R. Taylor Scott and R. Carter Scott Collection
Content Description
The collection consists of correspondence and papers pertaining to the legal and political careers of Robert Taylor Scott and Richard Carter Scott, father and son, Virginia lawyers, judges, and politicians. The Scotts were partners in a Richmond based law firm, Scott & Scott, and both served as Virginia's Attorney General in the late nineteenth century.
Series I: Book contains the copy of the book Manual of the Senate and House of Delegates of Virginia, 1893-1894.
Series II: Correspondence is organized by the receipient of the correspondence. These are separated into four subseries, Richard Carter Scott, Robert Taylor Scott, Tazewell Ellett, and Fragments. Fragments consists of letters with an unknown receipient and partial letters. Within each subseries, they are organized by year. Each year contains a list of authors and letter dates.
Series III: Papers consists of documents related to both Scotts, along with some unknown papers. Richard Carter Scott's papers contains an application for a license, bills, a card, checks, and his children's report cards. Robert Taylor Scott has a legal document.
Information from the original finding aid:
The letters consist of legal and political correspondence, dealing with legal matters and cases the pair faced in both private practice and as Attorney General or while serving on the bench. There are also numerous letters dealing with Virginia politics especially the efforts of Robert Taylor Scott to secure the nomination as Democratic candidate for Attorney General in 1893 and 1897. The archive also includes a series of 45 letters from and to Tazewell Ellett who was one of Scott’s main backers in the campaign. The letters document Virginia state politics at the time – in particular the contest between the interests of eastern and “southwestern” Virginia. The letters detail the efforts to secure political support among convention delegates from central and “south-western” Virginia for R. Taylor Scott. The correspondence describes the process, favors are sought or those previously given pointed out, etc. Most of the correspondents in this archive were also Virginia lawyers and politicians of the era, most of whom were veterans of the Confederate States Army.
One of Judge R. Carter Scott’s cases, in which his decision was reversed by the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals played a major role in ameliorating the lives of African Americans in Virginia in the early 20th century. A decision of far-reaching importance was rendered by the Supreme Court of Appeal of Virginia, sitting at Wytheville. It was the case of People’s Pleasure Park Company, Inc. vs. Rohledger. The Circuit Court of Henrico, Judge R. Carter Scott, presiding was reversed. This was the case where the colored company purchased Fulton Park as a pleasure resort and the white people of the neighborhood objected to the sale and instituted proceedings to prohibit the use of the park by colored people. An injunction was sued out before Judge R. Carter Scott and granted to be effective, when the bond specified therein was furnished. The case was finally heard upon its merits and the injunction made perpetual. Messrs, Smith, Moncure and Gordon were counsel for the defendants and it was by the persistent efforts of that firm that the far-reaching decision was rendered. The Supreme Court has thus decided that the injunction should not have been granted. The opinion was handed down Thursday, June 11, 1908. We call attention to the fact that this decision is of more far-reaching importance to the colored people of this State that any that has been rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States. It makes a citizen feel, whatever his race or color may be that he can get justice in this commonwealth. Race prejudice will not be permitted to interfere with the issuance of that evenhanded justice for which this State is noted. It also establishes beyond cavil the fact that a Negro’s property rights are as safe in Virginia as they are in any other State of the Union and that so long as he exercises his rights in a lawful way he will be protected in the exercise and enjoyment of those rights. We have always had a high opinion of our Supreme Court but now we feel that those rights that we cannot get through the decisions of that tribunal, we are ready to go without”
Dates
- 1890 - 1927
Language of Materials
The materials in this collection are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Biographical
Robert Taylor Scott
Robert Taylor Scott was born on March 10, 1834. He was a Virginia lawyer, politician, and served as an officer in the Confederacy. He was elected three times as the Attorney General of Virginia. He served one term in the Virginia House of Delegates, along with several terms as mayor of Warrenton, Virginia.
His father Robert Eden Scott was a Virginia lawyer, planter, and delegate for Fauquier County, Virginia. Scott received a private education and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1856.
He married Frances 'Fanny' Carter Scott in Fauquier, Virginia, on May 25, 1858. Fanny was the president of the Black Horse Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Her father, Richard Henry Carter, had also served in the Virginia House of Delegates. The couple had nine children, Richard Carter Scott (1859-1928), Elizabeth Taylor Scott (1861-1862), Robert E. Scott (1866-1867), Mary Welby Scott Keither (1870-1958), Rosalie Taylor Scott Hardin (1871-1962), Julian (1873), Robert (1879-1884), and Edward (1885).
After reading law under his father, Scott was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1857. In the 1860 Federal Census, Scott did not own real estate. The Census shares that he owned six enslaved individuals, half of whom were under the age of seven. The enslaved individuals were $3,490 in "personal property" for Scott. His father, Robert Eden Scott, owned thirty-four enslaved individuals in 1860, and half were under the age of fifteen.
When Virginia seceded from the Union, Scott recruited a company called either Scott's Company or the Beauregard Rifles by July 30, 1861. Commissioned by a captain, Scott served under the local Commonwealth Attorney, Col. Eppa Hunton, who had been a Secession Convention delegate and later was promoted to rank of Brigadier General. Scott was trained by Major and later Lt. Col. Norborne Berkeley. Scott was Captain of Company K and his father-in-law of Company B, both served in the 8th Virginia Infantry. Rising to the rank of major during the American Civiil War, Scott served on the staff of Confederate General George E. Pickett, and his father-in-law of the staff of General Robert E. Lee. His father, however, died in 1862 defending the family's property from Union deserters.
After the war, Scott entered into a private legal practice with James Vass Brooke, which lasted until 1894. Brooke had been Fauquier County's delegate tot he Virginia General Assembly as the Civil War began.
After the restoration of civil rights to Confederate veterans, Scott won election to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868 representing Fauquier County. In 1870, he became Warrenton's mayor. In 1881, he followed his father's and father-in-law's path and won election as a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly, representing Loudoun and Fauquier counties.
Virginia voters elected Scott as Attornery General in 1889. He succeeded Rufus Ayers, and he won re-election twice. Scott litigated the state debt and negotiated what came to ben known as the olcutt settlement. He was also active in the Episcopal Church. Scott died in office in 1897, and his son Richard was appointed to take his place. He was buried in Warrenton, Virginia.
Richard Carter Scott
Richard Carter Scott was a lawyer, judge, and politician who served as the Attorney General of Virginia as a member of the Democratic party from 1897 to 1898.
He was born on July 25, 1859, to Robert Taylor Scott (1834-1897) and Frances 'Fanny' Carter Scott (1838-1923). Scott graduated from the University of Virginia whereupon he went into banking, before becoming an attorney. Scott married Lucy Ellen Blair (1869-1953) on November 25, 1891, and went on to have four children.
Upon the death of Scott's father, Governor Charles Triplett O'Ferrall appointed Scott to complete the remainder of his late father's term as Virginia's Attorney General on August 11, 1897. In 1904, Scott was elected judge of the Circuit Courts of Henrico County and the City of Richmond. Scott died in Richmond, Virginia, on January 27, 1928.
Sources:
Dealer paperwork.
Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Marriage Registers, 1853-1935 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022. Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA; Virginia Marriages, 1853-1935. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/145258%3A62154
Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/2519651%3A60525
Extent
1 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)
Abstract
The collection consists of over 500 correspondence and papers pertaining to the legal and political careers of Robert Taylor Scott and Richard Carter Scott, father and son, Virginia lawyers, judges, and politicians. The Scotts were partners in a Richmond based law firm, Scott & Scott, and both served as Virginia's Attorney General in the late nineteenth century.
Arrangement
The collection is organized chronologically by type of material and individual.
Source of Acquisition
The collection was purchased by Special Collections in July 2024.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
The guide to the R. Taylor Scott and R. Carter Scott Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the R. Taylor Scott and R. Carter Scott Collection was completed in August 2024.
- Title
- R. Taylor Scott and R. Carter Scott Collection, 1890 - 1927
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kaitlynn Harless, Graduate Assistant
- Date
- 2024 (CC0 1.0)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu