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Charles
Winfield Scott
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Charles Winfield
Scott was born on 8 Jul 1880 and raised in Dorchester Mass. He was the youngest and one of
four surviving children
in the family of Abigail and Daniel DeWolf Scott, and was captured
in a picture that was typical of the Victorian era when a boy's
first hair cut was proceeded by a photograph which captured his,
soon to be trimmed, curls and also placed him in infant clothing
that look more appropriate to current eyes, as being on a girl.
Nothing more is known about the photograph, other than it is
clearly identified as being Charles Winfield
Scott. Perhaps the Victorian trend of dressing boys
in dresses is best explained by Judy Mercer Tescher, of the
Pendleton Historical Museum:
In many old photographs it is
difficult to tell boys from girls.
It was very common for children to remain
in this state of dress [boys and girls in dresses] until
they entered formal school or even later if the boy was
schooled at home. When boys reached this age they were
“breeched” meaning dressed in pants. It was an emotional
time for many a mother who was losing her “baby.”
The fashion trend of boys in dresses
slowly died out as the ready to wear clothing market offered
clothing choices that became even more child centered. By
the 1920’s, most boys and some girls were dressed in a
“romper,” a one-piece jumper pantsuit. Some “child experts”
then became concerned that dressing girls in pants would
somehow destroy their femininity!
Why did little boys wear dresses? It
appears the original decision to place boy infants in a
dress was a practical choice to facilitate wearing or not
wearing a diaper. Extending the number of years that boys
wore dresses is a larger story of societal change,
philosophy, industrial and marketing forces, emotional needs
and an array of other factors.
Even on a relatively narrow subject like
this, when studying history, there is no simple answer.
The second picture taken later in life and shows
him in the centre of a picture
with his brother George A. Scott and possibly his two sisters,
Alice Gladys (Scott) Lapham and Amelia Sanford "Minnie" (Scott)
Keith. We know clearly that his mother, Abigail "Abbie" (McNutt)
Scott is in
the foreground. Possible the picture was taken following the
funeral
of his father Daniel DeWolf Scott in 1919.
It appears that he may have been named
for the famous military leader
General Winfield Scott a prominent Civil War figure, but there is
no
known family connection to the general's family. Charles's father,
Daniel DeWolf Scott had served in the Civil War along with
Charles's uncle Capt. John Adams
Scott. Possibly the naming was out of respect for the famous
general.
The original photographic portrait of Charles Winfield Scott is
part
of Nettie (Little) Poorman's collection in Florida. Nettie
is the
grandniece of Charles Winfield Scott.
Pictorial
Index
Family
From
Forfar index
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