John Henry Scott

Lynched in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on March 23, 1875

Biography:

In 1875, John Henry Scott was a twenty-three-year-old worker on the Notley Hall estate, situated near George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Edgar A. Nelson had acquired the property around the year 1870. Nelson was an elected official representing the Spalding District as a Republican, and respected in the community. Scott had been employed by, and living with, the Nelson family for about a year. The relationship between Scott and the Nelsons was reportedly friendly, and the contemporary sources notes that Scott had previously stayed in the Nelson home with Mrs. Nelson when Edgar Nelson was away in New York for three weeks.

According to the newspaper account of the lynching, Scott was accused of raping Edgar Nelson’s wife at gunpoint. Edgar Nelson had spent that night in Washington. The article states that Scott threatened Mrs. Nelson and her child, telling her that “he was tired of living, as his sister had become the mother of an illegitimate child, and that he was disgraced thereby.” The Baltimore Sun reported that Scott “said he knew he would be killed for his acts, and that he would save her husband that trouble by shooting himself.” After the alleged rape, Scott shot himself. Mrs. Nelson went for the assistance of a neighbor, an African American man named Morris, amd “Mrs. Nelson was unable to say anything, except that ‘John shot himself.’” Morris went to wake the closest physician, Doctor Bayne, as well as Justice R. Walter Brooke.

By the next morning, Justice Brooke had taken Mrs. Nelson’s affidavit, and by then she had “regained her senses and told what occurred.” Presumably the Baltimore Sun article, (the only known account of the lynching) was based, at least in part, on Nelson’s statement. Scott was sent to the Marlboro jail, but Justice Brooke did not take him there personally. Brooke deputized a man named Curtis Smith to transport Scott, and the new deputy left with the wounded prisoner at around eight o’clock. By the time they reached the jail, a crowd had formed. The Baltimore Sun claims that there were at least one hundred people. Smith handed Scott over to the mob. Scott was forced onto a horse and taken to a hollow, where he was hanged from a black walnut tree until dead, and his body was left.

The article includes the unlikely and obfuscating detail that “the colored people in the crowd [made] arrangements to roast his body, having gone so far as to collect a quantity of wood and brush for that purpose. This, however, was not allowed, and the body was left hanging to the tree.”

Scott’s body was cut down from the tree that afternoon and a coroner’s jury was summoned. They returned the verdict that “the deceased was hung by persons unknown to the jury.”

The Baltimore Sun stated that “a similar incident”– presumably a similar lynching– had been perpetrated two years before the lynching of John Henry Scott.

Source: MSA SC 3520-13730

MLTRC Prince George’s County Public Hearing, January 25, 2025

John Henry Scott was the second Black man lynched in the county, in 1875 near Oxon Hill. 

We don’t know much about him or his family before his death, not even when they came to the Oxon Hill area.

Newspaper accounts from the time say Mr. Scott was 23 years old and had a sister and a brother. And that he was survived by his mother and brother. 

An 1870 Prince George’s County census lists a John H. Scott, age 23, living with John Scott, 45; Sarah Scott, 38; Joseph Scott, 13; and Jacob Scott, 8. 

The John H. Scott in the 1870 census would have been 28 at the time of the lynching. Since given ages are not always accurate, it’s possible that he was the person lynched in 1875. However, this cannot be substantiated with any additional evidence. This family was not listed in the 1880 or 1890 census. 

Mr. Scott was reportedly formerly enslaved by F.A. (Francis) Posey, according to the Alexandria Gazette. However, this has not been confirmed. 

What we do know is that Mr. Scott was single and lived on the property of E.A. “Edgar” Nelson, located in what’s now Oxon Hill. Mr. Scott worked as a laborer at Mr. Nelson’s Notley Hall farm, southwest of what is now National Harbor. The farm was on land originally called Admirathoria, which once housed an 18th century house by the same name. 

Mr. Nelson purchased his property around 1872 after moving to Maryland from rural New York. His wife is also listed on land records – unusual for a woman of that time.

Mr. Scott came to Notley Hall in 1874 to work on the Nelson farm and lived with the family, according to the Baltimore Sun. The paper went on to say that the relationship between Mr. Scott and the Nelsons was “reportedly friendly” and that Mr. Scott had stayed in the Nelson home previously when Mr. Nelson was out-of-town. 

Now that you have some background, we can share what we know about the lynching of Mr. Scott from newspaper accounts of the time.

The story begins on March 23, 1875. 

That day, Mrs. Nelson was home alone with the couple’s toddler son. Mr. Nelson had left earlier for an overnight business trip. The 23-year-old woman said she was awakened by a noise around midnight. Shortly after she got up to investigate, she said Mr. Scott entered her bedroom and put a revolver to her head, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Mrs. Nelson said he threatened to kill her and her son if she didn’t cooperate with his demands. After allegedly raping her, Mr. Scott left only to return about an hour later to again threaten Mrs. Nelson and her young son. 

Mrs. Nelson said that he told her that “he was tired of living” after being disgraced by his sister becoming the mother of an illegitimate child, the Sun reported. 

After allegedly raping her again, Mr. Scott shot himself in the left breast, saying he knew he’d be killed for his actions, according to the article. 

Mrs. Nelson then ran to an African American neighbor’s house for help, saying only that Mr. Scott had been shot. The neighbor went to Mrs. Nelson’s house to find Mr. Scott bleeding. He ran to get help from Dr. John Bayne and Justice R. Walter Brooke, who lived nearby.

The following morning, Mrs. Nelson told Justice Brooke that Mr. Scott raped her at gunpoint, according to newspaper accounts. Based on her statement, Justice Brooke ordered Mr. Scott to be taken to the jail in Marlboro by the newly deputized Curtis Smith. Around 8 a.m., Deputy Smith and the wounded Mr. Scott left for the jail.

They were met near the door by a mob of some 100 masked men demanding that Mr. Scott be turned over to them to administer justice, according to the Baltimore Sun. Other newspapers said they were met on the road. The Sun and some other newspapers maintained that the mob included Black men.

Deputy Smith told the crowd that he intended to “bring Mr. Scott to justice according to the law,” the Sun said. But they never made it. The mob seized Mr. Scott, put him on a horse and took him to a hollow, where they put a rope around his neck. Tying the other end to a tree, they drove the horse away, leaving his body hanging. Newspaper accounts differ on the specific location of the lynching. Some only mention a nearby hollow while others locate it some 200 to 500 yards from the Nelson house.

Most newspapers assumed that Mr. Scott was guilty as charged and that the mob lynching was somehow justified. 

And some – like the Sun – reported that African Americans in the mob planned to also burn Mr. Scott’s body. The newspaper, added, “this, however, was not allowed.” Leaving the impression that lynching was allowed and justified even before Mr. Scott was tried or convicted. 

Mr. Scott’s body was cut down from the tree that afternoon and a coroner’s jury summoned. Their verdict – Mr. Scott was “hung by persons unknown.” And with that the case was closed.

Newspaper accounts stop there. We don’t know whether Mr. Scott’s family recovered his body or where he was buried. We do know that — no one has ever been held accountable for his murder.

Mr. Scott’s story is hard to hear but must be told. It is a tragedy made worse by the lack of accountability and the shameless justification of his murder. Racial terror lynchings like that of Mr. Scott were not directed just at the murdered person but the entire Black community. 

Clearly, there is more to the story of John Henry Scott’s lynching. We remain committed to learning more about Mr. Scott, uncovering the truth and working to hold accountable the perpetrators of his brutal murder. 

Research and Remembrance Work