Robert Scott
Robert Scott (1803 - 1899) was a free Black man and musician born in Charlottesville.[1]
Scott was born to Sarah Bell and Jesse Scott, two free people who lived in Charlottesville. Bell was the daughter of Mary Hemings, who was Sally Hemings' sister, and Thomas Bell, a white merchant. His father, meanwhile, was the son of a Pamunkey indigenous woman.[2]His mixed-race status meant that Robert and his brother were able to attend otherwise whites-only schools.[3]
Robert, his father Jesse, and his brother James were traveling musicians; the trio regularly played at private and public dances, resorts, and the University of Virginia. A resident of Charlottesville remembered them as "famous" and among the most talented band of musicians since antiquity.[3]
Before 1842, Robert had married Nancy Colbert Scott, the daughter of Monticello butler Burwell Colbert. The two would go on to have nine children together. Although she was enslaved when they married, he purchased her freedom and that of several of their children in 1842.
In 1857, Robert used his partially white heritage to petition the courts to declare him a "mulatto" - that is, neither explicitly Black nor white. Such a distinction would have allowed him to move around Virginia without as much restriction as Black individuals had placed upon them.[1]
Scott lived on Main Street in Charlottesville for nearly 90 years and was a well-known figure in town. When he passed away in 1899, he was remembered as a man who "never failed to command the respect of his fellow citizens."
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Web. Robert Scott, Getting Word
- ↑ Web. Sarah Bell Scott, Getting Word
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Web. Scott (Hemings), Getting Word