The Story of Agnes Irvine Scott, 1799-1877: A Family Memoir

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A Family Memoir by Betty Pope Scott Noble '4 4

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The Story oj Agnes Irvine Scott, 1799-1877

A Family Memoir by Betty Pope Scott Noble '44

Published by Agnes Scott College, 1999

The brightly-
colored and
embroidered silk
bag (far left) and
the beaded fabric
(left) were both
possessions of
Agnes Irvine
Scott, carried by
her from Ireland,
now part of
Special Collec-
tions, McCain
Library, Agnes
Scott College .

Editors' Note

The idea for publishing Betty Pope Scott Noble's biography of her great-great
grandmother Agnes Irvine Scott in 1999, the bicentennial of her birth, came
from Mary Brown Bullock '66, President of Agnes Scott College. We are hon-
ored to have been asked to participate in this project and very grateful for the assistance
of the members of the College community who helped us locate and assemble the
story's many parts. Charlene Dougal, Mary Alma Durrett, Lea Ann Hudson, Lucia
Sizemore, and Jeanne Maxfield helped us gather and check information. Susan
Dougherty typed the manuscript with an editor's attention to detail. Beth Mulherrin's
careful management of the College archives and her willingness to help at every step of
the process were invaluable. From Michael Brown we gained important insights about
the unique position of the Scots-Irish in British and Irish history. Mary Zimnik's
design and production expertise united the visual and textual elements of the story
with elegance and character.

Mary Brown Bullock brought Betty Pope Scott Noble's story to the attention of the
College and stirred interest in the life of the founder's mother during her Opening Con-
vocation speech for the 1998-1999 academic year. Her introduction to this work follows
that earlier speech in claiming Agnes Scott's story as an inspiration for generations of
students, faculty, staff, and friends. We thank President Bullock for her introduction and
for inspiring our work as editors. Finally, our collaboration with Betty Pope Scott Noble
has been a most rewarding and delightful meeting of minds. Her generous sharing of
family stories, photographs, and memorabilia and her skillful storytelling have brought
her great-great grandmother's story to life in our minds and on the page. We thank her
for this great gift to the College, the story of Agnes Irvine Scott.

Christine S. Coitens and Michele K. Gillespie, Editors

Agnes Scott College, 1999

Cloth on this page owned by Agnes Irvine Scott, carried by her from Ireland to America, now part of Special Collections, McCain Library.

Introduction

As an Agnes Scott
alumna, and even
more as president,
I am often asked, "Just who
was Agnes Scott?" Almost
embarrassed that she had not
been a more visible presence
in the College's early history,
I would reply that she was
the mother of George
Washington Scott, the
founder, and move on to
another topic.

My curiosity was piqued when I learned that the bicentennial of Agnes's birth
would occur on June 1 3, 1999, and that her great-great granddaughter, Betty Pope
Scott Noble '44, was writing a family history. Sitting in Betty's living room, listening
to family narratives while surrounded by family photos, diaries, and letters, I real-
ized that the College had not done Agnes justice.

Agnes Irvine Scott was a quintessential nineteenth-century American immigrant
woman. She was a survivor whose strong faith and lively intellect influenced a fam-
ily, a community, and a college. When her son George decided to invest in a school
of high standards for girls, it was in clear recognition of his mother's important

familial and community influence. When the Decatur Female Seminary was re-
named Agnes Scott Institute in 1891, fourteen years after her death, a delegation of
community leaders from her hometown in Alexandria, Pennsylvania, traveled to
Decatur, Georgia, to bear witness to the appropriateness of naming an institution in
memory of their neighbor, Agnes Irvine Scott.

As Agnes Scott College has evolved over more than a century, its core identity
continues to resonate with the life and character of this Irish-American
frontierswoman. The institution's role as a women's college, first proclaimed by her
son and the men of Decatur Presbyterian Church, has been reaffirmed again and
again by generations of both men and women serving as faculty, administrators, and
loyal supporters. The Scots-Irish Presbyterian legacy of faith and learning so
eloquently reflected in Agnes's love of the Bible, Shakespeare, and Robert Burns
lives on as the founding value of the College. And the high intellectual standards
she set for herself and for her family of twelve children on the Pennsylvania frontier
continue as the central purpose of the college that bears her name.

The original Agnes was a flesh and blood woman whose life seems surprisingly
modern today. She wept and danced and was afraid of Indians and Puritans, belying
the stern visage usually depicted, or the rather abstract concept of "founder's
mother." Her life spanned two centuries, two cultures, and several wars, and she
triumphed over many adversities. Her faith and courage prevailed and continue to
inspire all of us who are her descendents.

Mary Brown Bullock '66
March, 1999

Betty Pope Scott Noble '44 in a family rose garden in Ireland, 1987.

J*

Agnes Irvine Scott, 1 799-1877

by Betty Pope Scott Noble '44

Agnes Irvine Scott's Irvine ancestors came from the border coun-
try of Scotland. They were given land by Robert the Bruce for
their support and protection of him during the war against
England for Scottish independence in the early 1 300s. About 1640, at
the time of the religious persecution of the Covenanters (or Presbyteri-
ans) by Charles I, the Irvines fled to Ulster, Ireland. They settled in
County Down near Newry, in a small village called Ballykeel.

The story of Agnes Irvine Scott began on June 13,1 799 in the farming
village of Ballykeel, now in Northern Ireland, where Agnes was born in
a small, thatched-roof cottage. This cottage was later enlarged by
members of the Irvine family, who have occupied the house for over
two hundred and fifty years. This house looks out onto the beautiful
Mourne Mountains low, rolling green hills that are especially color-
ful in late summer and early fall when the purple heather covers the
slopes.

Mary Stitt Irvine and William Irvine, both of Scots-Irish Presbyterian
heritage, were the grateful parents of pretty, blue-eyed Agnes, who was
also called Nancy and Annie by various family members. Agnes had
two older sisters, Susanna and Mary. Tragedy struck this young family
when Agnes's father died in 1799. Agnes was only two and a half
months old. William's death made life for the Irvine family especially

After centuries of intermittent effort, the
English completed their conquest of
Ireland in the early 1600s. In order to
establish English influence and rule in tl

idly Catholic country, King James I
(a Scot) confiscated the lands of native
Irish Catholics and offered them to English
and Scottish Protestants as inducements
to settle there, particularly in the north in
the province of Ulster. Lured by this

row*

d became "Scots- Irish." In C&iriifty''-"'*#3^
w^, where Agnes Irvine was born, the
cots i Insffv/iffreWiedjaminant group ,

Further hostility between native Catholics
and the more recently arrived Protestants
developed during the English Civil War :
(1640-1649), when the Irish rose against
their Protestant landlords; the revolt was

with massacres at Wexford and Drogheda
When the Dutch Protestant William of
Orange ascended the English throne in
1690, the Irish rose in support of the /
deposed Catholic king, James II. William's ,
army defeated the Irish forces at the Battle
of the Boyne on July 1, a victory still
celebrated today by Protestant
"Orangemen." Following the victory, the
enactment of discriminatory laws to
punish the Catholics deepened the division
between the two groups.

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, the Scots-Irish formed less than
ten percent of the total population of
Ireland. They lived primarily in Ulster.
Though faring better than the native
Catholics, the Scots-Irish suffered
discrimination by the dominant Anglican
group, which controlled the parliaments in
Dublin and London. In addition to these
' political conditions, like all Irish the Scots-

j ingly densely populated country and a
f" failing economy. Many of them emigrated
' to North America, especially (6 fetHe#;- : ,
I ments in Virginia, North Carolina, and/
f Pennsylvania.

Agnes Irvine
Scott's Life and
Times

1798

In Ireland, widespread
rebellion challenges British
rule; the fighting is heavy in
Ulster.

1799

Agnes Irvine
is born to Mary
Stitt Irvine and
William Irvine
on June 13
in Ballykeel,
County Down,
Ireland. William
Irvine dies in
August.

Agnes Irvine Scott's
mother, Mary Stitt

1801

Mary Irvine, Agnes's older
sister, dies at age three.
In Britain and Ireland, the Act
of Union declared in 1800
takes effect, dissolving the
parliament in Dublin and
placing Ireland under direct
British rule.

difficult. The small farm, Mary Stitt's chief livelihood, was often inad-
equate for her family, since frequent blights on the potato crop the
mainstay of the Irish diet limited her supply of food. To add to Mary
Stitt's and her family's distress, little three-and-a-half-year-old Mary
died two years after her father's death. But Mary Stitt survived, aided
by her strong faith and the assistance of her relatives.

Perhaps new hope for a better life was in Mary Stitt's mind when she
married Edward Stitt, probably a relative. A son Jonathan was born the
following year and died a year later. How could more tragedy come to
Mary Stitt? Sorrow filled Mary's life yet again when her second hus-
band died in 1814, nine years after their marriage. Edward's death left
Mary Stitt to bring up her two daughters, Susanna, aged eighteen, and
Agnes, aged fifteen. Somehow Mary Stitt was able to keep life going
for her small family, even after experiencing so much grief and sorrow.

While Agnes was still young, Uncle James Irvine and his wife, who
lived in Newry, asked her to make her home with them. Uncle James
had a large house and was financially secure, but he and his wife had
no children, and James's wife had always wanted a daughter. Mary Stitt
adored her daughter Agnes and found it extremely difficult to permit
her to move to Newry. Mary knew that her brother-in-law James could
give Agnes many opportunities that she was unable to provide, so she
gave her permission, and the move was made to Uncle James's home.
Agnes was very happy with her aunt and uncle, who affectionately
called her "Annie." The couple loved Agnes dearly and sent her to the
seminary in Newry. Agnes rode to school in a donkey cart, along with
her allotment of peat for the classroom fire.

l8l2

Agnes's early education had awakened in her the love of the true and
the beautiful. She appreciated the works of Shakespeare and Robert
Burns, but the first of all books to her was the Bible. Her devotional
books were also very meaningful to her. While Agnes's schooling
seemed to have been a happy experience for her, at Newry she was
able to enjoy some of the lighter aspects of a young person's life. She
learned to dance and to play the piano, both of which gave her great
pleasure. Agnes had a very special young beau who gave her a hand-
made music book. She was content in her new life.

Two years after the death of her second husband, Mary Stitt began to
think of her future and that of her two daughters. Mary had lived most
of her adult life under very trying circumstances, having lost two hus-
bands and two children in a short period of time. In early nineteenth-
century Ireland, making a living from a small farm was not easy for a
widow with two children. Was it possible that life could be better
elsewhere? Mary Stitt's mother, like so many other Irish men and
women, had emigrated to America and was living in Cadiz, Ohio, with
another daughter, Elizabeth. Mary Stitt also had relatives in Alexan-
dria, Pennsylvania, including her brother Robert. Perhaps letters from
these relatives persuaded Mary to dare to leave the little security that
she had known in Ireland and take her children to America, a world
totally unknown to her. At least there was hope for a better life in
America, and after settling her second husband's estate, Mary Stitt
realized she had sufficient funds to pay for the family's passage. And so
with a pioneering spirit and by summoning all the faith, courage, and
hope she could garner, Mary Stitt, a forty-four-year-old widow, de-
cided to travel with her daughters to America. This journey was an

In Ireland, the first recorded
sectarian riots break out in
Belfast on July 12.

In the United States, John
Scott, Agnes Irvine's future
husband, serves as a major
in the War of 1812 (1812-
1815).

1814

Mary Stitt Irvine Stitt's
second husband, Edward
Stitt, dies.

1815-1844

One million Irish immi-
grants arrive in New York.

lid postcard of Alexandria, Pennsylva-
iia where Agnes Irvine Scott and her
amily settled in the United States.

1816

In March, Mary Stitt Irvine
Stitt and her two daughters
leave Ireland on a ship
bound for the United
States. Susanna dies
during the crossing. Agnes
and her mother settle in
Alexandria, Pennsylvania.

1821

Agnes Irvine marries John
Scott.

1829

Agnes Irvine Scott gives
birth to George Washington
Scott, future founder of
Agnes Scott College.

awesome undertaking for a woman. With help from her relatives, Mary
determined to go to Alexandria, Pennsylvania.

There was great distress in Uncle James Irvine's home when Mary Stitt
revealed her plans to emigrate with her daughters. Agnes was adamant
in not wanting to go. Obviously, she did not want to leave her happy
life in Uncle James's home. Years later Agnes Irvine Scott's son, George
Washington Scott, reported that Agnes had heard stories that made
her afraid of the Indians. She had also heard that the Puritans in
America were somber and strict and did not permit dancing. Now
Agnes liked to dance!

At seventeen, Agnes reluctantly went to America with her family,
leaving behind a very happy home with her aunt and uncle and a com-
fortable future with all of the opportunities available to a young Irish
girl with well-to-do relatives. Like her mother, Agnes summoned her
faith and courage to venture into a new world.

In preparation for their voyage, the family stopped at Kilkeel at the
Lough Parish Church to get their church letters of dismissal to take
with them to America. On March 29, 1816, the small family Mary
Stitt, aged forty-four,- Agnes, aged seventeen,- Susanna, aged nineteen,-
and James Stewart, Susanna's husband of eight months gathered at
Warren Point in Carlingford Bay, five miles south of Newry, to await
the ship that was to take them to America.

What were the thoughts of this family group? Were they hopeful?
Mary Stitt, trusting that she was leaving all of her pain and sadness in

Street in old part of Newry, Ireland, where Irvines and Stitts lived.

Ireland, probably anticipated a happy reunion with her family members
in America. Susanna could have been dreaming of establishing a home
with her husband. Agnes, who in her young life had shared poverty
and much sadness with her mother, was probably still very reluctant to
leave behind her secure life in Uncle James's home.

As the family sailed out of Carlingford Bay into the Irish Sea, the wa-
ters were calm, but the sea became very rough as the ship entered the
Atlantic, and Susanna and Agnes became seasick. Agnes was able to
overcome her seasickness, but Susanna grew very ill. Her condition
rapidly worsened until on the nineteenth day she died and was buried
at sea. Mary Stitt had not left all of her sorrow and pain in Ireland after
all. James Stewart had lost his wife of only eight months, and Agnes
had lost her only sister. What a terrible beginning for what should have
been a promising voyage.

After a thirty-six day voyage Mary Stitt, Agnes, and James Stewart
landed in Philadelphia. They were taken by stagecoach to Alexandria,
Pennsylvania, a journey of two hundred miles. Susanna's husband,
James Stewart, disappeared from family history after the death of his
wife. He may have returned to Ireland.

Upon arrival in Alexandria, Mary Stitt and Agnes Irvine were wel-
comed by Mary's brother Robert and other family members. We do not
know of any further grief that came to Mary Stitt, but we do know that
Mary's pioneering spirit did not leave her once she had settled in
America. At the age of fifty-four, Mary saddled a horse and rode alone
on horseback to Cadiz, Ohio, to see her mother and sister, Elizabeth

33 Needham St., Newry, Ireland. This house was built by James Irvine, Agnes's
uncle. At fifteen, Agnes lived with her uncle and aunt and attended school.

1844

In the United States, riots
break out between native-
born Protestant workers
and Irish Catholic immi-
grant workers in Philadel-
phia.

1845-1852

In Ireland, the potato blight
destroys most of the annual
crop, leading to the Great
Famine.

1845-1855

1.8 million Irish immigrant
arrive in North America.

1850

John Scott dies at the age
of 66.

1854

Mary Stitt Irvine Stitt dies
at the age of 87.

1856-1929

3.35 million Irish immi-
grants arrive in North
America.

1861-1865

In the United States, the
Civil War breaks out,
temporarily dividing the
Scott family.

Haverfield, with whom her mother was living. Mary also made the
return trip alone, an unusual adventure for a woman at this time.

After Agnes and her mother arrived in America, Uncle James Irvine
wrote to Agnes with instructions on how to lead a Christian life. He
also implored her to return to his home in Ireland. He even stated in
one of his letters that a gift of three hundred pounds awaited her arrival
back home in Newry. Agnes never claimed this gift. After the sad
voyage to America when Agnes's sister Susanna died, life in Alexandria
was at first very disappointing. Years later Agnes told her son John of
the bitter tears she had shed when she contrasted her surroundings in
Alexandria with the comforts she had relinquished in her Uncle James's
home in Newry.

Life would soon improve for Agnes. At the age of twenty-two she
married a respectable, prosperous gentleman, John Scott, a widower
fifteen years her senior with five children, whose ancestry was also from
Ireland. John, a strong Presbyterian, owned a shoe manufacturing and
leather tanning business. He had served in the War of 1 8 1 2 as a major
of his regiment. He also served two terms in the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives. Later he was a member of the United States House of
Representatives in the twenty-first Congress.

Apart from losing two of their seven children at an early age, Agnes and
l John had a very satisfying life together. The most determinative influ-
ence in their Pennsylvania home seems to have been the character and
teaching of Agnes Irvine Scott. Agnes's independent spirit and the
firmness with which she held to her convictions are illustrated by a

Agnes Irvine Scott's sons, James, John, and
George Washington, divided by the Civil War.

situation that occurred in her family's church, called the White
Church. When recurring tensions over loyalty to Britain after the War
of 1812 divided the congregation, Agnes, born a British subject, held
tenaciously to her British loyalty. Agnes continued to attend the White
Church, although her husband, John, switched to the Brick Church,-
the children went to both churches.

John Scott Jr., Agnes Scott's son, was a United States Senator and the
chief attorney for the Pennsylvania Railroad. In speaking at the Dedi-
cation Exercise of Agnes Scott Institute
in 1 89 1 , he expressed great apprecia-
tion for his intelligent, conscientious,
Christian mother, who was determined
that no child of hers would go out into
the world ignorant of the Westminster
Shorter Catechism of the Presbyterian
Church. Agnes loved her church and
believed in the sovereignty of God as
devoutly as in His goodness and mercy
Written in her own hand in her Bible is
this verse, which reflects her life. Prov-
erbs 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all
thine heart, and lean not unto thine
own understanding, in all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
thy paths." This verse has continued to
be meaningful in the lives of Agnes
Scott's descendents.

1865-1877

In the United States during
the Reconstruction Era,
Southerners attempt to
rebuild their society.

1870

In Ireland, the Home Rule
movement is founded.

M "Mi -

Agnes Irvine Scott (seated on left) in front of her house in Alexandria with her family.

10

1890-1891

Colonel Scott offers to
finance a building for the
Decatur Female Seminary,
and the school is renamed
Agnes Scott Institute.

Agnes Scott's neighbor and devoted friend, Dr. J.M. Gemmill, who
often sat at her fireside, described her as "a person of marked refine-
ment of character, a lady of genuine kindness, a person of gentleness
and true benevolence." Dr. Gemmill further stated that "she was firm in
her convictions and held her views with great tenacity, but without
aggressiveness. One of her marked characteristics was the intensity of
her strong maternal love for her children."

1893

In Britain, Gladstone's
second attempt to pass a
Home Rule bill for Ireland
passes in the House of
Commons but fails in the
House of Lords. The stage
is set for another era of
rebellion in Ireland.

1903

Colonel George Washington
Scott dies. He is buried in
Decatur.

1906

Agnes Scott Institute
renamed Agnes Scott
College.

During the Civil War ( 1 86 1 - 1 865), Agnes was severely tried when two
of her sons joined the Confederacy and another son supported the
Union cause. Agnes's prayers were answered since her sons were spared
in the war, and warm relationships continued among her family. In
writing her will, Agnes explained to her two sons, Alfred and George,
who both fought for the South, that she had determined to leave most
of her possessions to her two daughters, Susan and Mary. Agnes had
understood that the United States government would confiscate any
possessions inherited by those supporting the Confederacy. Agnes had
no intention of showing partiality to any of her children.

John Scott Sr.'s health began to decline after 1842, and he was inactive
in his shoe manufacturing business until his death in 1850 at the age of
sixty-six. Mary Stitt lived with her daughter Agnes until she died in
1 854 at the age of eighty-seven. Agnes died in 1 877 at the age of
seventy-eight without knowing that in 1889 her son, Colonel George
Washington Scott, was to found a college for women that would bear
her name.

11

At the Centennial Celebration of the founding of Agnes Scott College,
representatives of the College and descendents of Agnes Irvine Scott,
placed a marker on her grave in Alexandria, Pennsylvania. The inscrip-
tion reads

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE

And the family of

AGNES IRVINE SCOTT

Celebrate her life of Christian Character

And her love of learning which inspired her son

George Washington Scott to found an

Educational institution for young women in

Decatur, Georgia in 1889

Dedicated in the Centennial year 1989

Jo fa- #L*L ffi!i<xL~- /WZtUm-

A beautiful reflection of the character and spiritual life
of Agnes Irvine Scott is found in a prayer written in her
own handwriting in her Bible (original seen at right):

"Heavenly Father, I leave all that belongs to me to Thee. Undertake
Thou for them [her children], Bless them and make them blessings.
Hide them under the shadow oj Thy wings, and direct their steps.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Farewell.

2^C fczyrfL

fXrf- aC*-^ /jtfus ~mL~- &^-J- jfaMtC JaL*^.

/SkAy 7%L aa^^_ fcfrfiL Xt*^L ^ (6%ju</~

it

7/7*^.

12

Betty Pope Scott Noble (top left, in a four-
generations photo with her father, Milton
Candler Scott, seated, her daughter Betty
Scott Noble '71. and her great-grandfather
George Washingon Scott in portrait
hanging behind them) was born in Decatur,
Georgia. She graduated from Agnes Scott
College in 1944, where she majored in
history and Bible and served on student
government. A wife and mother, she has
been a member of numerous civic clubs
and participated in a variety of community
and church activities. An active alumna, she
is a trustee emerita of Agnes Scott College
and is the recipient of a special award for
her service to the College.

Betty Pope Scott Noble has based her family memoir about her great-
great grandmother, Agnes Irvine Scott, on a variety of source materials.
Published information on the Scott family in general and George
Washington Scott's role in the founding of the College in particular is available
in Walter Edward McNair, Lest We Forget: An Account of Agnes
Scott College (Decatur, Georgia: 1983), FrankH. Gaines, The Story of
Agnes Scott College (1889-1921) (Atlanta, Georgia: 1922), Caroline
McKinney Clarke, The Story of Decatur, 1 823- 1 899 (Decatur,
Georgia-. 1973 J,- Agnes Scott College Alumnae Quarterly, Autumn
1946, Agnes Scott College, Martha Yates, "The Beginnings," Agnes Scott
College Alumnae Quarterly, Winter 1976, and Marion B. Lucas, "The
Civil War Career of Colonel George Washington Scott, " Florida Historical
Quarterly, October 1979, 129-150.

Several important speeches also provide information about Agnes Irvine Scott.
These speeches, all in the possession of Agnes Scott College, include James Ross
McCain's Speech at the Dedication of Scott Chapel, Decatur Presbyterian
Church, Decatur, Georgia, October 12, 1952, Wallace M. Alston's Speech at
the Dedication of George W. Scott Memorial Park, Decatur, Georgia, Febru-
ary 22, 1951 ; and Milton C. Scott's Speech at the Presentation of the Portrait
of Agnes Irvine Scott to Agnes Scott College, Agnes Scott College, Decatur,
Georgia, April 1983.

John Scott Jr., Agnes's son, wrote a family history dated November 5, 1890
that is especially useful in regard to both Agnes's and her husband's families. A
typescript copy of this family history is available in Special Collections in
McCain Library, Agnes Scott College. The George Washington Scott Papers,

13

consisting oj twenty-jive pieces oj family correspondence, as well as
plantation records, newspaper clippings, and John Scott Jr.'s type-
script diary from October 4, 1850 to February 20, 185 i are in the
possession oj J. J. Scott in Wheaton, Illinois. Dr. J. M. Gemmill's
letter to Colonel George W. Scott, written in 1891, describes Agnes
as a devoted Christian wije, mother, and beloved jamily jriend in her
adult years. This letter is dated December 1891. The original is in
Special Collections in McCain Library. In addition, two oj Uncle
James Irwin's* letters to his niece Agnes are extant. They too are
available in Special Collections in McCain Library. These letters are
dated April 2, 1 820 and June 8, 1821.

Betty Pope Scott Noble, flanked by images of her ancesters,
presents her story of the Irvine Scott family at the 1999 Agnes Scott
College Founder's Day.

Family stories reveal some oj the more personal details about Agnes's daily experiences and predilections. These stories have been
passed down jrom generation to generation in thejorm oj oral history.Though not recorded, they are critical to our understanding oj
Agnes Irvine Scott. Local historians have also documented additional injormation about the Scott jamily in Alexandria, Pennsylva-
nia, during the antebellum years. The most usejul oj these works is Jean Harshberger, Nancy R. Taylor, and Sara H. Zabriskie's
Hartslog Heritage (State College, Pennsylvania: 1976), which contains maps, photographs, and census injormation pertaining
to the Scott business and home.

Photographs in the possession oj the jamily and the College also ojjer telling details about Agnes and her jamily. Llnjortunately, jew
oj Agnes's possessions and writings have survived the two hundred years since her birth, with the important exception oj Agnes Irvine
Scott's handwritten will and prayer, which she stored in her Bible. All three oj these items are now in the possession oj Agnes Scott
College. Finally, Betty Pope Scott Noble and her jamily have substantially enhanced their knowledge oj the College's jounder and
mother by visiting the original Irvine jamily home in the village ojBallykeel in Northern Ireland in 1982 and 1987.

*Llncle James signed his own last name and that ojhis niece as Irwin in his letters to her. Various Irish jamily records jrom the early
nineteenth century also list Irwin instead oj Irvine. John Scott Jr. reported in his 1890 jamily history that his Irish relatives consis-
tently pronounced the name "Irvine" even though they spelled it "Irwin." In Ireland and America, jamily members eventually adopted
"Irvine" as the standard written jorm.

Fabric on this page is a shawl owned by Agnes Irvine Scott, carried by her from Ireland to America, now part of Special Collections, McCain Library.

Agnes Scott, the College

When a small group of Decatur's Presbyterian leaders
founded Agnes Scott College in 1889, they set out to
create a college with "a liberal curriculum fully abreast
of the best institutions of this country." The school opened its doors
in a rented house with slightly more than $5,000 capital. There
were four teachers educating sixty-three students at the grammar
school level.

Col. George Washington Scott, who had provided forty percent of
the initial capital, saw the school's continued need and offered the
largest gift to education in Georgia up to that time to provide a
home for the school. To recognize this gift, the Board of Trustees
renamed the school in honor of Col. Scott's mother, Agnes Irvine
Scott, whom he credited "for all the good impulses of [his] heart
and for all [his] hopes for the future."

Col. Scott's gift was the first of two transforming gifts to the Col-
lege. In 1954, Agnes Scott received its second transforming gift
from the estate of Frances Winship Walters, an Agnes Scott alumna
and former trustee. This gift of stock in The Coca-Cola Company
now constitutes a large portion of Agnes Scott's endowment, the
largest per student of any national liberal arts college in America.

15

The quest for the highest academic standards envisioned by the founders
was quickly realized, and Agnes Scott's reputation in the broader academic
community grew stronger with each year. Within ten years, the school
gained accreditation as a secondary school. In 1906, it was chartered Agnes
Scott College and awarded its first degrees. Agnes Scott was the first college
in Georgia to receive regional accreditation from the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools (1907) and in 1920 earned the approval of the
Association of American Universities. The United Chapters of Phi Beta
Kappa granted the College its charter the second in Georgia in 1926.
Agnes Scott is a charter member of both the American Association of Uni-
versity Women and the Southern University Conference.

Agnes Scott's alumnae have gone on to make history in their own ways.
They include Georgia's first female Rhodes Scholar, a South Carolina state
supreme court justice, the first woman to be ordained a minister in the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a Poet Laureate of Alabama, and the first
woman to chair the Federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
among countless others.

16

Three of Agnes's children:
Young George Washington
Scott, upper left; Senator
John Scott, left; and Mary
Scott, above.

Scott Family Members oj the

Board oj Trustees

[1889-1999]

George Washington Scott (1889-1903)

Charles Murphey Candler (1889-1935)

George Bucher Scott ( 1 896- 1 920)

Milton A. Candler (1896-1909)

James Julius Scott ( 1 920- 1 976)

essie Scott Harmon, Institute (1917-1 937)

George Scott Candler (1924-1 972 )

Allie Candler Guy '13 (1929-1930)

Hansford Sams, Jr. ( 1 970- 1 984)

George Scott Candler, Jr. ( 1 972- 1 992)

Betty Pope Scott Noble '44 ( 1 984- 1 994)

James Wallace Daniel (1992-present)

Clark E. Candler (1992-present)

17

Agnes Scott College

THE WORLD FOR WOMEN

Scott Family Members oj the
Board of Trustees
[999)

George Wash

Charles Mu Her (1889- 1935)

George 1896-1921

Miltoi uiler (1896-1909)

lam< Scott (1920-1976)

3D3JJCO TTOD2 ?3HOA

rmon, Institute ( 1917-1937)

0=I a J H O W 3HT

Scott Candler (1924-1972)

Allie Candler Guy '13 (1929-1930)

Hansford Sams, Jr. ( 1 970- 1 984)

George Scott Candler, Jr. ( 1 972- 1 992)

Betty Pope Scott Noble '44 (1984-1994)

lames Wallace Daniel (1992-present)

Clark E. Candler (1992-present)

Three of Agnes's children:
Young George Washington
Scott, upper left; Senator
John Scott, left; and Mary
Scott, above.

17

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Mourne Mountains, near Ballykeei, Northern Ireland
Birthplace of Agnes Irvine Scott

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