James Scott

James Scott (May 28, 1767 – March 2, 1855) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician from the state of Indiana. Scott served as one of the first Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court from December 28, 1816, to December 28, 1830. He was also an important figure in the early history of Indiana University.

Biography Early life and career Born in Pennsylvania, the details of Scott's early life are not well recorded.

Scott left Pennsylvania and moved to Clark County, Indiana. Scott lived in Charlestown, where he helped found a Sunday school, held inside the local courthouse. In 1810, William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory, appointed Scott to be Clark County's prosecutor.

Scott was elected to the Indiana Territory's House of Representatives in 1813, before resigning to become a chancery judge.

In 1816, Scott became one of forty-three delegate to Indiana's constitutional convention to help draft the new state's constitution. The convention was held in Corydon. At the convention, Scott served as the chairman for a committee to draft the constitution's article on education. The committee would lay the groundwork for Indiana's public education system. He also chaired a committee on the constitution's judicial provisions. In 1844, Scott received an honorary LL.D. from the college.

Scott would serve on the Supreme Court until 1830, when he and his fellow Justice Jesse Holman were controversially replaced by Governor James B. Ray with Justices Stephen Stevens and John T. McKinney, both state senators at the time. Many in the General Assembly were outraged by Scott and Holman's abrupt replacement, but both Stevens and McKinney were eventually confirmed by the legislature to serve on the Supreme Court.

After leaving the Supreme Court, Scott returned to practice law in Charlestown. He also began to publish a local newspaper, the Comet. Following William Henry Harrison's victory in the 1840 presidential election, Scott was hired as a registrar at the federal land office in Jeffersonville. He was fired following James K. Polk's victory in the 1844 presidential election. Scott moved back to Charlestown and opened a girls' school.

Personal life and death

Scott was married but had no biological children. He and his wife adopted and raised a daughter.

Shortly before his death, he relocated to Carlisle, Indiana, where he died in 1855.