Date Original
1824
Description
This letter was written by Andrew Scott to his wife, Eliza, a few days before he fought and killed Joseph Selden in a duel. Scott wrote the letter to be read upon his death, in the event he did not survive the duel.
Biographical/Historical Note
Andrew Horatio Scott (1789-1851) was the son of Scottish emigrant Andrew Scott and Elizabeth Ferguson. In 1808, his family moved to St. Genevieve, Missouri, where he studied law under his brother John. On November 5, 1811, he married Eliza Jones. In 1812, he served as the first Clerk of the House of Representatives, Missouri Territory. In 1819, he was commissioned sheriff of Jefferson County, Missouri. President James Monroe appointed Scott as the Superior Court Judge for the newly-formed Arkansas Territory on March 3, 1819, and Scott and his family moved to Arkansas Post. In 1824, Scott killed fellow Superior Court Judge Joseph Selden in a duel. The duel proved costly to Scott politically and probably cost him an appointment to the United States Supreme Court and a seat in Congress. On April 11, 1827, he was appointed to the First District Circuit Court. Once Pope County was formed in 1829, he was appointed the first county judge and Scotia, a town laid out by Scott, was made the county seat. He served in the 1836 Arkansas Constitutional Convention. His last official act was the enumeration of the Pope County Census of 1850. He died March 13, 1851. Scott County is named for him.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Pope County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
SMC.016.002
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Andrew Scott letter, SMC.016.002
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Andrew Scott Letter, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
