Rachel Ann Smyth1

b. 22 July 1849, d. 31 October 1944
FatherJames Kelly Smyth2 b. 28 Dec 1821, d. 8 Nov 1895
MotherJane Beattie Clark2 b. 23 Mar 1823, d. 21 Jan 1862
Birth22 Jul 1849 Rachel Ann Smyth was born on 22 Jul 1849 in Washington County, Virginia.3,1 
Anecdote Rachel, in describing her childhood wrote: "Large oaks and chestnut trees grew near our home at the foot of the mountain and we spent many happy days beneath their shade. We made our play beds of moss and our dishes were the caps of acorns. We set out yeast in egg shells and made bread of mud. Our dolls were ears of corn in the roasting ear stage and we plaited the long silks for hair."4 
Education The first years of Rachel's education were spent at a local subscription school (there was no public school) near where Emory and Henry College now stands. The tutition was one dollar a month for each child. Rachel and the other children from her neighborhood walked through the woods and pastures from their home near Walkers Mountain as there were no roads. Some years later her father and others built a log school house which was more easily accessible for the mountain children. These classes were usually taught by young educated women.5 
Illness1861 In late 1861 a diptheria epidemic ravaged the Glade Spring community. Both Rachel and her sister Alice fell ill, as did they mother, Jane. Rachel recovered, but Alice died the day after Christmas, followed a month later by their mother.6 
Education  Following her mother's death Rachel's father enlisted in the Confederate Army. Rachel was sent to live with an aunt whose home was near Ebbing Spring on the Middle Fork of the Holston. There she attended a small school on the riverbank taught by Mrs. Julia Thomas. However shortly after her arrival an outbreak of flux occured, which took the life of her aunt's son Thomas, and several other small children of the community.7 
Education Rachel returned home and her uncle sent her to attend Liberty Hall Academy. At the time it was a one-room school taught by Rev. James Robinson Keys.8 
Education  In 1866 she left home to attend Ashville Female College in North Carolina. In her memoirs she writes about how she loved the two years she spent at the small college. She graduated in 1868 and was the valedictorian of her class.9 
Cens-18706 Oct 1870  By 1870 she had returned to Washington County and where she lived with her father and sister.10 
Occupation Later she taught in the Virginia public schools.11 
Marriage21 Nov 1877 Rachel married Peter Alexander Scott, son of Stephen Scott, on 21 Nov 1877 in Washington County.12,13 
Cens-188022 Jun 1880  Although Peter resided in Smyth County when the couple married, they seem to have settled in the North Fork district of Washington County. There they were enumerated in the summer of 1880 with their two young sons: William H.S. (1) and Emory P. (3 months). A cousin, 23 year old Nellie Thomas, lived with them. Both Nellie and Peter were employed as teachers; Nellie as a music teacher and Peter as a high school teacher.14 
ChildDeath  Peter and Rachel's third child, a daughter they named Elizabeth Jane, was born in 1881. She died two years later. 
  In the late 1880s the family may have spent some time in Mississippi, where daughter Alice was born in April 1888. 
  In later years the couple were enumerated on a farm in the Glade Spring district of Washington County which appears to have been managed by their son Homer. Peter continued to teach high school. Over the years the household included the couple's 5 surviving children (2 of whom did not marry) and for many years, Rachel's aunt Catherine Smyth.15,16,17 
Widowed1926  Following Peter's death in 1926 Rachel lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Alice and Leonidas Littleton. In 1930 the household was enumerated living on a farm at Emory and Henry College where Leonidas was a professor.18 
Death31 Oct 1944 Rachel died on 31 Oct 1944 at age 95.1 
Burial She was buried at Smyth Chapel Cemetery in Washington County, Virginia.19 
Anecdote Rachel left a lengthy narrative about her childhood and family. Some of the information regarding early family history was recorded for her by her father, James Kelly Smyth. Other pages include detailed memories about life in the 1850s and 1860s in Washington County and in particular about the effect of the Civil War.20 

Related Links and Images:

Rachel's headstone
Other interments in Smyth's Chapel Cemetery

Family

Peter Alexander Scott b. 1 May 1851, d. 19 Apr 1926
Children
ChartsDescendants of Mathew Ryburn and Jane Beattie
Descendants of James Clark and Isabella Breckenridge
Last Edited15 Nov 2010

Citations

  1. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 125. Desc. chart for Rachel Ann Smyth and Peter Alexander Scott. Author unclear.
  2. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 124. Desc. chart for James Kelly Smyth and Jane Beattie Clark. Author unclear.
  3. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, From writings of Rachel Smyth Scott, p. 9.
  4. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 10. From the writings of Rachel Smyth Scott.
  5. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 18. From the writings of Rachel Smyth Scott.
  6. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 15. From the writings of Rachel Smyth Scott. Rachel was the daughter of James Kelly Smyth and Jane Beattie Clark, and the granddaughter of Tobias Smyth and Rachel Kelly.
  7. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 19. From the writings of Rachel Smyth Scott. The aunt Rachel went to live with was most probably her mother's sister, Mary Love Clark Henderson Pafford Hutton. Mary's son Thomas Henderson was born in 1857 and died in August 1863.
  8. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 12. From the writings of Rachel Smyth Scott.
  9. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 20. From the writings of Rachel Smyth Scott.
  10. [S635] Tobias Smith household, 1870 U.S. cens, Washington Co., Virginia, pop. sched., 1st Division, p. 196b (stamped), dwelling 165, family 180, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Jul 2003, image 392 of 426. Data includes: Tobias Smith, 84, retired farmer, owns land valued at $6,000; Elizabeth 50, keeping house; James K., 48, farmer, owns land valued at $1,000; Francis A. 47, tradesman, owns land valued at $1,000; Catherine 41, asst housekeeping; Rachell 21; Isabella 15, attending school; all b. VA.
  11. [S5] Elizabeth Kelly Allison, Early Southwest Virginia Families, p. 48.
  12. [S6] Thomas Colley, Washington Co. VA Marriages 1853-1880, p. 323. Scott, Peter, 26y, sgl, b. Smyth Co. VA, resid Smyth Co., school teacher, s/o Stephen & E.H.M. Scott AND Rachel A. Smyth, 28y, sgl, b. & resid WCV, d/o James K. Smyth; 21 Nov. 1877.
  13. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 125. Desc. chart for Rachel Ann Smyth and Peter Alexander Scott. Author unclear. Marr date recorded as 11-21-1872 but this disagrees with the date transcribed from Washington Co. marriage records.
  14. [S165] Peter A. Scott household, 1880 U.S. Census, Washington Co., VA, pop. sched., North Fork district, ED 41A, page 198 (stamped), dwelling 347, family 348, viewed online at www.Ancestry.com, Oct. 2010. Household includes: Peter A. Scott, 28, school teacher; Rachel A., 29; William H.S., 1, son; Emory P., 3/12, b. March, son; Nellie E. Thomas, 23, cousin, music teacher; all b. VA.
  15. [S634] Peter A. Scott household, 1900 U.S. cens., Washington Co., Virginia, pop. sched., Glade Spring district, ED 109, sheet 13A (p. 95 stamped), dwelling 243, family 252, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Sept. 2010. Household includes: Peter A. Scott, 49, b. May 1851, marr 23 yrs, farmer; Rachel A., wife, 50, b. Jul 1859, marr 23 yrs, mother of 6 children, 5 are living; Smyth, son, 21, b. Aug 1878, at school; Emery P., son, age unclear, b. Mar 1879; Homer, son, 16, b. Apr 1884; Frank, 14, b. Mar 1886; Alace, dau, 12, b. Apr 1888; Catherine Smith, aunt, 70, b. Aug. 1829.
  16. [S237] Homer Scott household, 1910 U.S. cens., Washington Co., VA, pop. sched., Glade Spring district, ED 117, sheet 2A (p. 20 stamped), dwelling 21, family 22, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Oct. 2010. Household includes: Homer Scott, 25, marr #1, marr 1 year, farmer; Lillian, wife, 20, marr #1, marr 1 year, no children; Peter A., father, 61, marr #1, marr 33 yrs, high school teacher; Rachel, mother, 62, marr #1, marr 33 yrs, mother of 6 children, 5 are living; Pierce, bros, 30, commercial traveler in shoe business; Frank, bros, 24, no occupation; Alice, sister, 22, b. Mississippi, public school teacher; Kittie Smyth, aunt, 81, sgl, own income; all others b. VA; residence on "the Mountain Road."
  17. [S238] Peter A. Scott household, 1920 U.S. cens., Washington Co., VA, pop. sched., Glade Spring district, ED 148, sheet 10B, dwelling 188, family 188, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Oct. 2010. Household includes: Peter A. Scott, 68, no occupation listed; Rachel, wife, 70; Hamie G., son, 41, marr, doctor; Pierce E., son, 38, sgl, commercial traveler - wholesale shoes; Homer C., son, 36, marr, farmer; Lillian L., dau-in-law, 31; Rachella, granddaughter, 9; all b. VA; residence is farm.
  18. [S639] Leonidas Littleton household, 1930 U.S. cens., Washington Co., VA, pop. sched., Glade Spring district-Emory and Henry College, ED 96-6, sheet 11-B, dwelling 230, family 233, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Oct. 2010. Household includes: Leonidas Littleton, 40, marr at 26, owns home, is a farm, b. VA/VA/VA, college teacher; Alice L., wife, 42, marr at 28, b. Mississippi; Rachel B., dau, 12, b. New Jersey; Louisa C., dau, 10, b. VA; Leonidas R. Jr., son, 8, b. Virginia; Rachel A. Scott, mother-in-law, 82, wid; Emory P. Scott, bros-in-law, 48, sgl, salesman for shoe company; Kathlyn Scott, niece, age not known, [entry appears to state she is single] b. VA/VA/VA.
  19. [S2] Catherine McConnell, High On A Windy Hill, p. 163.
  20. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth.
  21. [S5] Elizabeth Kelly Allison, Early Southwest Virginia Families, p. 70-85.
  22. [S13] Aleta Spicer, Smyth, p. 125. Desc. chart for Rachel Ann Smyth and Peter Alexander Scott. Author unclear.
  23. [S2] Catherine McConnell, High On A Windy Hill, p. 163. The stone is reported to read: Elizabeth Scott, dau of P.A. & R. A. Scott, 8 Nov. 1881-1 Aug. 1883.