John Scott (July 24, 1824November 29, 1896) was an American lawyer and Republican party politician. He served in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

and represented

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Biography

Born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Huntingdon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,092. Its county seat is Huntingdon. The county was created on September 20, 1787, mainly from the northern part of Bedford Cou ...

, John Scott attended Marshall College in

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

. He practiced law in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

from 1846 to 1869. He was a prosecuting attorney from 1846 to 1849. He was a member of the revenue commission in 1851. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in 1862. Scott was elected as a Republican to the

in 1869, and in 1870 convened a

Congressional Inquiry A United States congressional hearing is the principal formal method by which United States congressional committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. Whether confirmation hearings (a procedure unique ...

into the atrocities of the Ku Klux Klan, but was not a candidate for reelection in 1875. He served as Chairman of the

United States Senate Committee on Claims The United States Senate Committee on Claims was among the first standing committees established in the Senate. It dealt generally with issues related to private bills and petitions. After reforms in the 1880s that created judicial and administra ...

during the Forty-third Congress. He moved to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in 1875, and served as general counsel of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was na ...

from 1875 to 1877 and general solicitor from 1877 to 1895. John Scott's father, also named John Scott, served in the U.S. House. Scott's mother Agnes is the namesake of Agnes Scott College in Decatur Georgia. He died on November 29, 1896 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is interred at

The Woodlands Cemetery The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark District on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It includes a Federal-style mansion, a matching carriage house and stable, and a garden landscape that in 1840 was transformed into ...

External links

John Scott collection of letters
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania 1824 births 1896 deaths People from Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Republican Party United States senators from Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery {{Pennsylvania-politician-stub