ENEAS SCOTT, a leading land owner of this county, a fine portrait of whom is to be found on the opposite page, has the warrantee deed to 612 acres, all of which is under a good state of cultivation, and upon which he transacts a general farming business. He makes a specialty of stock-raising, and keeps a goodly assortment of horses, cattle, swine and sheep. He also raises each year a large quantity of grain and other products common to the Prairie State. Personally, he is a fine old English gentleman, master of all the courtesies peculiar to his nationality, and is a man who, from an humble beginning in life, has attained to a high position, socially and financially, by hard work and good management. He is one of those whom the biographer loves to meet, as illustrating what may be accomplished by a steady course of industry and those sterling qualities of character which invariable elevate a man in the estimation of his fellow-citizens.
Sommersetshire, England, was the early tramping ground of our subject, and there his birth took place June 25, 1813. His father, Jonas Scott, of Sommersetshire, was born in 1780, and lived there until 1816. He then emigrated to America, shipping on a sailing vessel from Liverpool, and after an ocean voyage of twelve weeks landed in New York City. Thence, accompanied by his family he proceeded to New Jersey, and settled about fifteen miles from New York City, on a farm. There the parents spent the remainder of their days, the father dying in 1848 and the mother in 1857. The latter was, in her girlhood, Miss Catherine Bond, also a native of Sommersetshire, and born in 1785. Both father and mother were laid to rest in Newark Cemetery, on the banks of Passaic River.
The parents family of our subject comprised four children, viz: Charles, Jonas, Asenath and Eneas. Charles married Miss Williams, of New Jersey, and is now deceased; they had two children - Charles and Adam; the widow remains a resident of Newark. Jonas came to the West, married a Miss Carlisle, of this county, and by her became the father of two children - Ezra and Mary; the first wife died, and he was then married to a Miss Grimsley; they live in Jacksonville, and he occupies himself as a carpenter, although he also owns a farm. Asenath became the wife of Richard Jacovis, a mason and bricklayer; they have three children - John, Pierson and Elijah; the wife is deceased.
Our subject received a limited education, and lived in New Jersey, until reaching man's estate. He was there married to Miss Anna Garrison, of Trenton, who became the mother of two children - George and ENEAS G., and who died in 1840. The son George married Phebe Taylor, of this county, and is occupied as a dairyman in Norfolk, Va.; he is the father of nine children. ENEAS G. married Jane Smallwood, of DeWitt County, Ill., and is farming in Vernon County, Mo.; they have six children.
ENEAS Scott was a second time married, Nov. 20, 1841, to Miss Lois Hand, of New Jersey, and there were born to them five children, of whom the record is as follows: Sylvanus married Lydia Dodsworth, and is farming in this county; they have eight children - Edward, Sally, Rhoda, Gilbert, Ira, Winifred, Anna and Fred. Anna married William Dalton, of this county, but now farming in Vernon County, Mo.; they have three children - Hattie, Lois and Samuel. Johnny married Fannie Favord, of Philadelphia, and occupies a part of the homestead; they have three children - Thomas Jewel and Minnie. Evaline became the wife of David Rawlings, a farmer of this county, and they have four children - Henry, Grace, Nellie and Arthur. Horton H. married Katie Dodsworth, of this county; they have no children.
Mr. Scott, when approaching manhood, learned the trade of a shoemaker, which he followed six years, and after that was employed in a foundry for a period of twenty years. Ten years of this time he was foreman in a Cincinnati establishment. In 1856 he resolved to change his location and occupation, and coming to this county, invested the money he had earned by the labor of his hands in 200 acres of partially improved land. He was prospered in his operations as a tiller of the soil, and added to his real estate by degrees until he attained to his present broad possessions. Mr. Scott is not a member of any religious organization, but endeavors to do by his neighbors as he would have them do by him. He is a Democrat, politically, and belongs to the Masonic Fraternity and the I. O. O. F. His life has been passed quietly and unobtrusively, and aside from holding the township offices, he has mingled very little in public affairs. Notwithstanding this, he is widely known throughout this county, and is held in universal respect.