John Morin Scott - Life

Life

Scott was born in Manhattan and attended public school there. His father died when he was three years old, and his mother never remarried.

He graduated Yale College in 1746, at the age of 16. After further study he was admitted to the New York bar association in 1752, and practiced law in Manhattan, where he also served as an alderman from 1756 to 1761. In 1752, along with William Livingston and William Smith, he founded a weekly journal, the Independent Reflector.

During the Revolutionary War, John Scott was a member of the New York Provincial Congress while also serving as a brigadier general under George Washington in the New York and New Jersey campaign. He commanded the 1st New York (Independent) Battalion, the 2nd New York (County) Battalion, and several New York Militia Regiments. He fought with Putnam's division at the Battle of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776, and was the last of Washington's generals to argue against surrendering Manhattan to the British—possibly due to his large landholdings there, including what is now Times Square and New York City's Theater District.

Twenty days later, on September 16, 1776, Scott led the same battalions and regiments at the Battle of Harlem Heights, an American victory. On October 28, 1776, his forces participated in the inconclusive Battle of White Plains.

After the war, Scott regained his Manhattan estate and was a candidate for the first governorship of New York State, losing to George Clinton. He became, instead, New York's first Secretary of State, a state senator, and served as an active delegate to the Continental Congress.

His body is interred at the north entrance of Trinity Church, New York. His inscribed slab is visible from the corner of Wall Street and Broadway. An equestrian statue is erected in his honor in Upper Manhattan.

Lewis Allaire Scott, John's son, was one of the two Deputy Secretaries of State during his father's tenure, and in 1784 was appointed to succeed him, dying in office in 1798.