The students of the Radical University: Lewis C. Scott

Grave of Lewis C. Scott
Courtesy of author

Lewis Commodore Scott (b. September 1, 1851; d. October 30, 1927)
South Carolina. Black.
Occupation: farmer, teacher.
Father's occupation: cotton warehouse worker.

Lewis C. Scott was born in Charleston, South Carolina to William Commodore and Jackalena (Morris) Scott. Jackalena was born in South Carolina, while William was born in Georgia. By 1870, the family had moved to Augusta, Georgia, and the father was working in a cotton warehouse.

Lewis registered at the University of South Carolina on October 2, 1874. He entered as a college student following the classical studies track.  

During his second year in college, Lewis was involved in a racial incident. On September 30, 1875, Lewis and his fellow students Kenneth Young and J. H. Stuart purchased first class train tickets to Columbia. They then rode together without incident until their train stopped in the town of Gaffney (in the upstate). Upon arriving there, the conductor (D. P. Chandler) informed them that the first-class car was "Whites-only" and asked them to move to the smoking car. The students refused, asserting they had a right to remain where they were. The conductor then left and returned with three other railroad employees, two Whites and one Black. He then demanded a second time that the students leave the first-class car. After they again refused, the conductor and one of the White employees ejected Lewis and J. H. Stuart from the train, while the Black employee forcibly moved Kenneth to the smoking car.

Their ejection left Lewis and J. H. Stuart about a mile away from Gaffney in the middle of the night (at 3 am). Left with no alternative, they walked back. The next day they purchased new tickets and arrived in Columbia on October 1.

A complaint was filed with U.S. Commissioner Samuel T. Poinier over the students' treatment. Poinier issued a warrant for the arrest of the conductor. Deputy marshals tried to arrest the conductor on his return trip, but he initially evaded capture. However, by October 14 he and the train brakeman (Jerry Davis) were arrested and bound over in bonds of $500. Later reporting indicates that the two were unable to cover the bond and were held in jail.

The students were themselves arrested about a week later. Greenwood's U.S. Commissioner, Blythe, had issued a warrant for their arrest for perjury allegedly committed when filing a complaint with Poinier. The outcome of the charges unclear. Presumably the legal consequences for the students were minimal as they continued to attend university.

The railway employees were arraigned in court in December on an indictment charging them for ejecting Lewis and J. H. Stuart. Both the conductor and brakeman admitted that the students were ejected from the train but denied that they had been involved. Despite testimony from the students, the indictment was quashed and the railroad employees were discharged from jail.

The university closed before Lewis completed his degree. Lewis remained in the county and worked as a teacher and a farmer. Writing in 1911, Lewis's former classmate C. C. Scott (no relation) said that Lewis was "a substantial farmer in Eastover [a town in Richland County, near Columbia]." By 1880, Lewis had established a farm in Richland County. He did not own his farm, but he had achieved enough financial success that he was able to rent farmland instead of sharecropping it. He largely engaged in subsistence farming: his farm consisted of 24 acres of improved land on which he raised swine and grew Indian corn, beans, and Canadian peas. 

Lewis fortunes had grown considerably by the 1920s. According to a 1927 will, Lewis owned about 348 acres of land, a remarkable achievement for an African-American man in Jim Crow South Carolina.

Lewis died in Eastover on October 30, 1927. (His gravestone lists the date of death as November 5, but this was the date of internment.)  A death record states that Lewis died of kidney and blood pressure problems (chronic interstitial nephritis/atherosclerosis) that had been exacerbated by a pneumonia (bronchopneumonia). 

The (White-owned) newspaper the Columbia Record published an obituary for Lewis. The obituary was written by I. W. Lowery, a Methodist minister and freedman roughly the same age as Lewis. In the obituary, Lowery lauded Lewis for his accomplishments. He described Lewis as "one of the most intelligent colored farmers I have met anywhere in South Carolina." He emphasized that Lewis was a well-informed and cultured man: Lewis "was the owner of a fine library of books and he read carefully the newspapers of the day." Intriguingly, Lowery presents these accomplishments in a way that subtly affirms Jim Crow in some parts, but openly challenges it in others. 

Lowery describes Lewis's accomplishments in a way that emphasizes the success possible for African-Americans who obeyed the strictures of Jim Crow. For example, he attributes Lewis's success, in part, to the fact that he avoided politics and focused on teaching and farming. Lowery says nothing of the political and social barriers facing African-American farmers and instead writes about how Lewis was "economical," "a good manager," and taught the importance of work. However, Lowery also highlights the fact that Lewis attended the University of South Carolina during Reconstruction. While the integration of the university was regarded as a travesty by most supporters of Jim Crow, Lowery presents this as a positive event, saying that it allowed Lewis to get "a foundation of education" that enabled his later success.

Lewis is buried at Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Eastover.  A road in Eastover is named Lewis Scott Court, possibly in honor of Lewis.

Sources
1). 1870; Census Place: Augusta Ward 2, Richmond, Georgia; Roll: M593_172; Page: 84B.

2). 1880; Census Place: Lower, Richland, South Carolina; Roll: 1239; Page: 403C; Enumeration District: 170.

3). 1900; Census Place: Lower, Richland, South Carolina; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 0100; FHL microfilm: 1241540

4). 1910; Census Place: Lower, Richland, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1471; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0097

5). 1920; Census Place: Eastover, Richland, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1708; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 104

6). "When Negroes Attended the State University", May 8, 1911. State (published as The State).  Page 9.

7). Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Lower, Richland, South Carolina; Archive Collection Number: AD275; Roll: 14; Page: 22; Line: 3; Schedule Type: Agriculture

8) General Index to Wills, 1787-1950; Wills, 1787-1941; Author: South Carolina. Probate Court (Richland County); Probate Place: Richland, South Carolina. Wills, Vol U-V, 1927-1932.

9) "Leading Negro Farmer Who Went to Carolina Passes at Eastover." Columbia Record [SC] November 5, 1927. p. 3. 

10) Article "On Bail" from an unidentified newspaper in Brewer, F. P. (1831). Fisk P. Brewer papers, 1831-1877.

10) Article "An outrage on the road" from an unidentified newspaper in Brewer, F. P. (1831). Fisk P. Brewer papers, 1831-1877.

11) Yorkville Enquirer [York, SC]. October 14, 1875. p. 2.

12) Yorkville Enquirer [York, SC]. December 16, 1875. p. 2.

13) Yorkville Enquirer [York, SC]. October 7, 1875. p. 2.

Note: Lewis had 7 swine, produced 30 bushels of corn on 13 acres,  grew 25 bushels of peas, and 8 bushels of beans.