Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 8 January 2005

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HON. JAMES SCOTT, member of the Legislature, Lebanon; was born in Washington Co., Penn., of Scotch Irish parents, on the 15th of April, 1815. He was educated in Washington College, in that county, studied medicine with R. F. Biddle, M. D., in Monongahela City, Penn., and graduated from the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. He was married to Hannah A. Fowler in Cincinnati in 1841, and commenced the practice of medicine in Greenfield, Washington Co., Penn, in that year. In 1843, he removed to Morrow, Warren Co., Ohio, where he continued in the practice of medicine until 1851, when he moved to Lebanon and continued the practice of medicine there until 1857, when he purchased the "Western Star" paper and became its editor and publisher. In 1859, he was elected to represent his county in the Ohio House of Representatives, in which capacity he was continued until 1866, when he was appointed by Gov. Brough to till a vacancy in the office of Probate Judge of Warren County. In the fall of 1807, he was again elected to represent his county in the Ohio Legislature. In 1869, he was appointed, by President Grant, Secretary of Washington Territory, which position be resigned in 1870, and in that year was re-elected to the Legislature, where he continued until 1874, when he was appointed United States Consul at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands. In 1879, he resigned the consulship and was again elected to the Legislature, where he is now serving. During most of the time he filled the position of Secretary of Washington Territory, on account of the removal of the Governor of that Territory, he was Acting Governor. During part of the time he occupied the position of Consul, he acted as Charge d' Affaires, and represented the American Government at the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom. During almost all his legislative career, he has been either Chairman of the Committee on Finance or of the Committee on the Benevolent Institutions of the State. During his service in the Legislature, almost all the public benevolent and correctory institutions of the State have been erected, and are very largely indebted to him for the qualities that make them the pride of our people and the admiration of other States. While Chairman of the Committee on Finance, he did much toward simplifying the financial methods that have proved so successful in Ohio. In the years 1880-81, while Chairman of that committee, by his indefatigable energy and scrutiny, he reduced the expenditures of the State over $800,000 below what they were in the years 1878-79, when he was not in the Legislature, as is shown in the official records of the State. The following is taken from the Hawaiian Gazette, published at Honolulu, at the time Mr. Scott left that island to return home, will show in what esteem he was held by the people of that kingdom:

"It rarely happens that a man so well qualified for consular duties is appointed from the United States, owing to the peculiar and sudden changes that take place in the administration of national affairs almost every four years. President Grant, in the selection of Dr. Scott for Consul at Honolulu, and President Hayes in continuing him, have done the States some service. The ripe experience, good sense, prompt business qualifications, urbanity of manner and strict integrity which have signalized every act of Consul Scott, have proved him to be the right man in the right place, and every American who has come to these Islands has had cause to congratulate himself that such a man is charged with high official duty. As the best proof of all we have said in

"Before Dr. Scott's time, the Consulate at Honolulu was looked upon by the wily and unscrupulous politicians of the baser sort in the United States, as a good place to get rich, and was sought with avidity by that class of individuals who, through political wire-pulling and influential friends, were unhappily too often successful, and the United States Treasury was fleeced to the tune of hundreds of thousands to gratify the cupidity of such political favorites. In this way, many fortunes were made by unfaithful officials, until the Consulate became a by-word and a reproach in the United States. All this was stopped when Dr. Scott came here, and now, not even the suspicion of scandal attaches to the office. For this, we honor Dr. Scott, and for this he is honored at home and abroad. In this community where he is so well known, he is honored, with it may be, the exception of a very few, whose little games were squelched by the stern integrity of the noble old Roman, who can neither be browbeaten, bribed nor badgered into the commission of official wrong. Some people may think we use strong language on this occasion, and so we do, because it is our habit to call things by their right names, and in characterizing official, as well as personal integrity and ability, language cannot be too strong. If the United States was so fortunate in the selection of all its diplomatic agents as in the case of Dr. Scott, it would be a proud era for the diplomatic history of the country. Our familiarity with the records of the State Department at Washington enables us to speak of what we know; and, therefore, we do not hesitate to assert that the administration of President Hayes is thrice honored in the person and official conduct of its Consul at Honolulu."