Lucius H. Scott Part I

Little has been written in recent years about Lucius Hubbard Scott.

It is a conspicuous oversight. Scott ranks high among the distinguished Vigo County pioneers, and his accounts of early Terre Haute are deemed extremely credible.

He first arrived in Terre Haute in 1817 in time to celebrate Independence Day at Henry Redford's new Eagle & Lion tavern at the southeast corner of First and Wabash.

Ultimately, he opened the village's first store. The site of his brick residence at the southwest corner of Third and Ohio streets was referred to as "Scott's Old Corner" for nearly a century.

Scott was vital to founding Terre Haute Lodge No. 19 of the Free and Accepted Masons in 1819. He drafted the petition for its charter and advanced the $35 filing fee.

He also was Vigo County's first deputy sheriff, the first elected Vigo County sheriff, an early state legislator, a gubernatorial appointee and a prudent investor.

Born in Weatherfield, Windsor County, Vt., on March 29, 1794, Scott spent much of his late youth in Ogdensburg, N.Y., on the St. Lawrence River. Genealogists have concluded that he was the son of Dr. Philip Scott, an Ogdensburg physician.

Significantly, he molded a friendship with John Willson Osborn, an enterprising young newspaper publisher in Cortland County, N.Y. The men were almost precisely the same age and decided to seek their fortunes in the West together.

How Scott and Osborn met is an enigma. Ogdensburg is a considerable distance from Cortlandville, N.Y., where Osborn lived and worked. Scott may have met Osborn through Amory Kinney, also a native of Windsor County. Kinney resided in Cortland County and was Osborn's close friend.

On March 14, 1817, the two men embarked on a perilous journey west by taking a schooner on Lake Ontario to the mouth of the Genesee River. From there, they walked to Rochester, N.Y., then a village of about 2,000 people.

By riverboat, they reached Olean Point, at the headwaters of the Allegheny River, where they helped a whale fisherman from New Bedford, Mass., build a boat to advance to Pittsburgh. They reached that interim destination on May 1.

With assistance from others, Scott and Osborn built a large raft for a two-week voyage down the Ohio River to Cincinnati. A homemade skiff took them on to Madison.

Selling the sloop for $1, they hitched a ride on a two-horse wagon to Washington in Daviess County and walked to Vincennes, arriving June 6.

Osborn immediately found work at the printing office of Elihu Stout, publisher of the pioneer Western Sun newspaper. Scott was not so fortunate. Unable to land a job, he was coaxed by New York native John Britton to try his luck in Terre Haute.

Encouraged by what Britton described, on June 20, 1817, Scott headed for Terre Haute on foot. Arriving June 24, he lodged for a few days with David Barnes in a cabin about a mile north of the village, where the Britton family was staying.

At the time of his arrival, Redford was putting the finishing touches on the large hewed log tavern that became "The Eagle & Lion." Redford invited anyone who passed through Terre Haute to attend his July 4 holiday party. Scott asserts it was the first celebration in the village. No one has disputed the claim.

In his reminiscences, Scott recalled meeting Mayor John T. Chunn, Lt. Robert Sturgus, Lt. Davis Floyd, Dr. William Clark and Dr. John McCullough, all military personnel from Fort Harrison, at that festive 24-hour gathering.

Notably, several women from the fort and some young adults from Shaker Prairie also were present. Billy Hogue's fiddle and a military band provided the entertainment.

The next day, Scott borrowed a horse to call on Major Abraham Markle, busily erecting a large mill on Otter Creek.

"He received me with that frank hospitality and graceful ease so natural to him," Scott recalled. "I thought him the most magnificent specimen of manhood I'd ever seen."

On July 6, Lucius visited Fort Harrison. At Major Chunn's invitation, he stayed for several days. Isaac Lambert and John Dickson, fort contractors and operators of a mill on Honey Creek, urged him to open a school near their mill. He agreed; and by Aug. 1, a log cabin class room had been erected.

Unfortunately, Scott contracted "river fever," a common malady, a few days later, and the school closed. Dr. McCullough and the Dicksons cared for him but, in October, he was compelled to journey to Vincennes to recover his shattered health.

In November, George Wasson, of Wasson & Sayre dry goods company, offered Scott an opportunity to open a new Terre Haute store. The firm maintained headquarters at Vincennes but also had outlets in Carlisle and Merom.

Scott returned to Terre Haute, rented a room from Dr. Charles B. Modesitt, near Water and First streets, and engaged a man named Bell to build counters and shelves. The store was ready Dec. 1, but an inventory was not received until Dec. 28 due to icy river conditions. It finally opened Jan. 1, 1818, but did not last long, closing in May.

Meanwhile, Lucius was appointed agent for the new board of county commissioners, which paid $60 a year but required him to post a $25,000 bond. Truman Blackman, the county's first appointed sheriff, also made Scott his only deputy. With attorney Lewis B. Lawrence, he built a frame office building at First and Ohio streets.

In August 1818, Lucius officially was chosen Vigo County sheriff by popular vote, overcoming a contest alleging inadequate public notice of the election.

Continued next week