Martin Scott

Martin Scott is a native of Jackson County, Tennessee, and was born March 14, 1807. His father, John Scott, was a soldier of the Revolutionary War. When the subject of our sketch was a child his parents moved to Indiana, where he was reared upon a farm, and received his education in the common schools of that State. He is one of a family of fourteen children, four of whom are ministers in the Christian Church. When he was fifteen years old, his parents moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, and at that time there were but three houses in what is now the city of Springfield, Illinois. In 1827, he moved to Tazewell County, Illinois, and settled on a farm. A short time thereafter, by a change of county lines, he became a resident of McLean county, and a few years later, by the same process, was made a citizen of the county of DeWitt, and thus without moving once he resided successively in three different counties. While a resident of McLean county he was three times elected sheriff of the county, and it was while living there that he began his work in the ministry. In 1844 he was ordained and has been preaching ever since. With the assistance of John A. and William S. Brown and James Scott, he built the Pilot Grove Christian Ch urch. He is now old in years, and it may well be said, that the world is the better for his having lived in it. The names of his brothers a nd sisters are as follows: Andrew, John, James K., William L., Samuel E ., Moses, Wilson, Alexander, Anna C., Ruth B., Nancy, Isabel and Patsy.

Source: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52768312

He fought 2 tours in the Blackhawk War: he served one tour of duty in Captain Robert McClure's company of mounted volunteers, 5th regiment, under Colonel James Jonson; he enrolled as a private on 4 May 1832 in McLean county, and was mustered out 27 May 1832 at a point 130 miles from where he enrolled. He also served a tour under Captain Marritt L. Covell's company ("an odd detachment"), enrolling on 3 Jun 1832 at Bloomington, but was mustered out 3 Aug 1832 as "absent with leave- absent at muster-out".

Source: http://www.bytesizesound.com/jws1/martin.html

Martin Scott was lovingly called Elder Martin and did much to promote the growth of the church. In the fall of 1855 Elder Martin Scott together with several members of his family, moved from McLean in DeWitt County, Illinois to Daviess Cou, Missouri. On the fourth Lords Day in February, 1856, fourteen members of the church met and started to worship. Under the constant work of Elder Martin, the congregation grew and in 1858 the number was 100. The 3rd Lords day in May 1858 two Elders were appointed, Brother James Scott and William S. Brown, the met in the school hous, private homes and a few times in the Pilot Grove Baptist Church building. In 1864 and 1865 a comfortable building was erected 30 x 40 feet. In 1902 the present building was built.