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Note: BIRTH: CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH (Certified Copy). Place of Birth: Texas, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Certificate No. 40327. City or Precinct No. Handley. Full Name: General Henry Scott. Sex: Male. Date of Birth: April 13, 1895. Father: William Scott, resident of Handley, Texas. Place of Father's Birth: Alabama. Trade: General Farming. Full Name of Mother: Lizzie Anne Moore, resident of Handley, Texas. Place Mother's Birth: Harris County, Texas. Trade: Housewife. Number Of Children Born To This Mother, Including This Birth: 9. Number Of Children Born To This Mother And Now Living: 9.
HANDLEY, TEXAS NOTE: Located at K9 on the 1895 map at Mapsco 80J.
MARRIAGE: MARRIAGE LICENSE AND CERTIFICATE (original obtained at the Harmon County, Courthouse), General Scott And Alma Morrow. Harmon County, Oklahoma. Issued August 4th, 1913. Married Aug. 7, 1913. Licence Recorded Aug. 11, 1913 on page 421 of Marriage Record 1. Donald Cox, Clerk. E.C. Abernathy, County Judge. C.C. Burnhardt Minister of M.E. Church, South of Hollis, Oklahoma. Witnesses were Mrs. R. M. Bryant and Mr. Carol Scott of Hollis.
DEATH: CERTIFICATE OF DEATH (Certified Copy). General Henry Scott. Date of Death: September 3, 1970, 10:45 p.m. Place of Death: Garfield Cottage Hospital, 1410 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, California, Los Angeles County. Burial: Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, California. Cause of Death: Carcinomatosis.
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY: Progress Bulletin, Thursday Evening, Aug 8, 1963, Page 5, Sec. 2. Scotts Mark Golden Anniversary. Celebrated in the Crest Room at Clifton's in West Covina. The Scotts reside at 1162 North Huntington Blvd. in Pomona, California.
RESIDENCE: General and Alma Scott still lived in Celina, Texas in September 1939. A picture in the possession of Tessie Scott has a date stamp on the reverse side that verifies the location.
LAMESA CITY DIRECTORY 1939-40: Scott G.H. (Elma) owr Lamesa Serv Sta r Walton Apts.
CENSUS: 1900 CENSUS Denton County, Texas, Rural Ward, Enumeration District No. 58, Line 23, Sheet No. 11. Shows: Scott, William Robert, Head of Household, born Aug, 1854, age 45, Married, 17 years married, born in Georgia. Father born in N.C. and Mother in S.C. Occupation: Farmer. Wife: Elizabeth A. born July 1854, age 45, married 17 years, born in Texas. Father born in Texas, Mother in Germany. Children: Willis E., son, born in Texas, Aug 1884, age 15. Willie A., daughter, born in Texas, Aug 1884, age 15. Addie E., daughter, born in Texas, Jan 1887, age 13. Jessie, son, born in Texas,Nov 1891, age 8. Joseph B., son, born in Texas, Nov 1891, age 8. General H.E., son, born in Texas, age 5. Carroll H. son, born in Texas, May 1897, age 3. Also enumerated in the home was: Masters, Edward M., stepson, born in Texas, age 24. He was a farm laborer. Copy of this census in my Scott file.
CENSUS: 1910 CENSUS Harmon, County, Oklahoma, Hollis Township, Supervisors's Dist. No. 5, Enumeration District No. 126, Line No. 56, Number of Dwelling 103, Number of Family 104. Series: T624, Roll 1253, Page 233B. William R. Scott, Head of Household, age 55, Married 2, Number of years of present marriage 27. Place of Birth: Georgia. Place of Birth of Father: Alabama. Place of Birth of Mother: Alabama. Occupation: Farmer. Rented Farm. Wife: Lizzie A., age 55, Married 2, Number of Years of Present Marriage 27. Place of Birth: Texas. Place of Father's Birth: Texas. Place of Mother's Birth: Germany. Children: Willie E., son, age 26, Single, born in Texas. Occupation: Farmer. Joseph B., Son, age 18, born in Texas. G. Henry, son, age 14, born in Texas. Carroll H., Son, age 12, born in Texas. Copy of this census in my Scott file.
CENSUS: 1920 Census. Unable to locate General Scott and family on this census.
CENSUS: 1930 U.S. Census - Electra, Wichita Co., Texas, Pct. 7, Line 13, General H. Scott, age 34, b. in Texas, father b. in Alabama; Alma, wife, age 32, b. in Texas, mother b. in Alabama, father b. in Missouri; Bernice B., age 14, b. in New Mexico; Orville E., age 12, b. in New Mexico; Glen G., age 10, b. in Texas; Arthur D., age 8, b. in Arkansas; MingToy D., age 6, b. in Texas; and Billy J., age 1 1/2, b. in Texas. Copy of census in my Scott file.
PILOT POINT: In a personal interview with Glenn Scott on 6 Nov. 1993, he told me that Dad, Sonny, and Eldred drilled at Pilot Point for the Carter Drilling Company before going to Bolivar.
OIL AND GAS LEASE: Bolivar Drilling Co., Lease No. 98056. Recorded in Vol. 253, page 169, Deed of Records of Denton County, Texas. The Bolivar Drilling Company was formed by Dr. W.F. Isham, Presely Carlisle, and Ivory B. Tiner, to drill the first wildcat well in Bolivar. G.H. Scott supervised the drilling. Among those working with him were his sons, Orville and Glenn Scott, and his son-in-law, Eldred Sellers. The workers received part of their wages in cash and part in leases. Owners of the Company, Ivy B. Tiner (owner of Cristal Ice Plant, North Dallas), Dr. Presely Carlisle (medical doctor with office in the Medical Arts Building, Dallas) and Dr. W.F. Isham, fraudulently leased the land and had no legal right to issue leases to the workers. The case went to trial and the owners were convicted and sent to jail. The workers received nothing for their leases.
BOLIVAR: I have a picture of the well drilled in Bolivar. Oil is shooting over the top of derrick about 150 feet. Orville Scott (one of the rough necks) told me the noise was deafening. For several days they could not get near enough to cap it. Power for the well had to be obtained some distance from the well because of the high volume of gas it produced. The picture appeared on the front page of the Fort Worth Star News. I also have a picture of the well crew and its owners on the drilling floor (a copy of this picture is at the Denton County Museum).
I have a picture, developed by the Shaw Studio, Denton, Texas, of the Bolivar well. It was dated June 12, 1937.
The book, History of Denton from Its Beginnings to 1960, by Dr. C.A. Bridges, Texan Press, Waco, Texas, 1978, page 386, states, " In the Spring 1937 there was some excitement about oil strikes near Bolivar and in 1938 about some additional discoveries at Bolivar and Pilot Point. Neither of these areas developed into major oil fields and Denton has yet developed into an oil town."
Eva and I visited Bolivar on March 8, 1999. With the help of the local store owner, we located four old wells about one mile off SR 455 on Clear Creek (we took pictures). The store owner gave us the names of descendants of the man who owned the property in the 1930s: Doreen Cutsinger, whose husband was the son of the owner, and Margaret Bently, who married a son of the owner. I was unable to talk with Margaret (in her 90s) as she was out of town. I did talk with Doreen. She had no personal knowlege of the well, but did say her mother-in-law recieved a small royalty for a few years. Oil had been pumped from one of the wells as recently as 1954 and 1985 (tanks dated), but they were very old wells. There were no other wells in the vicinity.
General Scott, my father, often talked about the well he drilled in Bolivar, Texas. Eldred Sellers, a son-in-law, Orville Scott, a son, and for a short time, Glenn G. Scott, a son, worked on the rig with him. The Bolivar Drilling Company, was financed by Dr. W.F. Isham, Presely Carlisle, and Ivory B. Tiner. The drillers were paid half in cash and half in leases. Someway the leases were fraudulent, the men lost their part of the leases, and two the of men who financed the well went to jail.
DRIVERS LICENSE: I have a Drivers License issued to G.H. Scott on 26 Aug. 1940. His residence was at 501 So. Dallas Street, Lamesa, Texas.
SELECTIVE SERVICE: I have the Selective Service card issued to G.H. Scott 24 Apr. 194? (The last digit is not legible). The form revision date was 9 Jun 1941. It is assumed he registered for the WWII draft in 1941. Residence at the time of registration was 306 So. Lynn Street, Lamesa, Texas.
PHONE CONVERSATION WITH GUS YOUNG 1 APRIL 1995: Gus Young worked with G.H. Scott at Duncan, Oklahoma, Oliney, Texas, and other places. At the time of our conversation he was 89 years old, living at Fort Worth (Handley), in the home where he lived as a boy. He said that he lost his thumb in a drilling accident at Duncan, Ok., on the same well as G.H. Scott lost his little finger. He thinks that was in 1928. He said that G.H. Scott lived in Handley in 1922 for a period of time. He also told me his father showed him where the Scott family lived when G.H. was born. It was near the Lake Arlington Dam.
PERSONAL INTERVIEW WITH GUS YOUNG 11 Mar 1999: I visited Gus at his home in Forth Worth. He is now 92 years old, alert and still drives his car. I recorded much of our conversation. A few days after our interview, I returned to have breakfast with him and have him show me the location of the Scott home where G.H. Scott was born. He showed me a vacant lot with large oak trees that obviously surrounded a home on the north east corner of Oak Ridge and Pioneer Streets, in Fort Worth (old town of Handley), just below the Lake Arlington Dam. Then he took me to 3108 Major Street, where G.H. Scott and the family lived in 1922. We took pictures of both sites. He also showed us a row of old brick buildings in Handley, one of which housed the barbershop of Wesley Scott for about 50 year
OCCUPATIONS: General Henry Scott was born on a farm in Tarrant County, Texas, 13 April 1895. His family moved to another farm in Denton County, between 1897 and 1900. Then, before 1910, they moved to Hollis, Harmon County, Oklahoma, to another farm. He married in Hollis on 6 August 1913. So General was a farm boy from 1895-1913.
About 1914-1915, he and his wife, Alma moved to Dead Man, Union County, New Mexico to homestead. He attempted to make a profitable farm for about two years. At the same time he worked in a coal mine in the mountains above Dead Man. Unsuccessful for two seasons, he, his wife, and two children left for Texas.
They arrived in Fort Worth about 1918 and he began work in the oil fields with his brother-in-law, Victor Wilson. For the next several years General drilled wells in some of the major oil fields of Burkburnet, Electra, and Wichita Falls, Texas with trips into Duncan, Oklahoma and El Dorado, Arkansas. He drilled his last well in Littlefield, Lamb County,Texas about 1939. He was a driller for about 21 years.
GENERAL HENRY SCOTT LETTER: I have a copy of a letter from G.H. Scott to Howell (Howard) Hughes, dated 17 February 1970. The purpose of the letter was to request a donation for the building of the church in Pomona. In it however, he wrote that he drilled for the Texas Oil Company, the Gulf Oil company and the Star Drilling Company. He said he drilled all over Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas and had "run several hundred Hughes Rock Bits there is none better in my book."
About 1939 or 1940, General moved his family to Lamesa, Dawson County, Texas, where he opened a radiator shop down town. After a short time, he rented a service station on the main eat-west highway on the east side of town across from the CCC camp. The name of the station is unclear on an old photo of A.D. and Billy Scott. It may have been one of the following: CUSMEX, CUSMEN, CUSDEX, CUSDEN, OR COSMEX.
Glenn and Dad planned to run the downtown radiator shop together. Income could not support both of them so Glenn found a job in Littlefield, about 110 miles west of Lamesa. It took longer than expected to make it a money making venture. During the interim, our family lived with Glenn on the Charley Tushay (sp) farm. Mr. Tushay furnished the old run-down home as part of Glenn's salary. Glenn worked for him one full season.
Dad moved his family to Lamesa within that year (1938 or 1939???).
Shortly after the family moved to Lamesa, Dad leased the Gulf Station across the street from the old location. He called it the Lamesa Service Station and it was so listed in the City Directory.
At some point, he bought at small cafe and operated it until Orville, his oldest son, was drafted into the army and sent to California.
In late 1941 or early 1942, General sold out and moved his family to California. He went to work almost immediately as a millwright, working on the construction of the Kaiser Steel Mill, in Fontana. For a brief period, during WW II, he drove a fire truck at the Ontario Airport. It was a that time an air force facility.
When the war was over in 1945, he returned to millwright work and continued that work until his retirement in 19-?- In addition to work at the Kaiser Steel Mill, which was a major wartime effort (the mill furnished steel for construction of Kaiser Liberty Ships), General helped with a major cycle change for Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernadino Counties. And he worked at Disneyland, in Anaheim, California building many of the original amusement rides. He often said the best job he ever had was driving a fire truck.
PROPERTIES: General Henry Scott saved the deeds to his California properties. I have the following in my possession:
1472 E. Phillips, Pomona, California. It a joint tenancy deed recorded August 3 1943, Book 20232, Page 243, Official Records, County of Los Angeles.
480 E. Grand Ave., Pomona, California. He purchased one-half acre in a walnut grove on December 19, 1945. It is recorded February 25, 1946, Official Records, County of Los Angeles, Book 22877, Page 96. He then constructed a cement block building on this property. It was still standing and in use as of this writing (March 1999).
Dad bought a nice large (for that time) house trailer which we lived in until he bought the home on Bonita. We were living there, in a trailer park, right on the Los Angeles/San Bernadino county line on 5th Ave. (now Mission Blvd.) when I graduated from high school in June 1952.
5316 Bonita Ave. Ontario, California. Purchased on 22 November 1952, and recorded January 27, 1953, Official Records, County of San Bernadino, Book 3095, Page 58.
1162 N. Huntington, Pomona, California. Purchased May 5, 1956 and recorded July 13, 1956, Official Records, County of Los Angeles, Book 51723, Page 109.
552 E. Grand Ave. Pomona, California. Purchased on December 22, 1964 and recorded January 29, 1965, Official Records County of Los Angeles, Book D 2782, Page 143. Both General and Alma Scott were residing at this address when they passed away.
NOTE: Earl and Gertrude "Gertie" Alexander were close friends of Dad. Earl worked with him in the oil fields and followed him to Celina,Texas to start a church. Sister Alexander became the first pastor.
BIOGRAPHICAL: 1 Nov 2001, I spoke with Sonny tonight. He said that Dad drilled a well on the northwest corner of the old Willock Ranch west of Celina. At that time they lived in a "workers" house on the Jenkins farm.
BIOGRAPHICAL: Undated sermon notes taken from the Bible of General Henry Scott: I was the head driller for the Carter Oil Company (Roy I. Carter, owner).
LAND PATENT (New Mexico Homestead): Patent Number 693382, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Reference Number 1266590, Clayton 021037. Signed by W.P. LeRoy, Secretary and L.D.C. Samar, Recorder of the General Land Office, under President Woodrow Wilson, on the 28 day of June 1919. Certified copy dated 11-5-01, in my Scott file.
Patent was described as: west half of Section fifteen in Township twenty-seven north of Range twenty-seven east of the New Mexico Meridian, New Mexico, containing three hundred twenty acres. The BLM web site indicates that the land was in Colfax County.
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