Foote records two distinct Scott family groups in Virginia. The better-developed household was that of Rev. Archibald Scott, pastor of the associated Bethel and Hebron congregations in Augusta County. A separate line centered upon Colonel Thomas Scott of Charlotte County and his work with Hampden-Sydney College. Foote does not establish a relationship between these families.
The following account brings together the Scott family references scattered throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical, Second Series, arranging them by generation and family relationship.
Rev. Archibald Scott
Archibald Scott came alone from Scotland to Pennsylvania while still young. He initially supported himself by plowing for prosperous farmers and devoted his spare time to study.
His conduct and studious habits attracted the attention of Dr. Cooper of Donegal Presbytery, who encouraged him to prepare for the ministry. Scott had been connected with the Seceder Church of Scotland but entered the Presbyterian Church. He studied the classics under a Mr. Finley.
During this period Scott became acquainted with a young Mr. Ramsey, who urged him to seek opportunities on the Virginia frontier. Scott traveled to Virginia and supported himself by teaching school while pursuing theological studies under William Graham at Liberty Hall.
Ministry at Bethel and Hebron
Scott appeared before Hanover Presbytery as a candidate by 1776. After completing additional trials and examinations, he was licensed to preach on October 31, 1777, with Samuel Doak and Edward Crawford.
In 1778 Scott accepted a call from Brown’s Meeting House and North Mountain in Augusta County. He was ordained in December and became the second pastor of the associated charge. The congregations later became known as Hebron and Bethel.
Scott served the two congregations for more than twenty years. He lived in a log house along the Middlebrook road near Staunton and earned a reputation as a respected, doctrinal, and powerful preacher.
He also prepared a local edition of the Mother’s Catechism and added an appendix explaining the doctrine of election. The publication reflected the theological instruction he emphasized within his congregations and among their children.
Marriage and Children of Archibald Scott
Archibald Scott married a sister of the young Mr. Ramsey who had encouraged him to come to Virginia. Foote does not provide her given name.
Scott died after a short illness on March 4, 1799, and was buried in the Hebron churchyard. His widow survived him by only a few years. They left six young children—two sons and four daughters—but Foote does not supply their given names. The eldest daughter later married a Mr. McPheeters. One son became a useful and successful teacher, while the other became a successful and laborious Presbyterian minister and lived to see three of his own sons enter the ministry. The other three daughters married and became comfortably established as heads of families.
The Eldest Daughter and Her Siblings
Following the death of Mrs. Scott, friends proposed dividing the six children among different households. The eldest daughter refused to allow the family to be scattered. She took charge of her five younger siblings and acted as their mother.
She declined offers of marriage while the younger children remained dependent upon her. Through her efforts, both boys received classical educations and the girls received English educations. Only after securing the welfare and education of her siblings did she marry Mr. McPheeters.
Her brothers remembered her with deep reverence. Foote presented her devotion as the decisive reason the children remained together and received the education that prepared them for useful adult lives.
Colonel Thomas Scott of Charlotte County
Colonel Thomas Scott belonged to a separate Scott family associated with Charlotte County. He married the widow of Colonel Isaac Read, who had died of disease while serving in the Revolutionary army in 1777. Foote identifies Mrs. Read as a daughter of Henry Embra but does not give her first name in the passages summarized here.
Through this marriage, Thomas Scott became stepfather to Clement Read, who later entered the ministry. Scott carefully supervised Clement’s upbringing and education.
Hampden-Sydney College
Colonel Thomas Scott became an influential early trustee of Hampden-Sydney College and was named in the institution’s 1783 legislative charter. He participated actively in the college’s early administration.
Thomas served on the board with his kinsman Charles Scott. Foote records both men attending to college business alongside Major James Morton, Charles Allen, Jacob Morton, Francis Watkins, Samuel Woodson Venable, and other trustees.
The account calls Charles Scott a kinsman of Colonel Thomas Scott but does not define their precise relationship.
Genealogical Notes
Foote does not connect Rev. Archibald Scott of Augusta County with Colonel Thomas Scott or Charles Scott of Charlotte and Prince Edward counties. These families should be treated as separate lines unless contemporary records establish a relationship.
The wife of Rev. Archibald Scott is identified only as a sister of the young Mr. Ramsey who encouraged him to seek opportunities in Virginia. Foote does not supply her given name, her parents, or her brother’s full identity.
Foote provides no given names for the six children of Archibald Scott. The eldest daughter is identified through her marriage to a McPheeters, while the two sons are distinguished only by their occupations. The three younger daughters are not individually identified.
The spelling M’Pheeters appears in Foote’s nineteenth-century text. The modern surname form McPheeters has been used throughout this account for consistency.
Bethel and Hebron were the two parts of Archibald Scott’s associated pastoral charge in Augusta County. References elsewhere in Foote to missionary exchanges or ministerial connections involving the Peaks congregation in Bedford County do not establish Scott family residence in Bedford County.
The Charlotte County line identifies Colonel Thomas Scott’s wife only as the widow of Colonel Isaac Read and a daughter of Henry Embra. Marriage, probate, Bible, and Read family records will be needed to establish her given name and full parentage from contemporary evidence.
Foote calls Charles Scott a kinsman of Colonel Thomas Scott but does not state whether they were brothers, cousins, or more distant relatives. Their service together on the Hampden-Sydney board is not sufficient to determine the relationship.
Source
This family genealogy was compiled from references appearing throughout William Henry Foote’s Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Foote’s scattered biographical, family, church, and settlement references have been brought together here and arranged by generation to make the genealogical relationships easier to follow.
Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Second Series. Second edition, revised. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1856. Available online at AccessGenealogy, Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Accessed 11 August 2026.