Thomas Scott (Ohio judge)

Thomas Scott (October 31, 1772 – February 13, 1856) was Clerk of the Ohio State Senate from 1803 to 1809 and an Ohio Supreme Court Judge from 1809 to 1816.

Thomas Scott was born at Oldtown, Frederick (now Allegany) County, Maryland. At age eighteen, he was ordained to preach in the Methodist church and, in 1793, was placed in charge of the Ohio circuit. In May 1796, he married Catherine Wood. He learned the art of tailoring, and studied law under James Brown of Lexington, Kentucky. He practiced in Flemingsburgh, Kentucky, in 1799 and 1800.

Scott came to Chillicothe, Ohio, early in 1801, and was licensed to practice in June, 1801. He was Clerk of the Northwest Territory Legislature that winter. In November, 1802, he was secretary at the State Constitutional Convention. He was first justice of the peace in Ross County, and was clerk of the Ohio Senate 1803–1809. He was Prosecuting Attorney of Ross County, 1804 and 1805.

In 1809, Scott was chosen Judge of the Ohio Supreme Court, serving until he resigned July 25, 1815. He was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1815, and did not seek re-election. Scott was a Whig until Henry Clay blocked his appointment as Federal District Judge. He then became a Democrat, remaining so until the candidacy of General Harrison in 1840, after which he returned to the Whigs.

From 1829 to 1845, Scott served as register of public lands at the Chillicothe Federal Land Office. When he died February 13, 1856, at Chillicothe, he had been active as a lawyer longer than anyone in Ohio, and "probably, longer a preacher of the gospel than any other minister in the United States." He is buried at Grandview Cemetery.