Scott County Historical Society

Scott County the Beginning

Submitted by David Jeffers, Scott County Historical Society, President

The Reed family

1st Sgt. Rolman Reed

Philippine

Insurrection

2nd Lt. Lonus Reed WWI

1st Sgt. Roi man Reed, the son of Wiley and Savorra (Ellis) Reed was born July 20, 1892 and died June 13, 1972 and his brother 2nd Lt. Lonus Reed joined the US Army together. They entered the service September 30, 1910 and both were in the Infantry branch of service and received their training in Columbus, Ohio.

Rolman was sent to the Philippines and served in the Philippine Insurrection for about two and a half years. He was discharged due to a heart condition at Camp Funston, Kansas on December 28, 1917.

Lonus remained active and was sent to Europe in June of 1917. Lonus Reed was killed in action on November 1, 1918 during the Battle of the Argonne Forrest, his body was sent back to the United States in October of 1920.

Another brother of Roi man and Lon us was Amon Reed born 1884 and served in the US Navy was sent to Pennsylvania and then to the scene of the Titanic on April 14, 1912 and then back to Pennsylvania. He served from 1908-1912. Their father Wiley Reed served in Co. I, 30th Ky, Infantry during the Civil War. Allen Reed the father of Wiley Reed was awarded land grants for serving in the War of 1812, and the family still owns the farm on Silcox Ford Road in Helenwood of 416 acres.

Submitted by; Cloe Losey 7th grade, Oneida Middle School.

Lt. Colonel, Thomas

J. Cecil

Thomas J. Cecil was born January 10, 1885 and was the son of Beaty and Pauline (Buttram) Cecil. He enlisted in the US Army in 1907 and ascinded to the rank of Major during WWI and was the Commander of a Battalion of mororized artillery and later a Regiment of mororized heavy artillery. They were engaged in the Meuse-Argonne and Moselle River of operations during WWI. He retired after 20 years of service in 1927.

After his retirement he lived in Danville, Kentucky where he died. He was burried in theReed Cemetery in Scott County, Tennessee.

The Cecil family of Scott County;

Decorated

Judge Beaty Cecil was born September 13, 1849 and was the son of Samuel and Priscilla (Thomas) Cecil. At the young age of 14 he joined the Union forces with the 7th Tennessee Mounted Infantry and served the rest of the war in that unit. He married Pauline Buttram in November of 1874 and was elected as Sheriff in Scott County in 1882 and served in that capacity until 1886. He passed the Tennessee Bar Examination in 1887 and worked as a I awyer for over 40 years. In 1887 to 1889 was elected to the Tennessee State Senate, the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1889 until 1891, then was elected as the Scott County Judge (Mayor) from 1902 to 1910 and again elected to the Tennessee State Senate from 1913 to 1915.

The sons of Judge and Pauline Cecil served with honor throughout the campaigns of the Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection WWI and WWII. And the Cecil family has been and continues to be a prominent military family in Scott County even today. Judge Beaty Cecil died on May 29, 1931 and was burried in the Reed Cemetery in Scott County.

Col. Josephus

Samuel Cecil;

Congressional Medal of Honor

Josephus Samuel Cecil was born January 11, 1878 in Scott County, Tennessee and was the son of Beaty and Pauline (Buttram) Cecil. He enlisted in the US Army in 1898 and first served as a private then Corporal and eventually a Sergeant in the Spanish-American War assigned to Company H, 4th Tennessee Infantry. On May 6, 1899 he transferred to the 19th US Infantry as a Second Lei utenant in the Philippine Insurrection, in that same month he earned a commission as First Leiutenant. While with the 19th US Infantry at Bud-Dajo, Joie, Philippines on March 7, 1906 his actions on the battlefield were awarded with the Congressional Medal of Honor; the citation reads, “While at the head of the column about to assault the first Gutta under superior fire at short range, he personally carried to a sheltered position a wounded man and the body of one who was killed beside him.” Later during WWI he served as a Colonel of Infantry of the United States Army.

Col. Joseph S. Cecil died August 20, 1940 in Connecticut, it is believed that he commited suicide by jumping from the 6th floor of an apartment house. He was brought back to Scott County and was interred in the Reed Cemetery and later the Col. Joe Cecil Bridge was named in his honor in Scott County, Tennessee.

In next week’s issue of Scott County News: 2nd Lt. James M. Cross; Distinguished Service Cross, WWI