John Scott (May 18, 1782 – October 1, 1861) was a Delegate and a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Born in

Hanover County, Virginia Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover Courthouse. Hanover County is a part of the Greater Richmond Region. History Located in the wester ...

in 1782, Scott moved with his parents to

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a United States Congress, congressional act that President of the United States, President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an Historic regions of the U ...

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 Ste. Genevieve (french: Sainte-Geneviève ) is a city in Ste. Genevieve Township and is the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,999 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1735 by French Canadian coloni ...

, in 1806. He owned slaves. 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, John Scott was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

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, in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, on October 1, 1861.

Personal Life

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.

References

, - , - , - 1782 births 1861 deaths People from Hanover County, Virginia Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Territory Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Members of the United States House of Representatives removed by contest Missouri lawyers American slave owners 19th-century American lawyers Princeton University alumni {{Missouri-politician-stub