Nevada Genealogy Trails Lyon County James Scott Biography

JAMES SCOTT, now deceased, was for many years an honored and respected citizen of Dayton. Nevada. He was born on the Isle of Jersey. February 3, 1825. and was the eldest of the five children of William Scott and wife. William Scott was born in the north of Ireland, but his wife was born in England. The only member of the family now living is John Scott, a brother of James, and is now engaged in the banking business in Sacramento, California.

During the infancy of James Scott his parents moved to Woolwich, county Kent, England, and there he was reared and educated. When but thirteen years of age he went to sea and followed the life of a seaman until his twenty-fifth year, sailing to various parts of the world. During those years he studied navigation and was granted navigation papers. He spent several years in Australia, and arrived in California in the early fifties. He spent some time in the gold diggings at Murphy's camp in Calaveras county, where he met with moderate success in his search for the yellow metal, his brothers William and John being his partners in the business. While in Calaveras county, California. Mr. Scott married Miss Marv K. Cooper, a native of New Jersey, born in Franklin. Morris county, that state, on the 14th of October. 1839. and a daughter of David and Anna (Ayers) Cooper. Five children were born of this union but two of the number died in infancy. Those still living are Lillian E., who attended for several terms Bishop Whittakcr's Seminary in Reno and is now the wife of William Whitten, a resident of Dayton; Mary A., who was educated in the Dayton high school and is now at home with her mother: and William Henry, who was educated at Heald's Business College in San Francisco and the Nevada State University, and now lives with his mother and is serving as bookkeeper for the Nevada reduction works.

For a little over a year after his marriage Mr. Scott remained at Murphy's camp in Calaveras county. California, engaged in ranching, and in 1873 came to Dayton. Nevada, where he was placed in charge of the Leete and Birdsall toll road in Gold Canyon, between Virginia City and Dayton. At that time there was much excitement over the recently discovered gold and silver mines in this section, and the country was in the midst of great prosperity. Mr. Scott worked for the Birdsall Mill and Mining Company for some time. In 1875. seeing the need for additional water facilities at Dayton, he purchased pipe and supplied the town with its water works, most of the residences in the place being piped. He had charge of the plant until his death, and since then his wife has carried on the business with the assistance of her son and daughter.

Politically Mr. Scott was a strong Republican, and took a deep interest in educational matters in his town, serving on the school board for some time. He was an active and worthy member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, passed all the chairs of the order and was district deputy grand patriarch of the state. He was a citizen of the highest integrity of character and led an honorable life, so that his death, which occurred on the 13th of January, 1896. was widely and deeply mourned. His funeral was very largely attended, and was under the auspices of his brethren of the Odd Fellows society. Mr. Scott was a loving husband and indulgent father, and his memory is a sacred inheritance and is cherished by a multitude of friends. Throughout his career of continued and far-reaching usefulness, his duties were performed with the greatest care, and during his long life his personal honor and integrity were without blemish.