William Bennett Scott Sr. (died 1885) was a pioneering newspaper founder and publisher, mayor, and civil rights campaigner who helped found Freedman’s Normal Institute in Maryville, Tennessee.[1][2] He was the first African American to run a newspaper in Tennessee and had the only newspaper in Blount County, Tennessee for 10 years.[1] A Republican, he switched his and his paper's allegiance to the Democrats in the late 1870s.

He left North Carolina and moved to Tennessee as increased tensions followed the Nat Turner rebellion settling in Friendsville, Tennessee and continuing his work in the harness and saddle making business. He moved to Knoxville as strife against free African Americans increased ahead of the American Civil War. After the war in 1865 he moved to Nashville and established the Colored Tennessean.[1][3][4] The paper ran notices from people searching for family and loved ones separated by slavery.[5][6][7]

He attended the 1865 Colored Convention in Nashville. He was described as being light skinned.[8]

A few years later he moved to Maryville, Tennessee and published the Maryville Republican.[1] His son, W. B. Scott Jr. was listed as an editor of the paper along with his father.[9] Scott Jr. reportedly had the paper endorse General Bate (William B. Bate) in 1882[10] when Bate was running for governor.

He was elected Mayor of Maryville in 1869.[11] He was inducted into the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame and a historical marker commemorates his life.[12]

He died in 1885 and was buried in the old New Providence Church Cemetery. His headstone states: “Respected Black Journalist / Businessman and Mayor of Maryville / Placed in honor of his faithful service to his community.” A historical marker commemorates his life and his portrait is displayed in the Maryville Municipal Building.[13]

Some of his descendants traveled to Marysville in 2013 for the unveiling of a portrait of Scott that will be displayed in Maryville's Municipal Building.[11] Shirley Carr Clowney wrote about Scott in her history book covering the history of African Americans in Blount County.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "William B. Scott | School of Journalism and Electronic Media".
  2. ↑ "Maryville Republican".
  3. ↑ "The Colored Tennessean (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866". Library of Congress.
  4. ↑ Son, W. B. Scott & (October 7, 1865). "The Colored Tennessean. (Nashville, Tenn.), Vol. 1, No. 24, Ed. 1 Saturday, October 7, 1865". The Portal to Texas History.
  5. ↑ Colored Tennessean, Many Rivers to Cross video, November 22, 2013, Nashville Public Television, on YouTube
  6. ↑ Craighead, Sandra G. (1991). "Abstracts from the Colored Tennessean, 1865-1867: Want Ads for Lost Relatives".
  7. ↑ "America's Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War".
  8. ↑ "Proceedings of the State Convention of Colored Men of the State of Tennessee, :with the addresses of the convention to the white loyal citizens of Tennessee, and the colored citizens of Tennessee. : Held at Nashville, Tenn., August 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th, 1865". 1865.
  9. ↑ "Maryville Republican Scott editor April 25, 1874". Maryville Republican. April 25, 1874. p. 3 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "W. B. Scott, Jr. Ill health". Public Ledger. 23 September 1882. p. 1.
  11. 1 2 "Maryville's 1st & only black mayor honored". www.wbir.com.
  12. ↑ "William Bennett Scott, Sr. Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org.
  13. ↑ Times, Emily Huffstetler Special to The Daily. "A life of service: William Bennett Scott crucial to Maryville's history". The Daily Times.
  14. ↑ "Hidden History: Historian publishes book on African-American history in Blount County". January 22, 2019.
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