The Scott Family’s Role in the Revolutionary War Effort

As part of my ongoing look at the Revolutionary War in honor of America’s 250th birthday, I explored the Revolutionary War Class Lists for Culpeper County, Virginia after finding Cornelius Scott—who may be connected to my Scott line—listed in January 1781. Having never heard of the class lists before, I wondered whether this meant he had served. What I learned tells a different—but equally important—story.

On October 16, 1780, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law requiring each county to supply a specific number of men for an 18‑month term in the Continental Army. To meet this quota, counties divided their eligible militiamen into small neighborhood groups called classes. Each class had one job: produce one soldier.

The man was chosen by lot, and if drafted, he could provide a substitute. Counties recorded every eligible man, the man selected, and any substitute who stepped forward.

The Culpeper County Class List of 1781 contained 106 classes, each with 13–14 men who were eligible for the draft. Because there were 106 classes, Culpeper supplied 106 soldiers—the county’s required quota.

Cornelius and his probable brother James Scott appear together in Class No. 37. But they were not the men chosen to serve. That responsibility fell to Jacob Nay Jr., whose name is marked as the drafted man for Class No. 37. It was Jacob who shouldered the burden of service, leaving his home, family, and livelihood for an 18‑month enlistment during the final, decisive phase of the war. His service helped Virginia meet its quota at a moment when the Continental Army desperately needed manpower. Cornelius and James didn’t march to Yorktown—but Jacob Nay Jr. may well have.

Being part of a class also carried emotional weight. Every eligible man lived with the knowledge that his name could be drawn next. Muster days, announcements from county officers, and even the sound of a messenger riding up the road could bring a moment of tension. Even those who stayed home lived with uncertainty, knowing that the war could reach into their household at any time.

Culpeper County itself felt the strain of 1781. Troops moved through the region, supplies were demanded, and the pressure of the Yorktown campaign was building across Virginia. Local families faced shortages, shifting militia duties, and the constant awareness that the war was no longer distant—it was pressing into their own communities.

Revolutionary War Class Lists, such as the 1781 Culpeper County roster, are often mistaken for military service records. They are not. They document liability, not service, and that liability carried real obligations to support the draft:

• Financial responsibility: Class members often shared the cost of equipping the drafted man—clothing, gear, sometimes cash.
• Legal liability: Failure to appear or comply could result in fines.
• Militia expectations: Eligible men remained part of the county militia structure, attending musters and staying ready for local defense.
• Community support: When a man was drafted, neighbors frequently helped his family manage crops, livestock, and debts during his absence.

While the list firmly places Cornelius and James in Culpeper County in 1781 and shows their participation in the county’s wartime recruitment system, it does not constitute Patriot service under Daughters of the American Revolution or Sons of the American Revolution standards. Instead, it reflects the broader civilian burden of the Revolution—neighbors funding, supporting, and enabling the enlistment that helped carry Virginia through the final campaign toward Yorktown.

By fulfilling their obligation, the men on the class list made Jacob Nay Jr.’s service possible. They didn’t carry a musket, but they carried their share of the burden—financial, legal, and communal. Cornelius and James Scott remind us that the Revolution depended not only on those who marched, but also on the communities whose draft liability and support made that service possible.

Culpeper County’s 1781 Revolutionary War Class List,
documenting the community network that supplied soldiers
for the Continental Army

References

• Culpeper County Classes, 1781 Index, The Library of Virginia; https://lva-virginia.libguides.com/c.php?g=1049125. 
• Revolutionary War Classes, 1781, Culpeper County, Virginia: Culpeper. Militia Records 1781, image 13, FamilySearch. 

Midwife payment for Joan from guardian of Ann Eliza Early

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

In the 1826 probate records of Ann Eliza Early, her guardian John Cunningham submitted a sworn statement regarding his management of her affairs. Among the entries is a receipt noting his payment of $1 to a midwife for attending Joan, an enslaved woman, during childbirth in 1825.

Rec’d of John Cunningham, guardian of Ann Eliza Early, one dollar it being for an amt. paid by me to a midwife in attending on Joan a negro woman in child bed in my employ in the year 1824. This 5 July 1825.

Cash pd/1.00 [signature unreadable]

Reference

Estate Records, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 890, FamilySearch. 

John Athya and His Burgess Status

I published a sketch about John Athya in December 2024, but a recent search of Glasgow, Scotland records turned up an interesting detail that expands his story. John, born in 1828 in Glasgow, was the son of Isaac Athya and Janet Graham, and he was my husband’s third great‑uncle. The new record shows that in 1866 he held a civic status in Glasgow that mattered both socially and economically.

On September 11, 1866, John, a merchant in Glasgow, was admitted as a Burgess and Guild Brother of the Burgh of Glasgow. His admission came through his marriage to Catherine Bell, the second daughter of John Bell, a long‑established Flesher (butcher) in the city. In Glasgow, a man could become a Burgess by marrying the daughter of a Burgess, and John qualified through his wife’s family.

The record notes that he “paid his freedom,” which means he paid the required fee to enter the Burgess roll. This was not a punishment or a fine in the modern sense—it was the standard admission payment; the same way someone today might pay a licensing fee or membership dues.

A Burgess was not just a resident of Glasgow. He was a freeman of the burgh, meaning he had full legal and economic rights inside the city. The word “freeman” was used because a Burgess was free to trade, own property, and work without the restrictions placed on non‑Burgesses. Only freemen could open shops, take apprentices, or participate fully in the city’s business life. A Burgess was a recognized member of the city with rights that ordinary residents didn’t have.

Because Catherine’s father belonged to the Fleshers’ Guild, John was admitted “qua Flesher,” meaning his Burgess status was tied to the trade of his wife’s family. The term “Flesher” was the old Scottish word for a butcher—someone who slaughtered animals and prepared meat for sale. The Fleshers were one of Glasgow’s traditional craft guilds.

A craft guild was an organized association of men who practiced the same trade. Guilds controlled training, quality standards, market rules, and who was allowed to work in the trade. They also played a civic role, helping govern the city through the Trades’ House. Being connected to a guild family meant stability, respectability, and a recognized place in the city’s social structure.

Burgesses also had the right to vote in burgh elections, which were the local elections for the town council, magistrates, and other civic officers who governed the city. These elections shaped local laws, taxes, and public works. Only Burgesses could participate, so the status carried real political weight.

For John and Catherine, this admission confirmed their standing in Glasgow. It tied John into a long‑established civic tradition and recognized Catherine as the daughter of a respected tradesman. Their marriage not only joined two families but also secured John’s place within the economic and political life of the city.

Record of Burgess Entries of the Burgh of Glasgow (1857–1876)

John listed in the Index of Burgesses (1801–1900)

References

• Dictionary of the Scots Language, s.v. “flesher,” accessed May 26, 2026.
• Glasgow, Scotland, Occupation Records 1857–1876, image 119, FamilySearch.
• Glasgow, Scotland, Occupation Records 1801–1900, image 27, FamilySearch.
• National Records of Scotland, “Burgh Records: A Guide to the Burghs of Scotland,” sections on Burgesses and Guild Brethren.
• Trades House of Glasgow, “History of the Trades,” including the Incorporation of Fleshers. 

Malinda named in Henry Asbury’s estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

In the 1847 probate records of Henry Asbury, a receipt documents payment to John Crutchfield for boarding and clothing an enslaved woman named Malinda during that year. A second receipt records the trustee, John G. Holtzclaw, paying Asbury’s county taxes.

Received of John Holtzclaw, Trustee of Henry Asbury, twenty-five dollars for board and clothing negro woman Malinda for the year 1847 this 7th Jany. 1848.

John Crutchfield

Received of John G. Holtzclaw, Trustee for Henry Asbury, his Tax for 1847. Amount $2.92 ½.

J. L. Turner, Tax Collector.

Reference

Estate Records, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 615, FamilySearch.

Taliaferro “Toliver” Langford Scott of Anderson County, South Carolina

Taliaferro “Toliver” Langford Scott was born in 1819 in South Carolina; his parents remain unidentified. At first, I believed he was the son of Taliaferro “Toliver” L. Scott and Nancy Wright of Spartanburg District, which seemed reasonable until new evidence surfaced. In March, another researcher contacted me after reading my sketch on Anthony Scott of Culpeper County, Virginia. She had traced the same Culpeper “love and affection” deed I had followed, but her line ran through Elizabeth (Scott) Stone—sister of the Culpeper‑born Toliver (1784). When she shared a Spartanburg Petition for Partition filed by W. B. Scott, it listed all heirs of Toliver (1784), and my Toliver was not among them. That document proved that the Culpeper‑born Toliver did not have a son named Toliver, so the Anderson County man must belong to a different branch of the family.

Petition for Partition filed in the Spartanburg District
Court of Ordinary by W. B. Scott

As I continued researching, a completely different sibling group emerged for the Anderson County Toliver—Carter C., Mitchell B., Jefferson A., William H., Joseph, and Mary Scott. DNA evidence supports a connection to Anthony’s grandson, Cornelius Scott, but without a document naming his parents, Anderson County Toliver’s position in the Scott line that traces back to Anthony Scott is unsettled for me.

While this was disappointing, I made a major discovery while reviewing Scott records on FamilySearch: Toliver (of Anderson) had been married twice, not once as I had believed. His first marriage occurred before March 1836, when he and Eliza E. Strickland, daughter of Burrell and Emilla “Emily” Strickland, appeared together in an Equity Court notice in the Pendleton Messenger. They continued the Strickland suit through 1837 and 1838, filing their receipt in full on November 24, 1838, confirming they had received Eliza’s inheritance. Later filings show that Toliver had died by the early 1850s and identify their three children as Newton, Amanda Elizabeth, and Eliza Scott. I descend from their daughter Amanda.

By August 1839, Toliver had moved into Anderson Village and purchased six town lots from Richard Prince. Prince held only a bond for title, meaning he did not yet have the deed, but Toliver paid the full price and took possession anyway. He lived on and improved the property for more than a decade, though the incomplete title later caused legal complications.

Eliza died shortly after Amanda’s birth in September 1839. On January 6, 1840, Toliver married Melvina “Lavina or Vina” Parker, forming a blended household that included Newton, Eliza, and Amanda, as well as Toliver and Lavina’s children—Martha Ellen, Langford J., Mary F., and Rosanna T. Scott. The 1840 census shows the family in Anderson District. By the late 1840s, Toliver had established himself as a wagon maker and blacksmith. 

Court records show that Toliver had been sued for unpaid notes as early as 1841, a pattern of financial strain that continued throughout the decade. Court records also show Toliver appearing as a witness in local civil cases, such as a subpoena issued in 1846 in a suit between James Ingram and John Dickinson.

In a January 1849 advertisement, Toliver offered one‑ to four‑horse wagons “of his own make,” guaranteed his workmanship, and invited custom orders. He also sold wagons on Sale Day, demonstrating both skill and business sense.

The Abbeville Banner, Abbeville, South Carolina, January 13, 1849

In 1850, the Scott family lived in the Western Division of Anderson District. Toliver, age 31, worked as a blacksmith with real estate valued at $2,000. Most of the children attended school, and Newton was listed as an apprentice—likely learning his father’s trade. A young man named Jeptha Scott lived with them, though his relationship is unknown. The agricultural schedule shows only a small farm—no horses or cattle, just a few sheep and pigs, and modest grain production—confirming that blacksmithing was Toliver’s primary livelihood.

Toliver’s financial troubles came to a head in October 1850, when the Court of Common Pleas issued a writ ordering sheriffs across South Carolina to seize him and bring him to court to answer a debt claim filed by Warren R. Webb. Before the case could be resolved, Toliver died without a will on January 12, 1851. His widow petitioned for administration, but the Ordinary appointed Andrew O. Norris on January 30. The estate inventory listed household goods, blacksmith tools, livestock, two enslaved adults, and numerous unpaid accounts owed to Toliver, yet the estate ultimately lacked the assets needed to cover his debts.

Toliver also owned two Anderson town lots—Nos. 41 and 43 in Square 14—one containing his blacksmith shop and the other a house. Because the estate lacked clear title to all six lots, Norris went to the Court of Equity in 1852 to clear the title and authorize their sale. Surveyor James Gilmer resurveyed the property, and the court ordered the lots sold in September 1853 to satisfy debts.

Survey of Toliver’s six Anderson Village lots

In June 1852, the court appointed a guardian ad litem for Toliver’s three minor Strickland‑line children (with his first wife Eliza)—Newton, Amanda, and Eliza—during the ongoing Strickland estate proceedings, ensuring their inheritance rights were protected.

By 1863, Toliver’s former Anderson Lots 41 and 43 had passed into the hands of Charleston financier George A. Trenholm, noting the building long known as ‘Scott’s shop’ and tracing their ownership through Elias Earle to Trenholm.

Mitchell B. Scott’s probate records from 1874–1876 helped document Toliver’s family. When Mitchell’s widow petitioned the court to sell land to pay his debts, the court listed Mitchell’s living siblings and the heirs of those who had already died. Toliver was included among the deceased siblings, and his place was represented by his daughters—Amanda Holland, Eliza Bolt, Ellen Simmons, Mary F. Turner, and Rosannah Mahaffey—showing that these were his surviving children and that he had died well before 1874.

Toliver’s presence in Anderson County records continued into the 1870s, when deeds tracing the chain of title for his Anderson town lots—Nos. 41 and 43 in Square 14—described them as “formerly owned by Toliver Scott.” A federal court deed from 1873, issued during the Fraser & Trenholm bankruptcy, again identified these lots as part of Toliver’s 1842 estate sale, preserving both their boundaries and his place in the early development of Anderson’s town center. 

Toliver’s life in Anderson County is now far clearer than when I began this research, yet one question remains unresolved: who were his parents? The evidence firmly rules out the Spartanburg line descending from Toliver Scott (1784), and DNA connections instead point toward an unplaced branch of the wider Scott family descending from Anthony Scott of Culpeper County. Matches to the line of Cornelius Scott strengthen that possibility, but no surviving record has yet named Toliver’s parents outright. His parentage remains just beyond the surviving evidence, likely preserved somewhere in the early Anderson, Pendleton, or upstate Scott records that have yet to come to light.

References

• Anderson County, South Carolina, Conveyance Records 1873–1875, images 87 and 141, FamilySearch.
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Court Records 1840, image 688, FamilySearch.
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Court Records 1846–1847, images 313–314, FamilySearch.
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Court Records 1852, images 7–57, FamilySearch. 
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Court Records 1852–1853, images 8–90, FamilySearch.
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Judicial Estate Records 1849–1851, image 691, FamilySearch.
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Land Records 1852–1855, 1849–1852, images 406–407 and 532, FamilySearch.
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Land Records 1872–1873, image 489, FamilySearch.
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Probate Records 1828–1878, images 406–411 and 619–647, FamilySearch. 
• Anderson County, South Carolina, Probate Records 1853–1863, 1840–1853, 1863–1868, image 250, FamilySearch.
• Anderson, South Carolina, Judicial Estate Records 1849–1851, images 688–693, FamilySearch.
• Anderson, South Carolina, Judicial Estate Records 1853–1854, images 260–261, FamilySearch.
• Charleston, South Carolina, Conveyance Records 1857–1867, image 872, FamilySearch.
• Deed Book A, 1749–1753, Culpeper County, Virginia: Culpeper, Deed Books 1749–1753, image 138, FamilySearch.
• History of Aaron Hall and Clementina Ann (Norris) Hall, letter written by Aaron Hall Holland to Samuel Jackson Holland, May 15, 1964.
• Lavina Scott, South Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1670–1980.
• Parker, Vina, South Carolina, U.S., Compiled Marriage Index, 1641–1965.
• Pendleton, South Carolina, Newspapers 1839, 1837, image 19 (Pendleton Messenger, March 22, 1837), FamilySearch.
• Spartanburg, South Carolina, Real Estate Records 1853–1881, images 177–178, FamilySearch.
• Tolaver Scott, plat for 212.5 acres on fork of North and South Tiger Rivers, Spartanburgh District, surveyed by George Nicholls, October 27, 1830.
• U.S. Federal Census, Anderson, South Carolina, 1840.
• U.S. Federal Census, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1830.
• U.S. Federal Census, Western Division, District of Anderson, South Carolina, 1850.
• U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules (Agriculture), Anderson, South Carolina, 1850.
• Wagons for Sale, The Abbeville Banner, Abbeville, South Carolina, January 13, 1849.

Emanuel, Caroline, and Elijah named in John Monfort estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

In 1851, the estate of John Monfort distributed three enslaved people—Emanuel, Caroline, and Elijah—as part of the division of his property.

Recvd. of Isaac Morrison, Admr. of John Monfort decd. the following negroes as my distributive share of the estate of my father to wit: negro man Emanuel valued at nine hundred dollars, woman Caroline valued at six hundred dollars, boy Elijah valued at seven hundred dollars these being the negroes as will more fully approve by reference to the division of said estate.

6th January 1851
John C. Monfort

Reference

Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 277, FamilySearch.

The Athya Twins of Bridgeton

George Dempster Athya and his twin sister Mary Glen Athya, children of John D. Athya and Helen “Ellen” Dempster, were born on May 29, 1901 in the Bridgeton district of Glasgow, Scotland. The Athya family included eight children: Edward Dempster, John Dempster, Ellen “Nellie/Helen” McKendrick, Hannah Quinn, James, George Dempster, Mary Glen, and Sarah Athya—all born in Bridgeton. Helen had two older daughters from her first marriage to James Glass: Isabella “Bella” Dempster and Jane Dempster Glass.

George and Mary are my husband’s 1st cousins 2× removed. Their nearest common ancestors are James Athya and Jane Wylie, George’s grandparents and my husband’s 2nd great‑grandparents.

Before George and Mary’s birth, the family suffered an earlier loss. Their brother Edward, only one month old, died on November 17, 1893 from “gastric catarrh,” likely a severe stomach infection that caused dehydration—often fatal in the 1890s before antibiotics and modern hydration therapy. His burial place is unknown.

George and Mary’s father worked as a goldbreaker journeyman, a skilled metal worker who broke brass or gold‑colored scrap for foundries—an East End trade not formally defined in occupational directories. The family lived at 47 Dunn Street through the births of John (1895), Ellen (1897), Hannah (1898), and James (1900).

The 1901 Scotland census, taken on March 31, shows the family at 59 Dunn Street, a crowded household that included John and Helen’s children, step‑siblings Bella and Jane Glass, and a maternal cousin, Nellie Dempster, age 16. The Athya children were all attending school; Bella worked as a harness weaver, Jane as a French polisher, and their cousin as a cotton spinner. By the twins’ birth on May 29, 1901, the family had moved a short distance to 30 Norman Street. George was born first at 10:45 p.m., with Mary following about 15 minutes later. Mary’s name was originally recorded as Sarah Dempster Athya, but later officially corrected to Mary Glen Athya.

Original birth register entry for George and Mary (listed as
Sarah Dempster Athya) in the Scotland Birth Register (June 19, 1901) 

On November 11, 1902, another daughter was born and given the name Sarah.

The year 1903 brought devastating tragedy. On June 12, 1903, two‑year‑old George died from acute bronchitis, an illness he battled for 10 days before collapsing from a sudden loss of consciousness that often occurred at the end of severe illness.

George’s death recorded in the Scotland Death Register

Four months later, on October 15, 1903, their 11‑month‑old sister Sarah died after four days of measles. Just five days after that, on October 20, 1903, two‑year‑old Mary—George’s twin—died following six days of measles and broncho‑pneumonia.

Mary’s death recorded in the Scotland Death Register

All three children—George, Mary, and Sarah—died at their home at 65 Dunn Street and were buried together in Lair 860 at the Southern Necropolis cemetery in Glasgow. The lair’s original proprietor was their great‑grandfather Isaac Athya, with their grandfather James Athya listed as co‑proprietor.

George’s burial recorded in the Southern Necropolis Cemetery
Register of Interments (page 1)

George’s burial recorded in the Southern Necropolis Cemetery
Register of Interments (page 2)

Sarah and Mary’s burial recorded in the Southern Necropolis Cemetery
Register of Interments (page 1)

Sarah and Mary’s burial recorded in the Southern Necropolis Cemetery
Register of Interments (page 2)

The correction to Mary’s name was submitted on July 10, 1903 and formally entered into the Register of Corrected Entries on November 26, 1903. This amendment officially changed her recorded birth name from Sarah to Mary Glen.

Register of Corrected Entries note documenting the official
correction of Sarah’s (George’s twin sister) name from Sarah to
Mary Glen in the 1901 birth register (November 26, 1903)

References

• Edward Dempster Athya, Statutory Registers Births 644/1 1452, National Records of Scotland, 1893.
• Edward Dempster Athya, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/1 1298, National Records of Scotland, 1893.
• Eilen McKendric Athya, Statutory Registers Births 644/1 235, National Records of Scotland, 1897.
• George Dempster Athya and Sarah Dempster Athya, Statutory Registers Births 644/1 973, National Records of Scotland, 1901.
• George Dempster Athya, Sarah Athya, and Mary Glen Athya, Southern Necropolis: Glasgow. Burial Registers 1899–1914, images 85 and 89, FamilySearch.
• George Dempster Athya, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/1 523, National Records of Scotland, 1903.
• Hannah Athya, Statutory Registers Births 644/1 1609, National Records of Scotland, 1898.
• Helen Dempster and James Glass, Scotland’s People, Statutory Registers, Marriages Search.
• Isaac Arthey, Southern Necropolis: Glasgow. Cemetery Records 1865–1943, image 27, FamilySearch.
• Isabella Dempster Glass and Jane Dempster Glass, Scotland’s People, Statutory Registers, Births Search.
• James Athya, Statutory Registers Births 644/1 500, National Records of Scotland, 1900.
• John Athya, Census 644/1 17/32, National Records of Scotland, 1901.
• John Dempster Athya, Statutory Registers Births 644/1 768, National Records of Scotland, 1895.
• Mary Glen Athya, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/1 922, National Records of Scotland, 1903.
• Sarah Athya, Statutory Registers Births 644/1 2070, National Records of Scotland, 1902.
• Sarah Athya, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/1 899, National Records of Scotland, 1903.
• Southern Necropolis: Glasgow, Scotland, Burial Registers 1899–1914, Geoge Dempster, Sarah, and Mary Glen Athya, images 85 and 89, FamilySearch.