Reverend John Robert Scott Sr. (1840-41 – February 18, 1929) was a religious and political leader in Florida as well as a college president. He was born into slavery in Virginia. During the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

he became a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and a state legislator. He was chosen in 1870 as the first pastor of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church of

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. He also served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

, representing Jacksonville, from 1868 to 1873 and again in 1879. He was a leading politician in Jacksonville during the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

and a member of the City Council; his group "once

872 Year 872 ( DCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Sancho III Mitarra (or ''Menditarra'') becomes the founder and first 'king' of the indepe ...

had so many representatives in the city government that the entire form of government was changed by an executive act in Tallahassee". In 1893, a photograph documents that he was the president of

Edward Waters College Edward Waters University is a private Christian historically Black university in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1866 by members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church) as a school to educate freedmen and their children. I ...

. His son John R. Scott Jr., earned a Bachelor of Divinity, was also a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (and secretary of its conference, 1889), a member of the Florida Legislature, and a professor of

homiletic In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or ...

s (preaching) at

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* African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy Members of the Florida House of Representatives Edward Waters College faculty African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era History of Jacksonville, Florida Politicians from Jacksonville, Florida 19th-century American slaves 1840s births 1929 deaths Year of birth uncertain African-American state legislators in Florida Edward Waters College African-American history in Jacksonville, Florida {{Methodist-stub

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