ed hodges
09-30-2003, 07:03 PM
Hello Fellow Historians:
-I am still on the search for Mr. Scott and his 1855 map. I have recruited the help of many amateur historians and genealogists in Ohio, Michigan, and Maryland----places where d.b.scott grew up. I have acquired census records for 1820, 30, but 1840 is questionable. The Scott family worked on the National Road (Maryland to Illinois), so that explains where d.b. got his road building and surveying experience. There is a 10 year gap (1839 to 1849) that needs to be filled in to complete my research back East. I know for sure that d.b. was on a wagon train that departed from Independence in April 1849 . (The Rasmussen book "California Wagon Train Lists,vol #1--1994 places him there). He and some of the wagon train members started a shingle making business near Placerville in 1850---he sold out his share around 1851 and moved to Yuba County. He secured the job of county surveyor for 3 years ?('52-'54). In 1855, the town of Downieville recruited him to do a survey of a proposed trans-Sierra wagon road roughly following the Henness Pass emigrant trail. He did the survey---preparing a rough description of the route BUT----the map to accompany the description may or may not have been created. This is the crux of my research ---where is that 1855 map? (was it ever created, if so---is it still around "buried" in some long- forgotten public archive?) The 1856 Report of the Surveyor General to the California State Legislature includes D.B.Scott's survey notes along with a follow-up survey of the same route by then Surveyor-General John A. Brewster.(see attachments) Concurrent with Scott's road survey business was his interest in railroads. He was chief engineer for the San Francisco & Marysville railroad from 1859 thru 1860. He created a beautiful map in 1860 showing a proposed route for the trans-Sierra railroad following roughly the Henness Pass trail. ( Mr.Judah had another route for the railroad which won out over Scott's). Sometime around 1861, D.B. Scott moved over to Nevada and became a surveyor for Washoe County. Why he made this move is unknown to me, but for about 5 years, his name showed up as county surveyor on land plats recorded in the Reno area. By 1870 (age 52) he was back in California with a census record placing him in Sonoma County, Anally township. Then in 1880, I found him in Tehama county. The last I know of Mr.;.Scott is a record of his death in the town of Duncan's Mill near Guerneville---Jan 3, 1891. While I have a copy of his death certificate, I cannot find out where he was buried.
So you can see that I have a sketchy record of D.B.Scott's life, with the most glaring gaps appearing from 1870 to 1890. No photo of a man who played a significant role in the wagon road and railroad construction during the gold rush days. No newspaper record of his accomplishments or his death.
Would you be willing to search your records for information on David B. Scott and foreword the findings to me so I might continue my research. My goal is to prepare a story about the man for either the Oregon California Trails Association or the Lincoln Highway Association.
Sincerely-----Ed Hodges---- San Jose
I have visited the following agencies in my quest for these maps and the man who created them:
#1---State Archives in Sacto
#2---State Library (Cal.Room) in Sacto
#3---Government Publications Room in Sacto
#4---State Lands Commission in Sacto
#5---Bureau of Land Management in Sacto
#6---Washoe County Recorders Office in Reno
#7---National Archives in San Bruno
#8---Bancroft Library in Berkeley
#9---Earth Science Map Room at UC Berkeley
#10--California Historical Society in San Francisco
#11--Sutro Library in San Francisco
#12--Oregon-California Trails Association
#13--Lincoln Highway Association
I have contacted the following agencies by e-mail
#1---Downievill Assessor's Office
#2---Library of Congress
#3---National Archives in Wash DC
#4---Yuba County Library (California Room)
#5---Nevada County Historical Society
#6---El Dorado County Historical Society
#7---Sonoma County Historical Society
#8---Sierra County Historical Society
#9---Mt.Diablo Surveyors Historical Society
#10--Nevada Surveyors Historical Society
#11--Keck Library in Reno
#12--Newberry Library in Chicago
#13--Humboldt-Toiyabe Nat.Forest in Sparks
#14--Tahoe National Forest in Susanville
#15--Univ. of the Pacific Library in Stockton
#16--Sutter's Fort in Sacto
#17--CALTRANS History Library in Sacto
#18--Branner Research Library at Stanford
#19--Nevada State Library in Reno
I have been in contact with the following individual who have provided me assistance in my research:
#1---Lee Adams ---------------------Downieville (great-great grandson of Surveyor General John Brewster)
#2---Joe King--------------------------Reno
#3---David Cismowski--------------Sacto
#4---Catherine Hanson-Tracy---Sacto
#5---David Kessler------------------Berkeley
#6---Heather Moldenhauer-------Marysville
#7---Martha Whittaker-------------San Francisco
#8---Cathleen Bartley--------------Reno
#9---Linda Newman-----------------Reno
#10--Paul Pace-----------------------Truckee/Reno
#11--Stewart Lauters---------------Sacto
#12--Ron Fiskum--------------------Sacto
#13--Anne Golden-------------------Stockton ?
#14--David Conklin------------------Sacto
#15--Edward Redmond------------Wash DC
#16--Daryl Bottoms-----------------Wash DC
#17--William Secrest---------------Fresno
#18--Dana Scanlon------------------Rio Vista ?
#19--Norman Root-------------------Sacto
#20--Lee Schegg---------------------Truckee
#21--Roy Minnick--------------------Sacto
#22--David Palmer-------------------?
#23--Chuck Dodd---------------------Reno
#24--Kevin Patrick-------------------?
#25--Debbie Pye----------------------Marysville
#26--Jack Duncan--------------------Roseville ?
#27--Donna Linderman-------------Nevada City
#28--Don Wiggins--------------------Reno ?
#29--Doris Blessing-----------------historian in Monroe City Michigan
#30--Kerry Smyth--------------------Smyth & Scott family geneology website
http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=DESC&db=:1741075&id=I80670495
#31--Jane Cleary---------------------geneology researcher for Smyth & Scott family tree
-I am still on the search for Mr. Scott and his 1855 map. I have recruited the help of many amateur historians and genealogists in Ohio, Michigan, and Maryland----places where d.b.scott grew up. I have acquired census records for 1820, 30, but 1840 is questionable. The Scott family worked on the National Road (Maryland to Illinois), so that explains where d.b. got his road building and surveying experience. There is a 10 year gap (1839 to 1849) that needs to be filled in to complete my research back East. I know for sure that d.b. was on a wagon train that departed from Independence in April 1849 . (The Rasmussen book "California Wagon Train Lists,vol #1--1994 places him there). He and some of the wagon train members started a shingle making business near Placerville in 1850---he sold out his share around 1851 and moved to Yuba County. He secured the job of county surveyor for 3 years ?('52-'54). In 1855, the town of Downieville recruited him to do a survey of a proposed trans-Sierra wagon road roughly following the Henness Pass emigrant trail. He did the survey---preparing a rough description of the route BUT----the map to accompany the description may or may not have been created. This is the crux of my research ---where is that 1855 map? (was it ever created, if so---is it still around "buried" in some long- forgotten public archive?) The 1856 Report of the Surveyor General to the California State Legislature includes D.B.Scott's survey notes along with a follow-up survey of the same route by then Surveyor-General John A. Brewster.(see attachments) Concurrent with Scott's road survey business was his interest in railroads. He was chief engineer for the San Francisco & Marysville railroad from 1859 thru 1860. He created a beautiful map in 1860 showing a proposed route for the trans-Sierra railroad following roughly the Henness Pass trail. ( Mr.Judah had another route for the railroad which won out over Scott's). Sometime around 1861, D.B. Scott moved over to Nevada and became a surveyor for Washoe County. Why he made this move is unknown to me, but for about 5 years, his name showed up as county surveyor on land plats recorded in the Reno area. By 1870 (age 52) he was back in California with a census record placing him in Sonoma County, Anally township. Then in 1880, I found him in Tehama county. The last I know of Mr.;.Scott is a record of his death in the town of Duncan's Mill near Guerneville---Jan 3, 1891. While I have a copy of his death certificate, I cannot find out where he was buried.
So you can see that I have a sketchy record of D.B.Scott's life, with the most glaring gaps appearing from 1870 to 1890. No photo of a man who played a significant role in the wagon road and railroad construction during the gold rush days. No newspaper record of his accomplishments or his death.
Would you be willing to search your records for information on David B. Scott and foreword the findings to me so I might continue my research. My goal is to prepare a story about the man for either the Oregon California Trails Association or the Lincoln Highway Association.
Sincerely-----Ed Hodges---- San Jose
I have visited the following agencies in my quest for these maps and the man who created them:
#1---State Archives in Sacto
#2---State Library (Cal.Room) in Sacto
#3---Government Publications Room in Sacto
#4---State Lands Commission in Sacto
#5---Bureau of Land Management in Sacto
#6---Washoe County Recorders Office in Reno
#7---National Archives in San Bruno
#8---Bancroft Library in Berkeley
#9---Earth Science Map Room at UC Berkeley
#10--California Historical Society in San Francisco
#11--Sutro Library in San Francisco
#12--Oregon-California Trails Association
#13--Lincoln Highway Association
I have contacted the following agencies by e-mail
#1---Downievill Assessor's Office
#2---Library of Congress
#3---National Archives in Wash DC
#4---Yuba County Library (California Room)
#5---Nevada County Historical Society
#6---El Dorado County Historical Society
#7---Sonoma County Historical Society
#8---Sierra County Historical Society
#9---Mt.Diablo Surveyors Historical Society
#10--Nevada Surveyors Historical Society
#11--Keck Library in Reno
#12--Newberry Library in Chicago
#13--Humboldt-Toiyabe Nat.Forest in Sparks
#14--Tahoe National Forest in Susanville
#15--Univ. of the Pacific Library in Stockton
#16--Sutter's Fort in Sacto
#17--CALTRANS History Library in Sacto
#18--Branner Research Library at Stanford
#19--Nevada State Library in Reno
I have been in contact with the following individual who have provided me assistance in my research:
#1---Lee Adams ---------------------Downieville (great-great grandson of Surveyor General John Brewster)
#2---Joe King--------------------------Reno
#3---David Cismowski--------------Sacto
#4---Catherine Hanson-Tracy---Sacto
#5---David Kessler------------------Berkeley
#6---Heather Moldenhauer-------Marysville
#7---Martha Whittaker-------------San Francisco
#8---Cathleen Bartley--------------Reno
#9---Linda Newman-----------------Reno
#10--Paul Pace-----------------------Truckee/Reno
#11--Stewart Lauters---------------Sacto
#12--Ron Fiskum--------------------Sacto
#13--Anne Golden-------------------Stockton ?
#14--David Conklin------------------Sacto
#15--Edward Redmond------------Wash DC
#16--Daryl Bottoms-----------------Wash DC
#17--William Secrest---------------Fresno
#18--Dana Scanlon------------------Rio Vista ?
#19--Norman Root-------------------Sacto
#20--Lee Schegg---------------------Truckee
#21--Roy Minnick--------------------Sacto
#22--David Palmer-------------------?
#23--Chuck Dodd---------------------Reno
#24--Kevin Patrick-------------------?
#25--Debbie Pye----------------------Marysville
#26--Jack Duncan--------------------Roseville ?
#27--Donna Linderman-------------Nevada City
#28--Don Wiggins--------------------Reno ?
#29--Doris Blessing-----------------historian in Monroe City Michigan
#30--Kerry Smyth--------------------Smyth & Scott family geneology website
http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=DESC&db=:1741075&id=I80670495
#31--Jane Cleary---------------------geneology researcher for Smyth & Scott family tree