Walter E. Scott - Scott's Family

Scott's Family

Scott's wife and child, Walter Perry Scott, who was born in 1914, remained separated from Scott for the most part. The Johnsons were charitable, and made several efforts to financially assist Jack and Scott's son, who were not receiving any money from Scott himself.The Johnsons took young Walter Perry into their home for a period of several years and even considered adopting the child. When that idea did not pan out, Johnson bought Jack a house in Reno, Nevada, and began paying her a monthly sum that varied between $100 and $150 to help support her child. The Johnsons eventually provided the funds for Walter Perry to attend a military academy. Walter Perry Scott joined the navy, and Jack moved to Long Beach, California. Johnson continued sending money to Jack throughout her life, although the sum was necessarily reduced after the stock market crash of 1929 to only $50.

In 1937, after years of living in poverty on the meager sum provided by Johnson and any money she could acquire through menial jobs, Jack brought Scott to court demanding $1,000 per month to support herself and her son, and a share of whatever interests Scott held in Scotty's Castle and the gold mine Jack still believed he had. The lawsuit failed because Scotty did not have any legal interests in mining or the castle, and certainly did not have the funds to pay her $1,000 per month. Jack then immediately turned her suit against Johnson himself, accusing him of manipulating her husband and hiding his finances so as to thwart her. Johnson, of course, had no legal obligation to pay Jack any money at all, nor to give her a share in any of his property, so Jack's lawsuit again failed. Johnson took pity on her, however, and raised the monthly amount he gave her to $75.