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Capt. John Adams Scott (1828-1903) - Biography & Obituary

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  Roxbury Veteran at Rest

The funeral of Capt. John A. Scott who died at his former home, 123 Zeigler St. last Monday, was held at the Winthrop St. Methodist M.E. church this afternoon.  The edifice was thronged with friends and relatives.

The services were in charge of Rev. H.W. Ewing, pastor of the church, who was assisted by Rev. J. Wesley Johnson, of Brooklyn, and Rev. Edward Virgin, of Dedham.  The Harvard ladies quartet, Miss Bessie Horton, soloist rendered appropriate music.

The body was borne into the church by Messers. A. P. Calden, John Blelier, L. Foster Morse, D. K. Reid, S. A. Stewart and Charles Porter, representing the various societies in which Mr. Scott held membership.  Among those present were delegates from the Roxbury historical society, the Market Men's club, the Roxbury horse guards veterans association and the city government of Roxbury.

There was a profusion of floral tributes, which was a magnificent wreath of roses from Company K the regiment mustered largely through Capt. Scott's efforts in Roxbury for service in the civil war.  The interment was in Forest Hills.
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From article on D.P. Nichols & Co.
© 2012 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com

Samson, Davenport & Co.’s 1866 Roxbury Directory lists Scott & Nichols (John A. Scott & D.P. Nichols) carriage builders, Warren corner Zeigler. John A. Scott was a well-known carriage blacksmith whose biography appeared in Richard Herndon & Edward Bacon’s ‘Men of progress: one thousand biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life, Commonwealth of Massachusetts,’ published in 1896:

“John Adams Scott of John A. Scott & Son carriage builders, Boston, is a native of Nova Scotia; born in Windsor, Hants County, October 20, 1827; son of John and Elizabeth Dill Scott. His father was a native of Halifax and his mother of Windsor, and his grandparents on both sides were of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was reared on farms and educated for the most part in the district school. His mother dying when he was eight years old and the family being broken up, he lived till his fifteenth year on the farm of his father's only sister, attending school during the winter months and upon her death he went to work upon another farm employing his earnings for two years to the cost of finishing his education. In April, 1846, he came to Boston working his passage on a sailing vessel and apprenticed himself to Aaron E. Whittemore of Roxbury, whose shop was on the corner of Warren and Dudley Street where the Hotel Dartmouth now stands, to learn the carriage smith's trade and spring making. Here he remained for two years employing his evenings in the study of book keeping, arithmetic and writing. His employer failing in business he spent the next two years working as a journeyman in Roxbury and Dorchester. Then in October 1851, he entered business for himself in the same shop in which he learned his trade and he has continued on the same street and near the site of the old shop ever since. His works have been repeatedly enlarged and he has for some time been a leading member of the trade. He was president of the National Carriage Builders Association in 1891, and is now (1894) president of the National Carriage Exchange... He was married September 17, 1848, to Miss Sarah Sargent Long of Chester, N.H. They have had three daughters and two sons; Mary Elizabeth, Mildred Orn, Jessie Fremont, John Franklin and William Jackson Scott. The eldest daughter Mary died in September 1874, and Mrs. Scott died December 24 1889.”

Adams, Sampson & Co.’s 1858 Roxbury Business Directory lists John A. Scott under ‘carriage smith and spring maker’, Dudley st., corner of Warren, house at 51 Dudley.

Chauncey Thomas & Co. lists 1862 as the year of their founding, so it can be assumed D.P. Nichols joined John A. Scott at the same time. I couldn’t locate any Roxbury directories for 1859-1865, but Perry’s 1865 Boston Directory lists Chauncey Thomas, carriagemaker, foot of Chestnut, house in Roxbury. A short history of the Thomas works confirms that Thomas constructed his first vehicles in an old boathouse located between Chestnut and the banks of the Charles River, within a few yards of where he later constructed his permanent manufactory at 101-103 Chestnut St.

The 1865 Massachusetts State Census lists Chauncey Thomas residence as Roxbury, Ward 04, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, his occupation, carriage manufacturer. Beside Chauncey and his wife, Mary J. Thomas, two children were listed, Mary E. (10yo) and Helen N. (2yo) Thomas. A son, Chauncey C. Thomas, (aka Chauncey Thomas jr.) was born soon-after on July 6, 1866. He passed away on Dec. 17, 1888 at the age of 22. According to his death certificate, he died of phthisis (Greek for wasting away or atrophy, typically caused by consumption or tuberculosis).

The 1869 Sampson, Davenport & Co. Boston Directory no longer lists John A. Scott as a partner of Nichols, however another carriage builder, Bradford Perry, appears to have replaced him as a partner. Perry’s personal listing infers that he’s involved with D.P. Nichols: “Bradford Perry (D.P. Nichols & Co.), carriage builder, 118 W. Brookline, h. 697 Tremont.”

© 2012 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com