The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 538
A portrait of William W. Scott appears in this publication.

WILLIAM WALTER SCOTT.

The life history of William Walter Scott is a most interesting one, for it is
the story of earnest purpose crowned with successful achievement. He has done
much that is worthy of note and his name is perhaps most widely known by reason
of the fact that he is the originator of the Rainier apple, which has been
characterized by the United States government as the best grown in the United
States. He is most successfully engaged in horticultural pursuits and his
business ability and progressive spirit have won him a place among the foremost
orchardists of the Yakima valley.

Mr. Scott was born at Blackjack, Hopkins county, Texas, July 12, 1849, a son of
R. H. and Mary E. (Smith) Scott. The father was born in New Madrid, Missouri,
while the mother's birth occurred in Maysville, Kentucky, and they were married
in Texas. R. H. Scott was a pioneer physician of Texas, going to that state in
the early '40s. In the Civil war he was very active in support of the Union
cause and in 1863 he was threatened with hanging on account of his support of
the federal government. In fact the plans were all perfected for his execution,
but a woman warned him and he left home the day before the plans were to be
carried out. He traveled on horseback a distance of four hundred miles to Little
Rock, Arkansas, where he hid in the garret of the home of Conway Scott, a
planter who lived about fourteen miles from Little Rock. While there he forged a
pass that carried him beyond the Confederate lines and also a lot of letters to
indicate that he was in the Confederate army. He afterward sent these letters to
his wife, who used them to get out of Texas. She left that state with a hack and
horses, and two yoke of oxen and drove four hundred miles overland to Mr. Conway
Scott's place in Arkansas. Her food supply gave out and in going through
Arkansas she found that the people were very poor, living largely on corn ground
from hand mills, and on wild game and wild hogs. There was no coffee, tea or
sugar to be had. After the family reached Little Rock they started from that
place to Memphis, whither it was supposed Doctor Scott had gone. They made their
way through miles of swamps and met many hardships and privations, for they
were out of food. Coming across a man with some corn and bacon, they bought four
pounds of bacon and a peck of corn. This saved them from starvation as
they-mother and six children-were making the trip. Finally on the 4th of July,
1863, they reached Hopefield, across the Mississippi river from Memphis, but the
town was all burned. Mrs. Scott was carrying the letters to show that her
husband was a dead Confederate soldier. The federal army was at that time in
Memphis and the commander sent some of them with a boat across the river to get
the family and took them to Memphis. The general in command of the Union forces
then had them taken to the best hotel in the city, recognizing the sacrifices
they had made, for the family had given up everything for the Union cause. When
Mrs. Scott and her children reached Memphis there was no word from her husband
and they thought he was dead. They therefore prepared to return to Texas but
about two weeks after them arrived the provost marshal and informed Mrs. Scott
that he knew where her husband was, saying that he was at Mount Carmel,
Illinois. The family were in a pitiable condition. Some of the children could
not walk on account of fever and the starvation conditions which they had been
through. From Memphis they took the steamer Colonel Anderson for the north. The
boat was loaded with wounded soldiers. They had cabin passage and William W.
Scott of this review, on account of overcrowding, slept in the ladies' cabin.
During the night the boat caught fire and he was the first to notice it. He
called the watchman and thus saved the boat, for quick assistance was summoned
and the flames were extinguished. At length the family landed at Cairo,
Illinois, and thence proceeded by train to Sumner, Illinois, twenty-five miles
from Mount Carmel. At that point William W. Scott took a horse and started to
find his father at the latter town. He succeeded in his mission, at length
reaching the father, who did not know that the family had left Texas. They then
both went back to Sumner, Illinois, the next day and it was a most happy reunion
of parents and children after all the hardships and dangers through which they
had passed. Six months later they removed to Centralia. Illinois, and there Mr.
and Mrs. Scott spent their remaining days, the father reaching the age of
sixty-five years, while the mother was sixty-six years at the time of her death.
Mr. Scott's instructions to his sons upon his deathbed were, "Be loyal to the
flag of the country," and "Believe in a future life."

William Walter Scott acquired a public school education in Centralia, Illinois,
and in his youthful days was employed as a farm hand and as a clerk in stores.
He afterward turned his attention to the cultivation of strawberries, having one
hundred acres planted to that fruit. At a later date he opened a fine grocery
store and he also bought and sold fruit. He subsequently became a partner in the
ownership and conduct of a department store at Centralia, Illinois, and in 1907
he disposed of his business interests in that part of the country and made his
way to the Yakima valley. Here he purchased eleven and three-quarters acres of
land in Fruitvale and now has splendid orchards of apples, pears and peaches. He
has done notable work in the propagation, development and improvement of the
fruit, studying the question from every possible standpoint, and he made a
distinct and valuable contribution when he originated the Rainier apple, which
is unsurpassed by anything produced in the United States, according to
government report. His fruit is of such size, quality and flavor that it
commands the highest price paid in the valley. He is today recognized as one of
the prominent and well known ranchers of his section of the state.

There have been many and varied experiences in his life. While he was in Texas
he knew the leaders among the men who were hanging the Union sympathizers and
while at the little postoffice in his town he heard them plotting to hang his
uncle, Burrill Sheppard, and Dr. C. D. Hampton. Mr. Scott told his father of
this and the warning was given to Mr. Sheppard and Doctor Hampton, who through
this aid got out of Texas, Doctor Scott being gone two months in order to assist
the men in getting to the north. Cyclone Davis, now in congress from Texas, was
born six miles from the home of William W. Scott and they are warm friends.

In 1875 Mr. Scott was married to Miss Ellen Maddux, of Jefferson county,
Illinois, and their children are: Frank W., professor of journalism and English
in the University of Illinois, who is married and has two children; Minnie, now
Mrs. Fred L. Paffaf, residing in Centralia, Illinois; Mary, the wife of Lauren
C. Farr, of Selah, Washington; Lilly Bell; Goldie, now Mrs. Mark C. Cunningham,
of Centralia, Illinois; Eva, who is the wife of V. O. Nicholson, of Sunnyside,
Washington; and one child who died in infancy.

Mr. Scott is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for the past
forty-two years has been affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. His political
allegiance is given to the republican party and he has never faltered in his
support of the old flag, obeying in every way his father's behest in this
particular. His loyalty is one of his marked characteristics and his devotion
to duty is manifest in all public connections in Yakima county. He is also a
trustee of the Yakima County Horticultural Union and throughout the entire
period of his residence in the northwest he has been a contributing factor to
the material, intellectual, social, political and moral progress of this section
of the state.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.