Arthur Taylor Prescott, A. M., DeSoto Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller

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Arthur Taylor Prescott, A. M., has prestige as one of the influential 
figures in the educational circles of his native state and is one of 
the valued and honored members of the faculty of the University of 
Louisiana, where he has held since 1899 the professorship and chair 
of government.  Colonel Prescott, as he is familiarly designated, is 
a scion of a family, of English lineage, that was founded in South 
Carolina in the Colonial era of American history, and certain of his 
ancestors were confederate soldiers in the War of the Revolution.  
The Colonel is a grandson of William Marshall Prescott and Evelina 
(Moore) Prescott, the former of whom was born and reared in South 
Carolina and the latter of whom was born in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, 
where their marriage was solemnized, the closing years of their lives 
having been passed at Washington, St. Landry Parish, this state.  
William M. Prescott was a young man when he came to Louisiana, and 
he became one of the extensive sugar planters and influential citizens 
in St. Landry Parish, where his death occurred shortly before the 
outbreak of the Civil war.

Col. Arthur T. Prescott was born at Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, 
June 11, 1863, and is a son of Ben and Kate (Taylor) Prescott, the former 
of whom was born at Washington, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, in 1839, 
and the latter of whom was born at Georgetown, District of Columbia, in 
1838, her death having occurred, at Washington, Louisiana, in November, 
1878, and her husband having survived her by many years; his death 
occurred at Baton Rouge, December 4, 1914, both having been zealous 
communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church.  Ben Prescott received 
the advantages of the University of Louisiana, and thereafter became 
one of the successful sugar planters in the vicinity of Washington, 
St. Landry Parish, where the major part of his life was passed.  He 
had no ambition for political preferment, but was a stalwart advocate 
of the principles for which the democratic party has ever stood sponsor 
in a basic way.  Of his children, the eldest is William M., who now 
resides in Washington, D. C.;  John died in infancy;  Arthur T., of 
this review, was the next in order of birth;  Harriet is the wife of 
James E. Edmunds, who is a representative lawyer in the City of 
Lynchburg, Virginia;  Evie, who likewise resides at Lynchburg, is 
the widow of John H. McGavock, who died at Wytheville, Virginia, in 
which locality he had been a successful agriculturist;  Eleanor is 
the wife of Edwin C. Ivey, who is engaged in the automobile business 
at Lynchburg, Virginia, where he is identified also with ice 
manufacturing enterprise;  Kate is the wife of James Carter, a lumber 
dealer in that city.

The preliminary education of Col. Arthur T. Prescott was acquired under the 
direction of private tutors and by attending private schools in his native 
parish.  In 1883 he was graduated its the University of Louisiana, from 
which he received at that time the degree of Bachelor of Arts, the degree 
of Master of Arts having later been conferred upon him by his alma mater.  
As an undergraduate he here became affiliated with the Kappa Alpha fraternity.  
After his graduation Colonel Prescott taught school one year at Port Allen, 
and, he next served one year as principal of the public schools of Marshall, 
Texas.  In 1887 he became commandant of the student cadet organization at the 
University of Virginia, and of this office he continued the efficient and 
popular incumbent, with rank of colonel, until 1893, when he resigned.  
In 1894 he became the first president of the Louisiana Industrial Institute, 
at Ruston, where he continued his effective administration five years and 
brought the institution up to high standard.  In 1899 he returned to the 
University of Louisiana, where he has since been professor of government, 
and where he has achieved a splendid work.

Colonel Scott has been steadfast and loyal in his support of the cause of 
the democratic party, the faith of which is his by ancestral predilection 
and personal conviction.  He served as a member of the Louisiana State Tax 
Commission during the administration of Governor Newton C. Blanchard.  He 
and his wife are communicants of St. James Church, Protestant Episcopal, 
at Baton Rouge, and in this city also is he affiliated with St. James 
Lodge No. 47, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.  He is a valued member 
of the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce and the Baton Rouge Golf and Country 
Club, has membership in the American Political Scientific Association, and 
is a member of the Academy of Political Science in the City of New York.  
In the capital city the Colonel is a director of the Commercial Securities 
Company and the Union Homestead Association, and is vice president of the 
Union Bank & Trust Company.  His pleasant family home, a property owned by 
him, is at 741 North Street.  In the World war period Colonel Prescott was 
instant in patriotic service and did much to further the success of the 
local drives in support of the various issues of Government war bonds, 
Red Cross work, etc., besides which he assisted in the giving of the series 
of educational lectures to the soldiers at Camp Beauregard.

On the 4th of January, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Colonel Prescott 
to Miss Nellie Daugherty, daughter of the late John A. and Lucy (Stewart) 
Daugherty, both of whom died in Baton Rouge, where Mr. Daugherty, previously 
a successful business man, lived retired during the closing period of his life.  
In conclusion are entered brief data concerning the children of Colonel and Mrs. 
Prescott: Arthur Taylor, D. V. S., obtained his professional degree from the 
University of Pennsylvania, and is now engaged in successful practice at Baton 
Rouge, he having served as a veterinarian in the United States Army in the 
World war period, for one year, having been stationed at Fort Oglethorpe, 
Georgia, and having received commission as a first lieutenant in the Medical 
Corps.  Lucy Stewart is the wife of Clifford H. King, who is engaged in the 
real estate business in Baton Rouge;  Ben, named in honor of his paternal 
grandfather, is temporarily residing (1924) in Paris, France, where he is 
identified with the banking business, he having been a member of the Students' 
Army Training Corps at the University of Louisiana in the World war period;  
Kate Taylor is a student in the University of Louisiana, and remains at the 
parental home, as does also Elvira Garig, the youngest of the children.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 313-314, by Henry E. Chambers.  
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.