Siblings Update

One of the great aspects of researching a family history such as this is how one’s friends who are genealogists and family history researchers are eager to offer a helping hand. Earlier I wrote that I had only identified four Scott siblings, of which Leta was the youngest: Stephen, Aaron, Louise and then Leta. She was fifteen years younger than her eldest brother Stephen and 12 years younger than Aaron.

However, some skilled sleuthing by my friend Jeff, reinforced by acquiring Leta’s obituary, uncovered the fact that she was actually one of eight children born to David Scott and Julia Snyder. David and Nellie were born in the period between Aaron and Louise (David in 1883 and Nellie in 1887). In fact, Nellie seems to have lived a long life. There is also an “Aunt Mabel” who lived in Vancouver, Canada. She may have been a sister or sister-in-law.

What makes research of Leta’s childhood family particularly difficult is that a large portion of the 1890 U.S. Census was destroyed in a fire, and the damage of the rest resulted in its being thrown away in the 1920s. It is possible that the two “missing” Scott siblings were still living during this time; however, if they were still alive in the 1900 census, they would have still been children living at home (under the age of 16).

There is this family picture in which we have so far identified four of the women (l to r: Louise (sister), unknown, Florence (sister-in-law), Nellie (sister) and Leta.) The identified male is brother Aaron (center). Leta’s husband is not Eckman, which means he could be Bassett since he fits the age period she seems to be.

Another interesting family note from the 1900 census has Julia A. Scott as “divorced” head of household with two daughters living at home—Louise and Leta.  There is no census record of David or his whereabouts at the time. However, in the 1910 census, she and David were again listed as married. This time, they lived together in Toledo, Ohio in the Birmingham neighborhood. (For those of you who are M*A*S*H or Jamie Farr fans, this is the neighborhood that Corporal Klinger hailed from).

According to Aaron’s granddaughter Margery, most of the Scott family is buried in Wood County, Ohio. I’ve planned a visit in December.