MATILDA SCOTT,

101, devotes life to caring for others

By Jan Aikens

HUDGINS SETTLEMENT—Matilda Scott has spent over 90 years of her life caring for other people. She was born Aug. 5, 1884, to Andrew and Rebecca Taylor in Matagorda County in a small community called Hudgins Settlement. Her mother died when she was seven and she assumed the responsibility of caring for her younger brother and sister. Later, her father went blind and she had to care for him, too. When she was older, she cared for her cousin's two children when she died when they were young.

"One day when I was holding and comforting my little sister, my father told me that I would live a long time, perhaps, longer than the child that she was holding. Today, I am the only surviving member of my immediate family," said the 101-year-old woman.

Mrs. Scott's grandparents were landowners in Africa, but were captured and brought to America as slaves. Her parents were born during slavery time, but were not slaves, she said.

She attended Warren School through the seventh grade before having to quit to take care of her younger siblings.

Farming has been Mrs. Scott's life. Her son, Jimmy Scott, said he remembers watching his mother walk behind a plow in the fields. The family raised cotton, corn and sugar cane and also had some chickens and cattle.

"She used to like to fish," said her son, Jimmy. "I remember watching her take cotton and meal and put it on a hook and fish for buffalo fish."

When the Hudgins Settlement was plotted, it had 231 acres. All of those acres are still in the family's possession and Mrs. Scott resides with her daughter, Josie Green, and son and wife, Willie and Evelina Davis, on that land.

When Mrs. Scott wasn't farming, she spent a lot of time at Pleasant Green Baptist Church where she has been an active member all of her life. She taught Sunday school and did missionary work. She was also a treasurer of the church.

Married three times, Mrs. Scott has outlived all of her husbands. In addition to Josie and Jimmy, who are twins, and Willie, she has another son, Cody Harkless, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

What does Mrs. Scott do to pass the time? "I watch TV and enjoy my grandchildren and great-grandchildren," she said proudly.

 The Daily Tribune, February 26, 1986

Printed in Matagorda County Genealogical Society Quarterly, Oak Leaves, February 2002
 

Matilda Scott

Funeral services for Matilda Scott, 102, of Bay City will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at First Sacred Memorial Christian Church, Bay City, with the Rev. H. S. Williams officiating. Burial will be in Hudgins Settlement Cemetery, Cedar Lane.

Visitation will be until 9 p.m. today at Duncan-Roberts Funeral Home and from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at the church.

Mrs. Scott was born Aug. 5, 1884, in Hudgins Settlement, Texas, to Andrew and Rebecca Hudgins Taylor and died March 25, 1987, at her home.

Survivors include four children, Mrs. Cody Harkless, Willie Davis, Mrs. Josie Green and Jimmie Scott, all of Bay City; five step-children, James Scott, Mrs. Maythelee Brinkley of Van Vleck,  Mrs. Ollie Harrison of Galveston, Mrs. Daisy Rugeley of Sweeny and Mrs. N. B. Greenwood of Merced, Calif.; 12 grandchildren; 34 great-grandchildren; 19 great-great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers include Jimmy Scott Jr., Frank Scott Jr., John Ward, Albert Lemon Jr., Curby Harkless and Mack Newsome.

Honorary pallbearers include Jimmy Scott Sr., James Williams, Willie Taylor, Andrew Taylor, Clifford Rugeley and Avion Harkless. Arrangements are with Duncan-Roberts Funeral Home.

The Daily Tribune, 1987

102-Year-Old Countian Dies

By Elaine Richards
The Daily Tribune

Matilda Scott, 102, and a lifelong resident of Matagorda County, died Wednesday in her home at Hudgins Settlement.

Born August 5, 1884 to Andrew and Rebecca Taylor in Hudgins Settlement, Scott devoted her life to helping others, a Feb 25, 1986 Daily Tribune article reported. She cared for her younger brother and sister while still a child herself when her mother died, and later took care of her father when he went blind.

Her father once told her she would live a long time, the article states, and eventually she became the only surviving member of her immediate family, also outliving three husbands.

Scott's grandparents were landowners in Africa before being captured and brought to America as slaves, according to the article.

In Hudgins Settlement, Scott spent much of her life farming the cotton, corn and sugar cane the family raised. She was also active in the Pleasant Green Baptist Church.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p. m. Saturday at First Sacred Memorial Christian Church in Bay City, the Rev. Harry Williams officiating. Burial will be in Hudgins Settlement Cemetery.

Daily Tribune, 1987
 

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