At the foot of a massive tree in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Warsaw, Indiana, there's a headstone gradually being hidden by its trunk. My 2x great-granduncle Abraham Scott is buried there. I've thought about two decisions that he made in his life and have wondered what made him make those choices. In both cases, he stayed home when others of his family left for the frontier or for war. What caused him to stay behind?
Abraham was born on 7 Jun 1830 in Lexington Township, Stark County, Ohio, the first born child of Caleb Scott and his second wife, Mary Ivins. According to the Biographical and Historical Record of Kosciusko County 1887, Abraham was apprenticed to learn the trades of stonecutting, stonemasonry, and bricklaying when he was 18 years old. For the next fifteen years he practiced the trade in both Stark and Columbiana Counties in Ohio and was one of the masons who built the first brick building in Alliance, Ohio.
In 1850, just two years after his apprenticeship began, the rest of Abraham's family left Ohio, headed west to the newer state of Indiana. Abraham said good bye to his 51 year old father and 41 year-old mother. He said good bye to his siblings: Samuel (18), Emeline (16), William (14), Caleb Shreve (12), Isaac (10), Joseph (8), Mary Jane (7), Joshua (5), Amasa (2), and newborn Nancy Ellen. It must have been a lonely feeling to see the wagons leave, not knowing if he'd ever see his family again. Why did he stay? By the mid-1800s apprenticeships had changed from the formal system followed in England and the American colonies. Very few young men were bound by formal contracts to live under the rule of the master tradesman and instead were paid for their work as they learned the trade. Did Abraham love the trade and want to continue learning more about it? I wonder.
On 28 Oct 1852, 22-year old Abraham married Mary Catherine Hilton Hoils, a widow with three children. Catherine, as she was known, was four-and-a half years older than he was and had three children by her first husband. Over the next ten years Abraham and Catherine lived in Stark County and grew their family with three sons--Caleb Frank in 1853, William in 1856, and James Marion in 1862. Sadly, William died at age 5, just thirteen months before James Marion was born.
In 1862, soon after James was born, Abraham and Catherine left Ohio and followed the road to Kosciusko County, Indiana, where Abraham's family had settled twelve years earlier . In 1863 he and Catherine purchased 155 acres of heavily timbered land in Washington Township of Kosciusko County near the settlement of Packerton. Abraham built a rudimentary log cabin (that must have felt strange for a trained mason) and began the work of clearing the land for planting with only a team of oxen.
During the same two years that Abraham moved and began clearing his new land in Indiana, others men in Indiana were leaving to join the Union army. Six of his brothers made that decision and headed off to the war. But 32-year old Abraham chose to stay home in Indiana with his wife and five children. Four of his brothers who left were young single men; was widowed, with a young daughter; and one was newly married. Did Abraham feel that he had too many responsibilities at home? Did he think it was a war for younger men? I wonder.
Over the course of the rest of his life Abraham transformed his acreage. The Biographical and Historical Record of Kosciusko County 1887 gave this description of the farm:
"His present farm now consists of 155 acres of well-improved land, and his primitive log cabin and sheds have been replaced by one of the best residences in the county, his barns and outbuildings being correspondingly good."
Abraham and Catherine had two more children after moving to Indiana. In 1865 daughter Ida May Scott was born and in 1869 son Isaac L. G. Scott was born. Sadly, in 1872 young James Marion died of typhoid-pneumonia just a few months before his 10th birthday. In 1879 Abraham and Catherine adopted their 5-year old niece Sarah Frush after Abraham's sister Nancy Ellen Scott Frush died. Abraham would live to see a third son die when Caleb Frank Scott passed away in June of 1898.
Six months later on 10 Dec 1898 Abraham himself died. In various local newspapers he was described as a prominent farmer; and old and respected citizen; an upright citizen; and a man widely known for his honesty and Christian character. It was mentioned that he had been ill for two years before his death and that "his death came as a merciful release from the suffering." He was 68 years, 6 months, and 3 days at his passing.
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