Scott family at the cemetery

As I wrote previously, my great-grandmother Leta Scott was one of six surviving children of David Scott and Julia Snyder. And during my most recent trip to Northwestern Ohio, I explored a local cemetery and poured through several obituaries. While very informative, this excursion also presented several conflicts, particularly with regard to Leta's siblings.

According to the census reports, the surviving children of David and Julia were (oldest to youngest) Stephen, Aaron, David, Nellie, Louise and Leta. However, there were several indications that there was another sister named Mabel, but no birth or census records of her. Leta's obituary only notes that she was the last surviving sibling.

During this trip, I was able to locate the obituaries of mother Julia Scott and brother Aaron Scott. Both note that their survivors include six Scott children: Aaron (except for in his own obituary, of course), Nellie, Louise and Leta, as are included in the census reports, but instead of Stephen and David, acknowledge Fred and Mabel. Neither of the latter were local residents. Fred is listed as living in California (in Julia's, 1924) and Oregon (in Aaron's, 1949). Mabel is noted as living in British Columbia, which is consistent with family information.

While I cannot account for the discrepancy between this and the census, my next step in historical research is to find out more about the births and movements of Mabel and Fred. I also hope to find the death information of Stephen and David and wonder if one of them might also be Fred.

Several members of the Scott family are buried in the same cemetery—Lake Township Cemetery in Walbridge, Ohio. Aaron and Florence are there; as well as Nellie and her husband Franklin Jaquillard, son Lyle and daughter-in-law; Louise and her husband Hiram Wescotte and daughter Leta.

Leta Wescotte was named after her aunt, and the family called her "little Leta." She never married and lived with her parents until they passed away. She was also the Dean of Girls at Clay High School for many years. This is the high school that my dad, his siblings, my siblings and I, and my sister’s children attended. My grandfather Ed (Leta's son-in-law) also attended and graduated from Clay High School (in its third graduating class, no less), but this would have been before Leta Wescotte was there. Apparently, she wasn't a very happy person.

A host of other Scotts are also buried in the Lake Township Cemetery; these may or may not be part of David's family.

The most intriguing discovery I made is that while Julia Snyder Scott is buried in this cemetery, she is not buried with her husband David. I have no idea yet why this is, where he is buried or even when he died, since they presumably lived together until death. Well, maybe not.