Brevet Maj. General Robert Kingston Scott (USA), Governor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kingston_Scott

Robert Kingston Scott (July 8, 1826 – August 12, 1900) was an American Republican politician, the 74th Governor of South Carolina, and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

In 1881, Scott was acquitted of the charge of murdering his 15 year old son leading to the saying "getting off Scott free".

Early life and career

Robert K. Scott was born in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, to a military family. His grandfather fought in the American Revolution and his father in the War of 1812. Scott studied medicine and began practice in Henry County, Ohio.

Civil War

In October 1861, Scott became lieutenant colonel of the 68th Ohio Infantry, and colonel of that regiment in 1862. He served in Tennessee, where he commanded the advance of Major General John A. Logan's division on the march into Mississippi. He was engaged at Port Gibson, Raymond, and Champion Hill.

He was afterward at the head of a brigade in the XVII Corps, and was taken prisoner near Atlanta. There are conflicting claims about how he gained freedom. Some claim he was part of a prisoner exchange on September 24, 1864 and was put into Sherman's operations before that city and in the march to the sea, while records also indicate that he escaped by jumping from a prisoner train.

Scott was commissioned as a brigadier general of volunteers on January 12, 1865, and also received the brevet ranks of brigadier and major general in the volunteer army, to date from January 26, and December 2, 1865, respectively.

Postbellum activities

Between 1865–68, General Scott was assistant commissioner of the South Carolina Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, popularly known as the Freedmen's Bureau. In July 1868, he resigned from the Regular Army and entered politics.

Governor of South Carolina

Later that year, he became the first governor of the reconstructed South Carolina as a Republican. In 1870, the South Carolina Constitution of 1868 lifted the rule that had until then prevented a governor's re-election until four years had passed since leaving office. This allowed Scott to become the first governor of South Carolina to be elected to two consecutive terms. He was re-elected by a majority of 33,534 votes of a total 136,608. One of the most notable acts of his state legislature was voting itself a full time saloon and restaurant at taxpayer expense. The state debt tripled during Governor Scott's years in office, resulting in an unsuccessful attempt by the General Assembly to impeach him in 1871.

Judge Richard B. Carpenter testified in an 1872 congressional hearing that voter fraud was involved in Scott’s re-election, but Scott remained in office. Ironically, Carpenter not only owed him money at the time, but also continued to ask for more with the promise of political favors in return.

Franklin J. Moses, Jr., the first governor after him, claimed Scott “fraudulently signed state bonds in the St James Hotel in New York under the joint influence of alcohol and burlesque queen Pauline Markham,” known as one of “The British Blondes.” He also regularly borrowed money from Scott.

Wade Hampton III, the third governor after Scott, indicted him for “fraudulently issuing three warrants for $48,645 to non-existent payees in 1871.” At the same time, he sent letters to Scott promising not to extradite him nor force him to stand trial.

Return to Ohio

In 1877 Scott returned to Napoleon, Ohio, when Democrats returned to power in the South Carolina executive, possibly out of fear of being prosecuted for misuse of funds during his administration.

He settled down with his family, including his only son, R.K. Scott, Jr., who was known as "Arkie" because of his initials. On Christmas Day, 1880, 15 year-old Arkie went missing. He was “inclined to frequent taverns.” Scott suspected he was hiding in the apartment of his friend Warren G. Drury, aged 23. When Drury refused to let him in he was somehow mysteriously shot by a bullet from Scott’s pistol and died the next day.

Scott’s trial, held in a pool hall over Wendt’s Shoe Store in downtown Napoleon, consumed national attention. The former governor, a two-star general who trained men and led soldiers through four years of war, participating in one of the boldest military campaigns in history, claimed his weapon accidentally discharged. He was also a lawyer, passing the South Carolina bar examination after his term as governor. On November 5, 1881, General Scott was acquitted of murder. His story led to the saying "getting off Scott free" and the controversiality surrounding his case led to public outrage. After his acquittal, a lynch mob from Toledo wanted to see “rough and ready punishment done.” Scott formed a militia from his own employees and volunteers. “The Roughs” boarded the Wabash Railroad bound for Napoleon with an anonymous gift of two barrels of whiskey and all thoughts of justice were washed away.

Scott died in Napoleon and was buried in Henry County, Ohio.

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https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/scott-robert-kingston/

Governor. Scott was born on July 8, 1826, in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, the son of John Scott, a farmer, and Jane Hamilton. At age sixteen he moved to Ohio, where he attended Central College and Sterling Medical College. He joined the gold rush to California in 1850 but returned to Ohio the following year and settled in Henry County, where he prospered as a physician, real estate speculator, and retailer. Sometime in the 1850s he married Rebecca Jane Lowry, and the couple eventually had two children. During the Civil War, Scott organized the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteers and eventually rose to the rank of brigadier general. In 1866 Scott was appointed assistant commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau in South Carolina. He struggled diligently to provide food for freedmen and destitute whites but was dismayed by the opposition and cruelty of many whites toward the former slaves.

Scott reluctantly accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for governor in 1868 and was elected with support derived largely from newly enfranchised black male voters. With most white South Carolinians regarding his administration as illegitimate, Scott instead cultivated a working but sometimes uneasy relationship with black political leaders. In his 1868 inaugural address he urged reconciliation and advocated the establishment of segregated public schools, and then he failed to invite any African Americans to a reception that followed. In 1870 he supported the election of the black congressmen Robert Brown Elliott and Robert DeLarge, and Alonzo Ransier served as the state’s first black lieutenant governor during Scott’s second term.

In 1868 and 1869 white violence and terror erupted as dozens of black and white Republicans were threatened, beaten, and assassinated. Scott signed a bill in 1869 organizing a state militia composed largely of black men. The violence continued unabated in several upcountry counties until President Ulysses S. Grant dispatched federal troops and suspended the writ of habeas corpus in 1871 in nine counties. Scott’s administration was further tarnished by the corruption that contaminated Republican and Democratic leaders during Reconstruction. Though he adamantly denied it, Scott was alleged to have participated in a bribery scheme involving the sale of railroad bonds. Reelected in 1870, Scott avoided impeachment in 1872 when several legislators allegedly accepted bribes to defeat the resolution. John J. Patterson defeated both Scott and Robert Brown Elliott for a U.S. Senate seat in 1872 amid further allegations of bribery.

Well intentioned but ineffective, Scott was unable to sustain the confidence of many Republicans and was thoroughly despised by almost every Democrat. Worth more than $300,000 before he became governor, Scott added to his wealth through a series of Columbia real estate transactions. He frequently loaned money to less prosperous black and white politicians as well as to impoverished white planters. He remained in Columbia until 1878 and then returned to Ohio rather than face indictment on charges of corruption. In 1880 Scott was charged with killing a Napoleon, Ohio, drugstore clerk but was acquitted of accidental homicide. He suffered a stroke in 1899 and died on August 12, 1900. He was buried in Henry County, Ohio.