California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 ALONZO DEMOSTHENES SCOTT.� The Scott family is of colonial southern lineage and was established in the north by Col. John W. Scott, a native of Nashville, Tenn., and a pioneer of Illinois, where he officiated as sheriff of Cook county at a time when there were only four counties in the entire state and when Chicago was a hamlet with only eight log houses within its boundaries. The title by which he was known came through service as an officer in the Black Hawk war. For a time he was associated with Abraham Lincoln in the practice of law. Another of his most intimate co-workers was Hon. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, a statesman of national renown. After settling in Illinois he married a young lady from Ohio and twelve chil- dren were born of their union. The sole survivor of this once large family is Hart Benton Scott, who was born in Greene county. Ill., February 9, 1844, and attended the grammar and high schools of that part of the country. In 1862 he enlisted in the Union army, in which one of his brothers had been commissioned a first sergeant. At the expiration of eight months he was honorably discharged on account of physical disability. During 1864 he left Illinois for California. The expenses of the trip across the plains were made by his work as a cattle-herder. Upon his arrival in Mendocino county he took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres near Point Arena, put up a cabin, began to till the soil, then bought cattle and engaged in stock- raising and dairying. The marriage of Hart Benton Scott and Belle Hoyt was solemnized May 16, 1868. Mrs. Scott was born in New York April 6, 1850, being the only child of Sylvanus and Sarah M. (Van Winkle) Hoyt, natives respectively of Vermont and Jersey City, N. J. Her parents were married in New York and remained there for some time, but about 1859 came via the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco and thence to Mendocino county, where they engaged in general farming and dairying. During his last days Mr. Hoyt was retired from active work. After a long period of residence on the same farm in 1888 Hart Benton Scott sold his land and dairy and removed to Point Arena, where in 1890 he opened a general mercantile store. Meanwhile from 1886 to 1890 he had served as supervisor from the fifth district. After two years as a merchant he sold the store and resumed farming on leased land, where for five years he made a specialty of raising stock. The ten following years were given o\er to general mercantile pursuits. Since selling out his business he has lived in retirement, with the exception of filling at the present time the office of justice of the peace. In politics he has been a lifelong Democrat. For thirty-five years he has affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has contributed to their charities. In religion he is of the Presby- terian faith. His family consists of six children, namely: Mortimer, Fletcher, Hart Benton, Alonzo D., Ada and Zella. Born near Manchester, Mendocino county, Cal., October 30, 1873, Alonzo D. Scott passed his early years on the home farm and attended the Manchester schools. Later he was a pupil in the Point Arena schools. At the age of eighteen he began to work as a ranch-hand. Two years later he entered the employ of the L. E. White Lumber Company as a clerk in their store at Point Arena, under the then manager, J. O. Davenport. After a short time he was transferred to the company's general mercantile store at Greenwood (or Elk), where W. F. Fuller was then in charge. During 1901 he succeeded Mr. Fuller as manager of the store, which position he has filled with the greatest efficiency up to the present time. In addition to the management of the store he acts as clerk of the board of trustees of Greenwood school district and is a con- tributor to the work of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a member. His marriage took place at Ukiah October 25, 1899, and united him with Miss Grace Smith, who was born in that California town August li, 1874. They are the parents of two children, La Verne Malcolm and Grace La Belle. He was made a Mason, Mendocino Lodge No. 179, F. & A. M., and is a member of Mendocino Chapter No. 88, R. A. M., and Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T. The Republican party has a stanch supporter in Mr. Scott, who is a member of the county central committee and a leading factor in local party affairs.