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The Civil War Round Table of the Mid-Ohio Valley will host a historical marker dedication ceremony on June 17 to recognize Charlotte Scott, a formerly enslaved woman who lived in Marietta at the conclusion of the Civil War, for her initiative, generosity and vision that resulted in the first monument dedicated to the memory of President Abraham Lincoln.
Charlotte was born enslaved on the Scott Plantation near Lynchburg, Virginia. It is believed that her birthdate was between 1803 and 1805. At birth she was the property of Thomas Scott. At the outset of the Civil War, Charlotte resided with Thomas Scott's daughter, Margaret Scott Rucker, and her husband, Dr. William Parks Rucker, in Covington, Virginia. Although a slave-owner, Dr. Rucker was devoted to the Union and openly collaborated with Federal army officers and scouts. In 1862, Dr. Rucker was arrested by Confederate authorities, accused of treason, and held in prison to await trial.
While Rucker was imprisoned, President Lincoln directed the Union army to escort Margaret and the Rucker children to Marietta, Ohio for their safety. Charlotte accompanied the family as a freedman, or former slave, and lived with them as a domestic servant.
After fifteen months in Confederate prisons, Dr. Rucker made a dramatic escape, and after a harrowing flight to safety joined his family in Marietta. As a freedman, Charlotte was compensated for her services and had accumulated modest savings when the war ended.
When she learned of Lincoln's assassination, Charlotte "was in great distress" and declared, "The colored peoples have lost their best friend on earth! Mr. Lincoln was our best friend and I will give five dollars of my wages towards erecting a monument to his memory."
Dr. Rucker made strategic contacts that put Charlotte's vision and donation into the hands of worthy fundraisers, including James Yeatman, President of the Western Sanitary Commission.
News of this initiative spready rapidly across the nation and by December 1865, more than $16,000 was raised -- entirely from freedman, including many who were former U.S. Colored Troops.
President Grant unveiled the Emancipation Memorial in Washington D.C.'s Lincoln Park on April 14, 1876, the anniversary of the assassination, and Frederick Douglass was the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony.
More than 25,000 people attended, including Charlotte Scott. Abraham Lincoln and Charlotte Scott are the only names commemorated on the monument. After the war, Charlotte lived as a free woman on the Scott Plantation until her death on January 24, 1891.
The ceremony will begin at 1p.m. June 17 at the First Congregational Church, 308 Front Street, Marietta.
The event will feature music performed at the 1876 Emancipation Memorial dedication ceremony; Marcia E. Cole, a re-enactor from Washington, D.C., who will portray Charlotte Scott; and, Alicestyne Turley, Ph.D., an educator from Georgetown, Kentucky, who will deliver a presentation entitled, "African Americans in the Civil War." Light refreshments will be served.
The event is free and the public is welcome.
Marietta College will host a Juneteenth Freedom Day commemoration from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, June 16, at the Harrison Hall mall on campus.
The event will feature fellowship, a barbecue, and a panel of speakers including Michael Crutcher who will portray Frederick Douglass and Marcie E. Cole who will portray Charlotte Scott. The event is free and the public is welcomed. Please submit questions to cwrtmov@gmail.com.