Scope and Contents note
The Scott Family Papers consist of correspondence, journals, diaries, catalogs, account books, deeds and mortgages, certificates, receipts, other family records, freestanding volumes, artifacts, and photographs. The primary arrangement of the collection is in series as organized by Leland Howard Scott.
The largest group of correspondence consists of letters between Charles & Mollie Scott from 1887 to 1893, detailing their respective family and professional teaching concerns, personal interests such as music and religion, their courtship and eventual marriage. There is also correspondence between other members of the Scott family, the bulk of which is from 1887 until 1920, and between members of the Scott family and others, from 1889 until 1920. Charles Scott kept detailed journals from 1881 until 1900, with later diaries kept on notecards until 1906. There are also his personal record books as well as two bank books of Mollie Scott’s. Other records include teaching certificates for both Charles and Mollie Scott, execution authorizations, genealogical forms and publications from Joel Munsell’s Sons, and documents relating to a legal action taken against Charles Scott during his tenure as bank president.
There are smaller subseries of papers relating to Charles and Mollie’s children Randall Scott and Ruth Scott Hillstrom. These include papers relating to Randall’s service in the U.S. Army during World War I, and Ruth’s musical performances during approximately the same period. There is also a series of papers pertaining to the Brattain and Easter families, and one file of correspondence from J. Sigfrid Edström. A series of freestanding volumes includes biographies of both J. Sigfrid and Ruth Randall Edström, and a detailed typescript by Leland Howard Scott entitled At the Turning of the Century: the Experiences of Charles Leland Scott, which is a biography and historical record of Charles Scott, his family, and descendents, based on the material in this collection.
Finally, the photograph series contains personal family photographs, and studio portaits of family members.
Dates
- circa 1850-2004
Creator
- Scott family (Family)
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use note
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical/Historical note
Charles (“Charlie”) Leland Scott (1866–1924) was born in Channahon, Illinois, to Ben and Mary Scott. He moved with his parents to Sacramento, California and then to Cresswell, Oregon. He received his first Oregon Teaching Certificate in 1885 at the age of eighteen, and began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in the rural Oregon community of Lynx Hollow. He taught school for the next 15 years, and also served as principal of Central School in Eugene, Oregon. In 1894 he was appointed to the office of Deputy Sheriff of Lane County, a position he held until 1898; he then ran unsuccessfully for the office of Sheriff, and shortly thereafter returned to teaching. Charles Scott met his future wife Mollie Brattain in 1887, when she was also teaching in a one-room schoolhouse outside of Creswell. They married in 1891 and had three children, Paul, Randall, and Ruth. The Scott family made their home first in Eugene and later in Springfield, Oregon. In 1900 Charles Scott began working as a bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Eugene; in 1909 he joined the First National Bank of Springfield as a cashier, and soon rose to become president of the Bank. He served as mayor of Springfield from 1913-1915 and was still working at the Bank when he had an attack of encephalitis lethargica ("sleeping sickness"). He eventually died of this illness at the age of 58. Mollie Scott died in 1955. Of the Scott children, Paul was a financial executive, Randall became a Methodist minister, and Ruth worked as a music critic for the publication Musical America. Randall married Ethel Wakefield, who was a drama coach at University High School in Eugene; their son Leland (“Lee”) Howard Scott had three children, Nancy, Sue, and David. Sue Scott became an actor and producer in radio and theater, and has been a cast member with "A Prairie Home Companion" since 1992. A cousin of Charles Scott's, Ruth Randall, was married to J. Sigfrid Edström, a Swedish sportsman and head of the International Olympic Committee in the 1940s and 1950s.
Extent
5.25 linear feet (16 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Charles Leland Scott (1866-1924) was the mayor of Springfield, Oregon; a bank president; and an educator in the Eugene, Oregon area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Scott Family Papers comprise the personal and professional papers of Charles Leland Scott, the papers of his wife, Mollie Brattain Scott, a schoolteacher, and of the Scott children and other relatives. The collection includes correspondence, journals, diaries, catalogs, account books, deeds and mortgages, certificates, receipts, other family records, bound volumes, and photographs.
Arrangement note
Collection is organized into the following series: Series I: Correspondence Subseries A: Between Charles & Mollie Scott, 1887-1893Subseries B: Between Other Scott Family Members, 1887-1975Subseries C: With Others, 1889-1920 Series II: Journals and Diaries Subseries A: Charles ScottSubseries B: Ruth Scott Series III: Record Books Subseries A: Charles ScottSubseries B: Mollie Scott Series IV: Family Records and Other Papers Subseries A: Charles ScottSubseries B: Mollie ScottSubseries C: Randall ScottSubseries D: Ruth Scott HillstromSubseries E: Phil Scott Series V: Envelopes, Wallets and Other Material Series VI: Brattain and Easter Family Series VII: Artifacts Series VIII: Freestanding Volumes Series IX: Photographs
Separated Materials note
Photographs in this collection are stored separately under call number PH198.
Processing Information note
Collection processed by Kay M. Brooks.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Account books Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Artifacts Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Bankers -- Oregon -- Lane County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Catalogs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Civic Activism Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Civil Procedure and Courts Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Deeds Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Diaries Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Elementary and Secondary Education Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Eugene Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Eugene (Or.) -- History Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Home and Family Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Lane County (Or.) -- History -- Sources Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Letters Subject Source: Genre Terms: A Thesaurus for Use in Rare Book and Special Collections Cataloguing
- Mayors -- Oregon -- Springfield Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Military Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Music Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Oregon Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Receipts (financial records) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Religion Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Scott family
- Scott, Charles Leland, 1866-1924
- Scott, Charles Leland, 1866-1924
- Scott, Leland Howard
- Scott, Mollie, -1955
- Scott, Mollie, -1955
- Springfield (Or.) -- History -- Sources Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Teachers -- Oregon -- Lane County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Women teachers -- Oregon -- Lane County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Scott Family Papers
- Status
- Revise Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Kay M. Brooks
- Date
- 2007
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
