Hollis Scott store located at Scotts Corners, Hinsdale reported to be a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Hollis H. Scott, (1802- ?) the son of Rufus Watstill Scott and Mercy Hackett Scott was born in October 1802 in New Hampshire. In 1820 he settled in the town of Friendship in Allegany County Baptist Church, Hollis moved to Cuba in Cattaraugus County in 1828. By 1930 Scott had moved to Hinsdale, in 1835 he moved to a small settlement about a mile north of Hinsdale. Named after Hollis Scott the area was known as Scotts Corners.
Hollis became the second merchant in the settlement when he bought the store that had been operated by the merchant Emery Wood. Mr. Scott was a businessman for 25 years at Scotts Corners and Hinsdale. The store that he has owned was turned into the Maple Hill Restaurant. In 1995 the building was torn down It is told that during the demolition, a secret fully finished room was discovered. It is believed that Hollis’s store was a stop on the Underground Railroad and that Hollis aided slaves in their search of freedom on route to Canada.
Hollis Scott served on the first board of trustees for the Baptist Church when it was incorporated in 1834 He served as the town supervisor from 1833-1838 and represented Cattaraugus County as an Assemblyman in the New York Legislature in 1839. He was also on the first board of directors for the Ischua Valley Agricultural Society which was comprised of the towns of Hinsdale, Ischua and Franklinville.
In about 1829, Hollis married Henrietta Coats (1804-1843) who was baptized at the Friendship Baptist Church in 1823. They had three children, Almira (1830-1857), Martin (1833-1851), and Hollis Scott, Jr (1841-1909) who enlisted in Company I of the 154th Regiment and fought in the Civil War.
About 1846 Hollis married Adaline Farwell (1817-1897), the daughter of Abram Moors Farwell and Lydia Jackson Farwell. Adaline was the first white female child born in Ischua in Cattaraugus County. Hollis and Adeline had four children, Winfield (1848-1910), George D. (1851-1909), Lafayette C. (1855-1908), Ada (1858- ?). Ada is listed in the 1860 Federal Census at the age 2 and is not listed on the 1870 census. It is believed that she probably passed away sometime prior to this census.
It is unknown exactly when Hollis passed away There is an uncredited transcription of the cemetery done in 1965 by the Allegany Historical Society that lists his date of death as 1850. His father, Rufus Waitstill Scott died October 30, 1850. Hollis Scott is listed on the 1875 New York State Census and the 1880 Federal Census. Three of his children were born after 1850. This information was found on Ancestry.com and finishes by stating Hollis Scott is buried in the Friendship Baptist Cemetery in Friendship, New York with his first wife Henrietta.
Source: oral history