Josiah Scott

Josiah Scott
Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice
In office
November 29, 1856  February 9, 1872
Preceded by Rufus P. Ranney
Succeeded by William H. West
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the Delaware & Crawford Counties district
In office
December 7, 1840  December 5, 1841
Serving with Emer Moore
Preceded by Andrew H. Patterson
Succeeded by James Griffith, Thomas W. Powell, George W. Sharp
Personal details
Born December 1, 1803
Washington County, Pennsylvania
Died June 15, 1879 (aged 75)
Bucyrus, Ohio
Resting place Oakwood Cemetery, Bucyrus
Political party Republican
Other political
affiliations
Whig
Spouse(s) Elizabeth McCracken
Susan Elizabeth Moffit
Children five
Alma mater Jefferson College

Josiah Scott (December 1, 1803June 15, 1879) was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was in the Ohio House of Representatives, and was an Ohio Supreme Court Judge 1856–1872.

Josiah Scott was born at Washington County, Pennsylvania, not far from Cannonsburg, where he graduated from Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson College) in 1823.[1] He returned to Jefferson College as a tutor from 1827 to 1829.[1] He studied law and in 1830 he moved to Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio, where he practiced law.[2]

In 1840, Scott was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives for the 39th General Assembly as a Whig.[1][3] Presidential elector in 1844 for Clay/Frelinghuysen.[4]

In 1856, Scott was nominated by the Republican Party for Judge of the Ohio Supreme Court, and he defeated incumbent Democrat Rufus P. Ranney and a third party candidate with a plurality of the votes in the General Election.[5] Ranney resigned the seat soon after the election, and Scott was seated late in 1856.[2] He was re-elected in 1861, and again in 1866, but declined re-nomination in 1871.[2]

In 1870, Scott developed a method to construct magic squares.[6]

In 1872, Scott returned to Crawford County, and private practice. In 1876, Governor Hayes appointed him to the Supreme Court Commission of Ohio, and he resigned at the end of a three year term in 1879.

Scott married Elizabeth McCracken on February 8, 1838. They had five children before she died in 1844. Scott married again May 4, 1846 to Susan Elizabeth Moffit, who had no children and died in 1891.[1] He died June 15, 1879 from kidney disease and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Bucyrus.[1][7]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Josiah Scott". The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Smith 1898 : 66–67
  3. Ohio 1917 : 271
  4. Taylor 1899 : 255
  5. Smith 1898 : 65
  6. Clark, James (December 1870). "Magic Squares". The Maine journal of education 4: 446–449.
  7. Supreme Court of Ohio : Supplement 5

References