I don't know that I have much to regret. I have tried to be generous and just, despite what some and appearances may say. Yours faithfully, D. Scott."
David Scott would have been around 49 years old when he took his life. It must have been a deep blow to the whole family. It sounds like he spoke of his suicidal thoughts to several people, but they were unable to help him. Thankfully his mother and father had already passed away by 1887. It's hard to know from these reports whether Scott made some bad investments, gambled money away on horse races, or just spent too much of his own money propping up a failing business. Did he keep "fast" company? Despite his life's tragic ending, he sounds like a person of great warmth, charisma, and generosity.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Family Field Trip to the Necropolis Cemetery
Last weekend, on a beautiful autumn day, Doug, Ewan and I took a walk in Toronto's Necropolis Cemetery. Our mission: to photograph the Scott family gravestones that we had found on a previous trip, and to find the Elliot family gravestones which the Toronto cemetery database assures us are there. Katrina declined to join us; for some unfathomable reason, she thought it would be "boring"!
There is a simple white gravestone for John Galloway Scott and his wife, Mary Elliot Scott, lying on the ground on the south-east corner of the grounds. Directly beside it is a rather more imposing monument in red granite. The monument marks the grave site of Thomas Chalmers Scott and his first wife Ann (Galloway) Scott, as well as their son John Galloway Scott and his wife Mary (Elliot) Scott.
Here's a shot of the whole monument, and the shady trees surrounding it. You can see the smaller stone embedded in the grass beside it.
The monument reads:
The Necropolis is a lovely historic cemetery which was opened in 1850 to replace the Potter's Field cemetery, and is located (conveniently for us) right behind Riverdale Farm. It has a High Victorian Gothic chapel and many historic gravestones, including that of William Lyon MacKenzie, first mayor of Toronto, which we pointed out to Ewan (he was not at all impressed). It is also where Jack Layton is buried. His grave had many flowers and a fresh-looking bottle of Orange Crush on it.
Here's a shot of the whole monument, and the shady trees surrounding it. You can see the smaller stone embedded in the grass beside it.
The monument reads:
In Memoriam
Thomas Chalmers Scott
Surveyor of Customs, Toronto
Died 18th December 1876
aged 70 years
Ann Galloway his wife
died 1st September 1854
aged 52 years
"Blessed be the dead who die in the Lord"
And, on the adjacent side:
In memory of
John Galloway Scott Q.C.
Master of Titles
Died 22nd June 1928
in his 92nd year
Mary Elliot his wife
died Feb. 16, 1937
in her 96th year.
The grave site of William Elliot's family was supposed to be close by, but search as we might, we couldn't find it. It didn't help that Ewan decided that he was a) cold, b) bored and c) tired as soon as we started searching, and couldn't be persuaded that the hunt for a dead relative's grave was like a detective game. We'll have to make a second trip before winter, just the two of us.
We did find a grave related to the Lesslie family, friends of T. C. Scott
Stay tuned for a return visit!
We did find a grave related to the Lesslie family, friends of T. C. Scott
And right beside it, an Oliphant tombstone. I don't know if these are relatives or not--I'm not aware that any of "our" Oliphants ever lived in Toronto:
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The Disciples of Christ and the Rutherford Line
A: They are all direct ancestors of my husband on the Rutherford side of his family, and they and their families were all highly active in a new (at the time) religious movement called The Disciples of Christ (which is currently known as The Church of Christ (Disciples)). Thomas Chalmers Scott in particular is still remembered by Church historians as a strong and passionate leader within the early movement, but fascinatingly, the family now only seems to remember the secular side of his life (he was employed for most of his time in Canada as the Surveyor of Customs for the port of Toronto). Who exactly were the Disciples, what did they believe, and what do they remember about our ancestors?
The Disciples of Christ was a North American church, coming into being in the mid-eighteen-thirties in Ontario, slightly earlier in the United States. There were two main streams of influence on its development in Canada, the first being the Scottish Baptist church and the second being the writings and preachings of Barton W. Stone in Kentucky and Thomas and Alexander Campbell in Western Pennsylvania (the influence of these men in the United States became known as the Stone-Campbell movement or the Restoration movement). The Disciples of Christ was very much a back-to-basics group, rejecting the idea that congregations needed pastors or ministers to interpret the Bible for them, and believing that Christian philosophy, creeds and customs developed by church hierarchies since the time of Jesus were irrelevant and divisive. They aspired to unite Christians under a simple and rational reading of the New Testament, stripping away as much as possible any potential source of disagreement. They believed in full-immersion baptism (which was later to have disasterous effects for Scott), church groups led by elders, and, in the early years at least, the silence of women in the Church (as advocated by St. Paul). They were highly evangelistic, and in consequence, many of the church leaders traveled frequently and developed ties to neighbouring communities where they had helped "plant" congregations. Unfortunately for me as an amateur historian, early primary records are sometimes sketchy (at first the Disciple congregations tended to consist of a small group of people meeting in someone's house, with no systemic record keeping). Fortunately, there is a lot of recorded oral history around the early years, and beginning in 1846 David Oliphant Jr.(Oliphant Senior's son and the brother of Mary Oliphant, through which the family line descends) began publishing a series of monthly journals, which he would continue for the next forty years.
Probably the most dynamic and interesting of my husband's Disciple ancestors is Thomas Chalmers Scott, the father of John Galloway Scott. Scottish records show us that Thomas C. Scott was born March 28, 1806 in Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland to David Scott and Katharine Greig, and that on December 12, 1833 he married Ann Galloway in nearby Dundee, Scotland.
According to his obituary (the Toronto Daily Globe, December 15, 1876) "during the emigration excitement of 1842 in Great Britain, he made up his mind to come to America, intending to settle in some part of the Western States. Upon his arrival in New York, however, he met with Mr. James Lesslie, of his city, who persuaded him to come to Toronto, and took him into his employment...Though of Presbyterian parentage he attached himself early in life to the Scottish Baptists, the tenets of which denomination are somewhat similar to those of the body known as "The Disciples" in Canada and the United States." He would have been in his early 40s at the time of his immigration. He appears to have lived in Detroit, Michigan for at least a short period before his move to Toronto, for he is listed as one of the early members of the Disciples congregation in Detroit, begun by Joseph Hawley sometime before1842. The Disciple connection was perhaps how he met James Lesslie, whose family were also Disciples, although Scott's obituary in the Bible Index (2nd series, I, 1, Jan. 1877, 18-22) claims that he and the Lesslies had "mutual friends in Dundee". This obituary also tells us more about Scott's conversion away from the church of his parents: "As a young man, he studied with a small group of his peers, with the result that he left the Presbyterian Church, joined the Independents, then determined to be baptized. He along with a dozen others formed a church."
When Scott and his family arrived in Toronto in 1842, they joined a group of about 33 Disciples meeting in "a brick building on Shuter Street" which had been started by James Beaty. It seems that Scott and Beaty did not see eye to eye, for in 1846 there was a rupture and Scott led a group away from the Shuter Street congregation, starting and supporting a congregation on Richmond Street (which later moved to Pembroke Street, where Scott built a meeting house for the congregation). The Lesslie family sided with Scott and followed him to Richmond Street. The church histories I have read don't say exactly what precipitated the quarrel, but according to historian Geoffrey Ellis, "The impression is left that there was not room for two strong-minded men in the Shuter Street church and that the Richmond Street group was the more 'progressive' of the two." ("The Restoration Churches in Toronto", pg. 6). Beaty was a strong business leader in the city, had just been elected Alderman of the St. Lawrence ward in Toronto, and eventually became a representative in Canada's first parliament, so he was obviously no shrinking violet. It speaks to Scott's own independent mind and strength of conviction, I think, that he would go up against such a well-connected and formidable figure.
Scott took a leading role in the church from then on. As well as regularly preaching in Toronto, he frequently travelled to other communities within Ontario to speak and convert. Joseph Ash, whose memories of the early church were recorded in some of David Oliphant's journals, paints a vivid portrait of a visit Scott paid to Bowmanville in 1846.
"It became known that John Simpson, a wealthy, active and intelligent miller and merchant, was much exercised over his spiritual state. He was not a member of any church, but an attendant and very liberal supporter of a congregational church. We in Oshawa had just concluded a big meeting at which...T.C. Scott was one of our preachers. As Bro. Scott was quite a favorite of Simpson's, we were induced to go to Bowmanville that Bro. Scott might have some conversation on the subject of religion. We (I think four of us) called at Simpson's store, and found him in his office. Scott and him were in the office alone for a short time, but soon the 'Minister' Climie came and went into the office, having some hint of what was going on...The 'Minister' came out and walked the floor in quite an excited state and went back into the office, and tried to induce Simpson all he could not to be baptized, thus interrupting them, and repeated the interruption several times. Some 12 or 15 of us spectators were in feverish anxiety about the result. At length the door opened, and our hearts beat high with joy and exultation at the announcement made by Scott, 'I am happy to tell you' (addressing us from Oshawa) 'that Mr. Simpson is to be baptized immediately, and we are going to the lake past Elder Burk's, and you, Bro. Ash, are to go at once, call on Elder Burk, notify them and find the best place for the baptism.' O, the excitement there was in the village. Men were on the run along nearly every street giving notice of the coming event...Mr. Climie...was the first...to go to the lake...[followed] by a long train of carriages...We called at Elder Burk's, made the news known to their great joy...The 'minister'...did his utmost to persuade Mr. Simpson to abandon his baptism... Making no impression on Simpson he commenced an argument against immersion with Elder Burk, who resigned the argument to Bro. Scott...[who] bowed Mr. Climie away and led Mr. Simpson into the water..."
Simpson was an important and wealthy man who would later become a Senator. I feel sorry for poor Minister Climie...you can really feel his anguish over losing a prominent member of his congregation in such a public manner! As my husband pointed out, Scott's job in the customs house was likely quite seasonal, with a lighter workload during the winter months as the port would be iced over, which would leave him with a lot of travel time during some parts of the year. However, it seems that sometimes his own congregation felt that he spent too much time on the road and not enough with them.
An exciting event for the Disciples took place in 1855; Alexander Campbell, the highly influential American partially behind the Stone-Campbell movement, paid his only visit to Canada, accompanied by his wife. During their time in Toronto they were guests in Scott's home, which I'm sure was both a great honour and an exciting intellectual opportunity for Scott.
 |
| Alexander Campbell |
The visit was headline news throughout Ontario and Campbell spoke twice in Toronto to large crowds, which included some clergymen of other faiths (among them Dr. James Lillie and Dr. Pyper, Baptists, and Dr. Ormiston of the Presbyterian Free Church). Campbell later wrote up this visit in his publication The Millennial Harbinger, and although he spoke graciously about Scott himself, it seems to me that there is a veiled rebuke regarding the Scott-Beaty split in his musings:
"We immediately set sail for Toronto on board a first rate Lake Ontario Steamer. Soon we arrived at the landing. We found Bro. Thomas C. Scott and Bro. Elliot [referring to William Elliot] with a carriage to conduct us to Bro. Scott's, whose Christian hospitality we enjoyed during our sojourn in that city. Bro. Scott is now presiding elder of the church of our brethren in the city and occasionally proclaims the gospel in the surrounding country."
Here comes the scolding:
"Our brethren [in Toronto] are not as prosperous and as co-operative as they might be, or as they should be, and, as we yet hope, they will be. They have talents, learning, and the means of being eminently useful, provided only, that mere order, or mere discipline, or church etiquette, should not usurp the place or province of faith, hope, and love. 'These three' as Paul calls them are paramount to everything in the Christian profession. Paul would have contracted with any church in his day, never to eat flesh or drink wine while the world stood, rather than to wound or cause to stumble a weak brother. The vital principle of church order is brotherly love. Let that abound and all is peace, health and prosperity."
It is possible that the Scott family stood host to several American visitors over the years. The "Ecclesiastical Observer", October 1, 1874, contains a description of a visit to Canada by prominent Disciple Benjamin Franklin (no, not that Ben Franklin!), where he says:
"We met our venerable Bro. Scott of Toronto, visited him at his own house, and found him to be what we have heard him reported to be--a man of fine intelligence, amiable and agreeable in his bearing. He has been known as a preacher of much ability for many years."
Scott's son John Galloway Scott is mentioned occasionally as also travelling to preach for the Disciples, but some time between 1861, where his family is listed on the Canadian census as Disciples of Christ, and 1871, where they are listed as Baptists, he seems to have left his father's church. He and his father-in-law, William Elliot, joined the Jarvis Street Baptist Church and in fact both, along with another former Disciple, William McMaster, donated a great deal of money towards the construction of its present building. I'd love to know why John Galloway switched and what the consequences were for his relationship with his father, who was obviously so passionate about his beliefs. To me, the fact that they are buried together suggests that there was no lasting rift.
Ann Galloway Scott, Thomas's wife, died on September 2, 1854. She is buried, along with Thomas C. Scott, John Galloway Scott and Minnie (Elliot) Scott, at the Necropolis cemetery in Toronto. She had borne him three children. I assume that she shared her husband's faith but I have no direct evidence of this. In 1856 Scott remarried, to Miss Sarah Hawley of Detroit. She was the daughter of Richard Hawley, leader of the Detroit congregation Scott had briefly belonged to and which Sarah had belonged to as well. It is possible that they had kept in touch over the years, or that the families had. The new Mrs. Scott seems to have been a bit more directly involved in Disciple affairs, at one point writing a letter published in one of Oliphant's journals on the importance of supporting Missionary work, which seems to have been an interest of hers. This was a late marriage, and the two had no children together.
On December 13, 1877, Scott passed away. The cause of his death is listed on the death record as "Typhoid Pneumonia". Disciple history (Ellis's article on Toronto Restoration Churches) describes the cause of death in a bit more detail:
" On December 3rd in 1876, four went forward at Pembroke for baptism, and Scott did the baptizing. On the 6th of December, he said, 'I fear I have taken a cold.' He died on the 13th succumbing to typhoid pneumonia and was buried on the 16th. Butchart comments: 'The death of T.C. Scott...was a great blow, from which it [the Pembroke St. Church] never fully recovered. Scott...owned the building, but in his estate the church lost it."
I can only imagine how freezing the waters of Lake Ontario must have been in early December. Knowing Scott, I'll bet he never even flinched.
After his death his wife, the former Miss Hawley, moved back to Detroit. She died ten years later, on February 22, 1887, at age 79. She is buried in Detroit. In her will she left her estate to the Disciples church, in particular to assist with Missionary work. The Memorial Christian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is named in honour of her bequest.
I find Thomas Chalmers Scott an intriguing figure. I picture him as a man of charisma, spiritual dedication and independent thought. I would dearly love to read any of his sermons or writings, but so far I've had no success in finding extant copies of anything coming from his own pen.
As I mentioned earlier, both William Elliot and David Oliphant Sr. were also disciples. Although the Elliot and Scott families appear to have been very close, Disciple history does not say a great deal about William Elliot other than the occasional mention of him as a preacher. The Oliphant family, however, were key players in the development of the Disciples faith in rural Ontario. My next posting will be about them.
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