General Notes

Copy of a letter in the possession of Bell Scarbrough written by Winfield Scott to her mother, Mary Jane Swalls (Mary Jane Gray Adams Swalls).

Mrs. J. J. Swalls
        Dear Cousin:

        I reveived your letter of the second.  Was glad to hear from you but if my memory serves me right I wrote you a letter a short time after I was at your house for which I take yours to be an answer.  I was very agreeably surprised at the news that your letter contained.  I too have news to tell you but not of such a agreeable nature.

       First I will tell you of our relation--Uncle Duke scott is dead.  Died the 12 of last May.  Aunt Suse is still alive or was a few months ago.  That leaves only Aunt Nancy of our blood uncles and aunts.  Uncle smith is still alive and well and also all of his family.  His youngest child, John, was to be married last night.  Of Uncle Haywood's children, they are well and doing well.  Joe Baldwin's family are still about Greenfield.  Bill Colwell and old Aunt Polly are still alive but she is almost helpless on account of rhematism.  Nancy Jane Collier family is still all alive but I rather think that Mace and their oldest daughter each have consumption.  Uncle Jess and Aunt Beck are alive and enjoying fairly good health.  You spoke of Uncle Mathias Madren.  He has been dead for several years.  Old Uncle Charley Jacobs is still alive and enjoying fairly good health.  I met him some time ago and told him all about all of Uncle Ben's children.  It seemed to do the old fellow a great deal of good when I told him that he was the first or almost the first one that was inquired about by that family of children.  Uncle Joe is still alive but has almost lost his mind and has entirely lost control of himself.  He has to be cleaned and taken care of the same as a child.  There has been some talk of trying to get him into the asylum but it has not been done and why I do not know.  Dave and all of his children are well.  Charley and Willie are at work at Muncie.  Annie is still with us and Sammy with the family that took him to raise.  Of our family all are in fair health.  Evaline and Eme each became the mother of a fine large girl a piece some time ago.  Evaline's weighed twelve pounds and Em's nine.  Both doing well.

In regard to our ancestors our grandmother Scott's maiden name was Kissiah Clark, a sister of old Uncle Barney Clark also Corneliur Clark, Sibley Clark and Aunt Reny Madren, Uncle Thias wife, also Jacky Clark, who lived up north I think somewhere about Kokomo.  There may have been others of them but I know nothing of them.  Our great grandmother Clark's maiden name I think was Pritchard.  Her name I think was Sallie, but of this I am not sure and there is no one here that does know that I have met since I received your letter but we can find out and since the thing has been started of course we will.  I do know that the Clarks and Pritchards were cousins or some of them at least.  The Clarks and Scotts both came from Scotland originally and all of the old men before settling in Carolina were old sailors.  While I was in Carolina I met both Scotts and Clarks but they had no idea of any of their relation.  Said they had relation scattered all over the country.  All of the Scotts originated from one man who settled there in a very early day and who had for a wife a Danish woman, one of the women sent over to this country as wives for the early settlers of this country.  This was what an old man by the name of Scott, a man of 80 years old, told me in Carolina last fall and of course you are descendants of them.  Them were his words to me.  I met a man by the name of Clark there.  He could not tell me anything at all only that there were lots of Scotts and Clarks in that country.

I am very glad to hear that Sammie Miller has turned up all right.  I hope he will loose no time in hunting up all of his relatives and show them that he is very much alive.  By so doing he will certainly relieve some of them of a very disagreeable feeling.  I am glad to hear that he has made good use of his time and made a man of himself.  Say who the deuce did Bell Marry?  She told me she was going to be an old maid and if she ever did change her mind and conclude to marry she would invite me to the wedding.  I have been thinking of spending the winter in California but our crops are almost a failure so I suppose I must give that up.  I don't know what I will do unless I get married.  It seems that everything else is doing and I believe its about the proper thing.

                 Write soon, your cousin

                            Winfield Scott

                                  P. Box 192     Anderson, Ind.



Notes  about persons mentioned above--

Uncle Ben is Benjamin Gray, son of Joseph and Millie Gray
Samuel Harrison was adopted by a Shock family.
Uncle Joe is Joseph Gray, son of Joseph and Mille Gray.
Annie is Annie Harrison child of Richard and Margaret Gray Harrison.  Margaret is child of Joseph and Millie Gray.
Dave is Annie Harrison's brother.
Sammie Miller is Samuel Peter Miller, son of Henry Clay and Isabelle Gray Miller
Bell is Isabelle Gray, dau of Benjamin Gray, wife of Henry Clay Miller