Julia H. Scott

Julia H. Scott (née, Kinney; November 4, 1809 – March 5, 1842) was an American author who had the distinction of being the Poet of Sheshequin.^[1] She wrote numerous articles of prose and poetry, which were published in many of the most popular literary periodicals in the U.S.^[2] She was a prominent literary figure in the Universalist religion, along with Sarah Carter Edgarton Mayo and Caroline Mehitable Fisher Sawyer.^[3]

Julia Hutchinson Kinney was born in Sheshequin, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1809.^[4][5][6] Her parents were George Kinney (d. 1862) and Mary Carner Kinney (1787-1863). Her siblings were George Wayne, Horace, Newcomb, W. Wallace, O. H. Perry, Mary, and Somers.^[7]

Before marriage, Scott wrote many fugitive pieces for the periodicals,^[5] in prose and verse. She wrote more considerably for the religious magazines and journals of her own order (Universalist) of which she was an eminent member. Without possessing remarkable powers of fancy or delineation, and avoiding the portrayal or excitement of stern passion, her writings were prized for their purity, sweetness, and piety. She also contributed to purely literary periodicals.^[8] Her poems were collected and two editions published.^[7]

Scott taught school in Towanda, Pennsylvania,^[9] and that is where she met Dr. David L. Scott. They married on May 2, 1835, in Sheshequin.^[10] After marriage, they removed to Towanda, about 10 miles (16 km) from her birthplace.^[4]

Scott died of consumption in Towanda, March 5, 1842,^[4] in her thirty-third year.^[7][2]

After her death, a volume of her Poems was published, with a memoir by Sarah Carter Edgarton Mayo.^[5]

The first Sunday school in Sheshequin was conducted in 1830 by Scott. A tablet on the Universalist Church in Bradford County on Route 354 commemorates this fact and includes the names of other people associated with this church.^[11]

Her publications include:^[9]

• The sacrifice: a clergyman's story, 1834
• Poems, 1843
• Memoir, 1860

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Bradford County Historical Society (Pa.) (1918). Annual (Public domain ed.). The Society.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Hart, John Seely (1873). A Manual of American Literature: A Text-book for Schools and Colleges (Public domain ed.). Eldredge & Brother. ISBN 978-0-608-42024-0.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Heverly, Clement Ferdinand (1902). History of Sheshequin, 1777-1902 (Public domain ed.). Bradford Star printers.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Heverly, Clement Ferdinand (1913). Pioneer and Patriot Families of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 1770-1800: Including History (1615-1800), Marriages (1776-1850), Soldiers of the Revolution, Ministers, Justices, Original Officers and All Matters Relating to Early Times. By Clement F. Heverly ... (Public domain ed.). Bradford star print.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Read, Thomas Buchanan (1849). The Female Poets of America: With Portraits, Biographical Notices, and Specimens of Their Writings (Public domain ed.). E. H. Butler & Company.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Scott, Julia H. Kinney (1853). Memoir of Mrs. Julia H. Scott: With Her Poems and Selections from Her Prose (Public domain ed.). A. Tompkins.

• Miller, Russell E. (1979). The Larger Hope: The first century of the Universalist Church in America, 1770-1870. Unitarian Universalist Association. ISBN 978-0-933840-00-3.

• Memoir of Mrs. Julia H. Scott: With Her Poems and Selections from Her Prose, by Julia H. Kinney Scott, Caroline Mehetabel Fisher Sawyer (1860)

• Works by or about Julia H. Scott at the Internet Archive
• The Julia Scott Memoir Controversy, by Katie Replogle, February 25, 2017, at Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin