The Search for the Descendants of Samuel & Permilia Scott

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I regularly receive questions about this source, which is an unpublished manuscript with many details about families in and around Cortland County, New York. At this time, I do not know of any repository of this information. I know that my family owns three of the fifty copies ever published (handed down from my g-grandmother and two of her sisters). I am descended through Samuel's son Jonathan and then through his son William.

I have found this book to be relatively reliable, with any errors occuring in recent generations as opposed to further back. It is likely that these errors are a result of interviews where, for example, Grandma got the grandkids' birthdays wrong. Most of the older records relied on written documentation from vital records, etc. A complete discussion of research methods can be found in The Problem, The Search, listed in the Table of Contents below.

I am publishing some information here for those individuals who are interested in learning more about the source. However, some of the information included in the book is related to individuals who are likely still living, since the birthdates listed go straight through 1978. I will endeavor not to pass on this information in my commentary. If you find information on an individual who is still living, please contact me and I will remove it.

In 1977-78, the Glen Haven Historical Society asked Mary L. Dexter to complete genealogical research on the descendants of Samuel and Permilia Scott. According to a letter sent on June 8, 1977 to known descendants of Samuel & Permilia Scott, she was an amateur genealogist who volunteered her services to create the document. She was also the town historian for Cortland City.

Glen Haven School

The impetus for the genealogical survey was the attempt by the Glen Haven Historical Society to maintain the Glen Haven one-room schoolhouse (see picture above) as a historical site. The land for the school house was donated in 1856 by Samuel and Permilia Scott for the purpose of maintaining a school. The single-room school was closed in 1968. When the Glen Haven Historical Society triedsome years after the school's closure to turn the building into a historic site, they ran into unexpected legal obstacles including an heir to Samuel Scott who laid claim to the land. Thus, the Glen Haven Hist. Society decided to conduct a genealogical survey to identify as many heirs as possible and to have them sign away their rights to the land via a quit-claim. This book was awarded to those who signed this deed.

Below is some additional information on the project, including links to transcripts and images of some of the introductory materials from the book.

The Search for the Descendants of Samuel & Permilia Scott Table of Contents
	Page
Preface	ii
Table of Contents	iv
Format Explanation	v
Abbreviations/Symbols	v
"Ode to Samuel" by Roselle Robinette Scott	vi
Historical Sketch District No. 4 School - Scott 1819-1968	1
Glen Haven School Pupils - 1910 (illus)	3
1856 Property Deed [photocopy of original]	7
The Problem - The Search	9
Scott Family (line chart)	13
Samuel and Permilia (Clark) Scott - Tn of Scott, N. Y.	15
Children [of above]	17
Descendants of Samuel Scott, Through his Son, Samuel J. Scott, Jr.	23
Descendants of Samuel Scott, Through his Son, Jonathan Scott	67
Descendants of Samuel Scott, Through his Son, Ransom Scott	104
Index

Ode to Samuel

He came into Cortland County from Cayuga's wooded hills
And he settled in the Glen with his family and his mills.
Then in time he told his neighbors, "Take a portion of my land"
"It's a place to build a school house for as long as it shall stand."
The long years came and went and the family did the same
'Til in time there was no person there who carried Samuel's name.
When the monster labelled progress gobbled up the country schools
Those who tried to slow its course were labelled sentimental fools,
But there's dignity in memories and pride in eras past
And Samuel's true descendants want his heritage to last.
May they rally to the cause, raise their voices by the score
To preserve the little schoolhouse that belonged to District Four.

[by] Roselle Robinette Scott
Wife of Thomas B. Bernard "Barney" Scott
of Isabelle Road, Clare, Michigan

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