Grave Marker of D.L. Scott at The Follett House Museum

Wooden Grave Marker
Gift of Mrs. John T. Mack

This wooden marker once stood at the grave of D.L. Scott, who was from Missouri. The faded letters on the sign read "DLS." Wooden grave markers were used at the Island cemetery until the cause was taken up to purchase new ones to replace those that had suffred the ill effects of countless harsh winters. A group of business men from Georgia raised funds to purchase marble stones after a 1889 visit to the island cemetery. For a number of years, the cemetery was owned and cared for by the Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1910 they erected a monument to the confederate soldiers. Later, the United States govenment took over its charge, and maintains it to this day. At least 206 men are buried in the cemetery. The graves were usually dug by prisoners, under the supervision of guards. Religious services were conducted by Confederate chaplains, sometimes accompanied by Masonic rites, as an unknown number of prisoners were members of the secret society. Prisoners were allowed to attend the funerals if they gave an oath that they would not attempt an escape. Only three of the wooden markers are known to still exist, this examle and two others at the Firelands Museum in Norwalk.

During the Civil War, D. L. Scott was Second Lieutenant with the Third Missouri Cavalry. According to records at the R.B. Hayes Presdential Center, he arrived at the the Prison Camp at Johnson's Island on November 15, 1864 and died February 11, 1865 of disease. The marble grave marker of D. L. Scott is located in Block 7 of the Johnson's Island Confederate Cemetery.

A decription of a visit to the Confederate Cemetery at Johnson's Island in 1899 is found in the SOUTHERN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS, by R.A. Brock, available full text at Google Books. (See page 102 for the beginning of the article.)