Rockford Files - George Scott

Since announcing that I identified the family of John and Sarah (Callin) Scott, I have been working on tracing their descendants. Beginning with their eldest son, here is the next chapter of their story!

Winnebago County in 1837
courtesy of Wikimedia

George Scott was born on 1 August 1827, in Richland County, Ohio. His father, John, was 28 and his mother, the former Sarah Callin, was 19. They had been married for almost four years, and George was their first child. George was five years old when his brother, James, was born; he was nine when his sister, Sarah, was born in 1836.

Three years later, in 1839, the Scott family moved from Ohio to Illinois. This would have been a journey of nearly 420 miles on the modern US-30W, but the family likely took a longer route, as evidenced by the fact that another sister, Rebecca, was born in Michigan that year.

Winnebago County, Illinois, was formed in January of 1836, and in 1837 its boundaries were changed to what they are today. Several of these related Scott families settled in and around Burritt Township, where George's grandfather, Joseph Scott, would be buried around 1851. George's father established a farm in the unincorporated area of Harrison, northwest of the young city of Rockford, where he and Sarah lived out their days.

North Burritt Cemetery
(Find-A-Grave)

George married Lucetta P Beach (1833–1912) in 1851. Lucetta's parents were Asher Beach (1800–1860) and Mercy Yaw (1797–1854) of New York and Vermont, respectively. Lucetta was born in New York, and Asher Beach relocated his family to Illinois in the 1840s.

After their marriage, George and Lucetta lived for a few years in Iowa, where their two eldest children were born. They appeared in the 1856 Census in Wayne, Mitchell County, Iowa, but by 1860, they were back in Harrison, Illinois.

The couple had five children in 10 years, and George farmed until he retired. He died on 10 September 1905, having lived a long life of 78 years, and Lucetta followed him on 4 November 1912, at the age of 79. They were buried together in the North Burritt Cemetery in Winnebago, Illinois.

In this post, we'll be looking at the descendants of their daughter:

I. Violetta Scott (1856–1928)

Was the oldest child of George and Lucetta. Born in Iowa on 12 February 1856, Violetta grew up in Harrison, Illinois, on her father's farm. She married Nathan H Knight (1851–1919) on 30 December 1874 in Rock County, Wisconsin, just north of the Illinois state line.

Nathan was born in Maine, and his family moved to Winnebago County during the 1850s, after his birth. His parents were Peter Knight (1794–1865) and Ann Hall Knight (1816–1897). He and Violetta farmed and raised five daughters in Harrison township. After Nathan's death, Violetta moved in with her daughters who were living in Shirland. When she died, she was buried next to Nathan in the North Burritt Cemetery.

     A. Lucetta A Knight (1876–1885) was named after her grandmother, but she died at only nine years of age.

     B. Elsie Leah Knight (1879–1938) was born on 12 January 1879, in Harrison, Illinois. She married Frank Horace Austin (1876–1954) on 5 June 1901, in Winnebago, Illinois.

Two of Frank's brothers, Albert and Ferdinand, would also marry two of Elsie's sisters, Iva and Blanche. The Austins' parents were Edward D. Austin (1843–1929) and Adelaide Elizabeth "Addie" Belcher (1856–1944). Edward was born in Troy, New York, and enlisted in the Union Army, first as a private in Company C of the 35th Regiment, New York Infantry and later as a sergeant in Company K of the 14th Regiment, New York Heavy Artillery. Addie Belcher was born in Lenawee County, Michigan, and married Edward in Tekamah, Nebraska, on 30 September 1873.

The young Austin family moved quite a bit; Frank was born in Nebraska, Albert in Iowa, and after living briefly in Kansas, they settled in Missouri, where the three younger Austin siblings—Edward, Ferdinand, and Lena—were born. Records show that Edward Austin was baptized a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on 9 June 1895 at Clarksdale, DeKalb, Missouri; but from at least 1900 onward, Census records show the family living in either Rockton, Illinois, or South Beloit, Wisconsin.

It isn't completely clear from the records, but I believe Frank and Elsie were divorced sometime before 1930. Elsie appears in the 1930 U.S. Census in Rockford, where she is listed as Divorced and living with her sister, niece, and grand-nephew. However, city directories for Beloit, Wisconsin, show an Elsie and Frank Austin living in that town in the 1930s; confusingly, there is another Frank Austin listed, too, with a wife named Edna.

Whatever their marital situation may have been, the couple did not have any children, as far as I can tell. Elsie died on 15 December 1938, in Rockford, Illinois, at the age of 59, and was buried in the North Burritt Cemetery in Winnebago, Illinois. Frank lived until 1954, died in Beloit, and was buried in the Rockton Township Cemetery in Rockton.

     C. Iva Viola Knight (1881–1923) was born in May 1881 in Illinois, and she spent practically all of her life in the vicinity of Harrison. She married Albert Jesse Austin (1878–1941) on December 30, 1908, and they had four children in their 12 years together. She died in Shirland, on 12 March 1923, at the age of 41, most likely from complications that arose during childbirth.

The year before, Albert had moved the family to Mattoon, Wisconsin, but it seems that when Iva was close to having their fourth child, she went to Shirland to have the baby and left her sister, Elsie, in Mattoon to care for the other three children. After receiving word of his wife's death on 14 March, it took Albert until March 20 to arrive in Rockford due to deep snow and storms. Other than the newspaper clipping that recorded this account, there are no other records of a fourth child born to Iva and Albert.

After Iva's death, Albert moved back to Rockton, where he died in 1941, and was buried in the Rockton Township Cemetery.

     1. Beulah Marie Austin (1910–1968) was born on 13 June 1910, in Rockton, Illinois, and she was 13 years old when her mother died. By the time of the 1930 Census, she was married to a man named O'Rourke and had a son, who may still be living. That first marriage did not last more than a couple of years, and she married John Rollie Henderson (1897-1969) on 10 November 1934, in Rockford, Illinois. She died on 30 September 1968, in Monroe, Wisconsin, at the age of 58, and was buried in her hometown. John died the following year, on 13 November 1969.

     2. Kenneth Donald Austin (1915–2006) was born 24 October 1915, in Harrison. He joined the U.S. Army in 1941 and served with the 21st General Hospital, where he saw service in North Africa and the European Theater. He was married on 5 September 1942, at Fort Benning, Georgia, and his wife survives him, along with two of their three children, five grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.

After an honorable discharge in 1945, Kenneth worked at Beloit Iron Works until 1962, then relocated to Littleton, Colorado, and retired in 1995 to Kerrville, Texas.

His son, Rodney Craig Austin (1951–1980), enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and died in a non-hostile incident at the age of 29. He was a petty officer second class and was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

     3. Leonard Jesse Austin (1920–1991) was born on 29 May 1920, in Rockford, Illinois. He was two years old when his mother, Iva, died. He served in the U.S. Army from 14 April 1942 through 1 November 1943.

Jesse married twice after the war, first to Edna May Needham (1924–2008) in 1943, then to Georgia Kathryn Mathis (1922–1996) on 16 October 1948 in Joplin, Missouri. As far as I can tell, there were no children from either marriage. He married again, briefly, in 1971.

He died on June 11, 1991, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at the age of 71, and was buried there in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

     D. Alice Bessie Knight (1884–1958) was born in August 1884 in Illinois. She married George Graham Helmer (1877–1943) on 31 January 1911 in Winnebago, Illinois. They divorced sometime during the 1920s, and she married Edward Reckinger (1901-1977) in 1936 in Boone, Illinois. She died on December 24, 1958, in Winnebago, Illinois, at the age of 74, and was buried in Belvidere, Illinois.

     E. Blanche Nathalia Knight (1889–1971) was born on 14 September 1889, in Illinois, and her story was difficult to piece together. I found records of her marriage in the Illinois, County Marriages, 1800-1940 database that indicate that she married Ferdinand J Austin (1885–1929) on 3 July 1912. He was better known as John F Austin. They had a son, Donovan, but divorced rather soon after that.

Ferdinand (or John F., as he appears in the Illinois, County Marriages, 1800-1940 database) married Bessie Marie (Burdick) Austin (b. 1885) on 8 September 1916. Bessie was the widow of John's brother, Allen Edward Austin, who had died on 16 January 1916.

Blanche and Donovan Austin appeared in her mother's household in Shirland on the 1920 Census, but she was soon remarried to Ora Lewis Critser (1882–1944), a widowed tenant farmer. Blanche and Ora had three more children during the 1920s and moved across the state line to Clinton, Rock County, Wisconsin. By the time of the 1940 Census, they were divorced, as well, and Blanche had relocated with the children to Cherry Valley, in Winnebago county, Illinois.

Blanche eventually followed her sons when they moved out to California. She died on November 4, 1971, in Placer County, California, at the age of 82, and was buried in Roseville, California.

     1. Donovan Douglas Austin (1914–1976) was born on 30 October 1913 in Harrison, Illinois. He grew up in his step-father's home from about seven years of age. He married Frieda Alvina Berger (1913–2000) in 1936. They had four daughters together but divorced not long after the birth of the youngest. By 1950 he had remarried Vera Josephine Anderson (1918–2013), who had recently divorced her first husband, Ralph L Stegg (1915-2008).

Donovan and Vera moved out to Roseville, California, in Placer County. Donovan died there in 1976, just five years after his mother's death. Frieda remained in Cherry Valley, where she raised their daughters by herself. She died on 1 August 2000 and was buried in the Cherry Valley Cemetery.

     i. Dolores Edna Austin (1937–1994) was born on 22 March 1937, in Rockford, Illinois. She graduated from East High School in Rockford in 1956. She died on January 19, 1994, in Cherry Valley, Illinois, at the age of 56, and was buried there.

     iii. Alice Beverly Austin Brown (1940–2015) was born 29 April 1940 in Cherry Valley, Illinois. She was married in 1958 in Cherry Valley, and she and her husband moved to the Monroe, Wisconsin, area where they lived and raised a family. She retired from Advance Transformer after 25 years. Alice loved horses and enjoyed music. She was survived by her husband, four daughters, two sons, 17 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.

     2. Leo D Critser (1922–1972) was born on 1 August 1921, in Illinois. He attended Rockford High School in 1939 and hoped to enter the state teacher's college at DeKalb. He enlisted in the Army on 26 August 1942. After the war, he lived and worked around Rockford. He died on 8 June 1972, in San Francisco, California, at the age of 50, and was buried in Roseville, California, next to his mother, Blanche.

     3. Elsworth Orrin Critser (1923–1998) was born on 13 September 1923, in Harrison, Illinois. He was in the Army from 12 November 1924 through 11 February 1944, and after the war, he married and had three daughters, still living. He worked as a heavy equipment mechanic, and after living there for six years, he died on November 9, 1998, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 75. He was buried in Belvidere, Illinois.

     4. Faye Virginia Critser Garner (1929–2017) was born on 16 January 1929, in Rock County, Wisconsin. She was married on 24 November 1948, in Winnebago County, Illinois. She and her husband raised four daughters. She died on 13 August 2017, in Loves Park, Illinois, at the age of 88.

Survivors include three of her daughters, seven grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a daughter, Carla, and a grandson, Andrew.

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As of this writing, it has been less than a week since the death of Faye Critser Garner, and she was the last person I needed to research before completing this post. It's not as if doing this work isn't enough of a reminder that we are all here temporarily; finding out that you're related to someone a week after their death just feels like a missed opportunity.

If nothing else, it motivates me to call mom and dad, while I still can.

But, that brings us to the end of Violetta Scott Knight's descendants; she has four more siblings for us to talk about over the coming months. I hope if you're among those descendants, you'll drop a note below in the comment section, send an email to callintad at Gmail.com, or join the Callin Family History group on Facebook. (My first question will be, "How are we related?")

Now, if you can, go hug a living loved one.