Scott Beatty
One of the largest farmers and stock raisers of Fayette county, Ohio, is Scott Beatty, who is the owner of about eight hundred acres of land in Fayette and Pickaway counties, Ohio. The first members of this family came to Fayette county about 1818 and settled on land south of Samuel Dew. Mr. Beatty has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and is known as one of the largest cattle raisers of Fayette county, having made a specialty of this particular phase of stock raising. He is a man of marked business ability and good judgment and has always so conducted his affairs as to win the high esteem of his fellow citizens, while at the same time adding to his material possessions.
Scott Beatty, the son of Isaac Newton and Margaret (Hidy) Beatty, was born September 9, 1850, in Marion township, Fayette county, Ohio, and moved to Pickaway county in 1868, and moved back to Madison township in 1908. His father was born in Marion township, the son of James and Rebecca (Gibson) Beatty. James Beatty came from Hampshire county, Virginia, in 1818, and located in Marion township, where he and his wife reared a family of five children: Isaac Newton, Milton, James G., Samuel and Mary. The parents of Margaret Hidy Beatty came from Pendleton county, West Virginia, about 1800 and located in Fayette county, Ohio.
Scott Beatty. received his elementary education .in the district schools, afterward attending the National Normal University at Lebanon. Ohio. After graduating from this excellent institution he returned to the farm and has since devoted his life to the various phases of agriculture. At the age of twenty-one he began farming for himself and by good management and keen foresight has so managed his affairs as to accumulate an estate of eight hundred acres, being one of the largest land owners of the county.
Mr. Beatty was married June 28, 1874, to Mary Decker, the daughter of A. S. and Catherine (Timmons) Decker. Mr. Beatty was born in Waterloo, Ohio, her father having located in that city immediately after coming to this country from Switzerland, where he was born. A. S. Decker was a harness maker by trade, and he and his wife were the parents of two children: Mary, the wife of Mr. Beatty, and Wesley. Mr. Beatty and his wife have one daughter, Margaret A., the wife of William Strope. Mr. and Mrs. Strope are the parents of three daughters: May, Hazel and Fern.
William Strope was born November 5, 1874. at Manara. Ohio, the son of Lafayette and Essie (Brown) Strope. Lafayette Strope came from Compton Creek. Ohio, and was the son of William Strope, a native of Virginia. Lafayette Strope and wife had a family of six children: Charles, Nancy, Clara, Mary, William and Mrs. Inez Tharp. After leaving school Mr. Strope learned the telegrapher's trade and was for several years an operator on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad at Orient, Ohio. He married Margaret A. Beatty on the 19th day of June, 1895. and since then has assisted his father-in-law on the farm. He is a Republican in politics and, fraternally, is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Beatty adheres to the principles and policies of the Republican party but has never been active in the political affairs of his towmship or county, his extensive agricultural interests demanding all of his time and attention. His wife died in 1913 and since then he has been making his home with his daughter. Mrs. William Strope. Fraternally, Mr. Beatty is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)