John R. Scott Sr.

Reverend John R. Scott, Sr.
Pastor
Church	St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, Jacksonville, Florida
Other post(s)	Member, Florida House of Representatives; President, Edward Waters College
Personal details
Born	1840-41 (estimated) Virginia (born a slave)
Died	February 18, 1929 Jacksonville, Florida
Buried	Memorial Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida
Denomination	African Methodist Episcopal
Residence	Jacksonville, Florida
Spouse	Emily Jane Scott (married Duval County, FL, September 7, 1868^[citation needed])
Children	Thomas D., John H, Rachael A V, Mary A C, Patrick G
Occupation	Minister, politician, college president
Profession	Minister
Education	Doctor of Divinity[1]

Reverend John Robert Scott Sr. (1840-41 – February 18, 1929) was a religious and political leader in Florida as well as a college president. He was born into slavery in Virginia. During the Reconstruction era he became a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and a state legislator.

He was chosen in 1870 as the first pastor of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church of Jacksonville, Florida.^[2] He also served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing Jacksonville, from 1868 to 1873 and again in 1879.^[3] He was a leading politician in Jacksonville during the Reconstruction Era and a member of the City Council;^[4] his group "once [1872] had so many representatives in the city government that the entire form of government was changed by an executive act in Tallahassee".^[5]: 13

In 1893, a photograph documents that he was the president of Edward Waters College.^[6]

His son John R. Scott Jr., earned a Bachelor of Divinity, was also a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (and secretary of its conference, 1889), a member of the Florida Legislature, and a professor of homiletics (preaching) at Edward Waters College.^[7]

See also

• African-American officeholders during and following the Reconstruction era

References

1. 1870 U.S. Census, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-XKG5-73?i=186&cc=1438024
2. "History of the St. Paul A.M.E. Church". Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
3. "Reverend John R. Scott, Sr". Florida Memory. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
4. "Portrait of John R. Scott - Jacksonville, Florida". Florida Memory. 1889. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
5. Federal Writers' Project (1993). McDonough, Gary W. (ed.). The Florida Negro. A Federal Writers' Project Legacy. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 0878055886.
6. "President John R. Scott of Edward Waters College and students - Jacksonville, Florida". Florida Memory. 1893. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
7. "Ministers in the African M.E. Church". Florida Memory. 1889. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

External links

• Media related to John R. Scott, Sr. at Wikimedia Commons