MONROE COUNTY, GA - BIOGRAPHIES   Thomas G. Scott

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THOMAS G. SCOTT, planter, Brent, Monroe County, Georgia, son
of Peter and Eliza S. (Gary) Scott, was born in Newton
County, Georgia, December 12, 1828.  The family is of Scotch
descent, whose ancestors, as also those of Gen. Winfield
Scott, were adherents of Charles Edward, the pretender.
Persecution which followed the defeat at Culloden in 1745
compelled them to flee from England, and they came to
America and settled on the Appomattox River in Dinwiddie
County, Virginia, about the middle of the century.  Mr.
Scott’s grandfather and other members of the family were
soldiers in the Patriot Army in the Revolutionary War.
Between 1790 and 1800 his grandfather, Thomas Scott,
together with two brothers, Woodlief and Frederick Scott,
migrated with their families to Georgia and settled in
Hancock County.  Here Mr. Scott’s father was born in March
1800 and grew to manhood.  He married his wife in Newton
County, but he lived on and cultivated his plantation in
Hancock County until his death.  Six children were born to
them:  Thomas G., the subject of this sketch; H.G., who,
after faithful service in the Confederate Army, was killed
at the battle of Chickamauga; Duke H., died at the age of
twenty-six; Elizabeth, married William H. Means, who was
killed at Sharpsburg.  She afterward married W.W. Lawrence,
and is now deceased.  Peter W. died in his youth; Benjamin
S. served in the Confederate Army and is now a planter in
Monroe County.  Mr. Scott’s father was a very quiet man,
conducted his planting interest with excellent judgment and
success and was highly esteemed.  Politically he had
excellent judgment and success and was highly esteemed.
Politically he was a Democrat.  In religion himself and his
wife were ardent, working Methodists; he a pillar in, and
both are alive to, the interests and advancement of
Methodism.  He died in 1853 and she in 1856.  Thomas G.
Scott was reared in Hancock County and educated at Emory
College, Oxford, Georgia, whence he graduated in 1853, with
the degree of A.B. and taking the first honor.  Adopting the
profession of teaching he taught first at Sparta, Hancock
County, three years; next at Eatonton, Putnam County, two
years; and then at Forsyth – the first teacher and principal
of Hilliard Institute – until near the close of the war.  He
made his residence where he now lives in 1862.  Mr. Scott
was married December 25, 1859, where he now lives, in the
room now his family room, in which all his children were
born, to Miss Emma L., daughter of Early and Lucy (Wilder)
Cleveland.  Mr. Cleveland came from Elbert County, Georgia,
to Monroe County early in the twenties, and, although not a
college graduate, became one of the most distinguished and
successful educators in that part of the state.  Among
others he prepared for college were Rev. Edward Myers, D.D.,
and ex-Judges Robert P. Trippe and Alexander Speer, men who
rose and rank high as members of the legal fraternity and of
the judiciary, and in the councils of the state and nation. 
His educational work covers thirty years of time – the scope
of its influence none can measure.  Mr. Cleveland was a
successful planter as well as a ripe scholar and eminent
educator.  He was an ardent Whig and a prominent and devoted
Methodist.  To Mr. and Mrs. Scott eight children were born: 
Milton C.; Lucy S., wife of George P. Rankin, Macon,
Georgia; Lizzie E., died in infancy; Thomas G., Jr., student
at Emory College; Mary; Alice; Early Cleveland; and Edwin;
all at home.  His attractive old-time home – “Pleasant
Grove” – is one of culture and refinement, sunshine and
happiness; himself well read on all subjects, his wife a
congenial companion and his children educated and
intelligent.  It has been the home of his wife since she was
two years old.  Mr. Scott is a Democrat, and Royal Arch
Mason.  He is a devoted, working Methodist, has been a local
preacher forty-one years – thirty-six of them in the
community in which he lives.  In 1877 he was elected county
school commissioner of Monroe County, and has held the
office continuously since.  His reputation as an educator
extends far and wide.