My Genealogy Hound

Otis W. Scarborough is one of the leading attorneys of Jackson County, and has been established in business in Newport since 1884. He was born in Kosciusko, Attala County, Miss., on the 24th day of December, 1849, and is a son of Isaac and Lucy G. (Harrison) Scarborough, being the eldest of their five living children: Otis W., Othello C., a physician; Isaac W., also a physician; Fenton G., wife of Wade F. Fletcher, and Lucy L.; seven children are deceased. The grandfather, John Scarborough, was born in North Carolina, but was of Welsh extraction, his father having been born in Wales, but removed to the New World, owing to some difficulty he had with the Crown. He settled in North Carolina, where he died, after having taken an active part in the Revolutionary War, his son John being also a participant in that war. They were both planters by occupation. Isaac Scarborough was born in Edgecombe County, N. C., and his wife in Madison County, Va. He was a lawyer by profession, and after his removal to Mississippi, about the year 1828, was admitted to the bar at Kosciusko, and there he has since made his home, being a prominent member of the legal fraternity in Attala County. He served as judge of the county and circuit courts for about ten years, and now, although in his seventy-fourth year, he shows few indications of decay, either mentally or physically. Otis W. Scarborough acquired an excellent education in the high school at Kosciusko, but, not being satisfied with the learning there acquired, he entered Davidson College, Mecklenburg County, N. C. in 1868, becoming a member of the sophomore class, and from this institution he was graduated as an A. B., in June, 1871. Having determined to follow the profession to which his father was devoting his time, he entered the law department of the University of St. Louis, in the month of October, 1883, and graduated in May, 1885, being admitted to the bar in Kosciusko, in August, of the same year. He practiced his profession in his native town until December, 1884, when he came to Newport, and the following year began the practice of law. He is an able practitioner, and his influence is felt when he takes the stand, for he is a fluent and eloquent speaker, and is always the thorough master of the subject which he handles. He was married on the 24th of December, 1878, to Miss Cynthia E. Rimmer, by whom he has one child, James I. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a member of the I. O. O. F., belonging to the Encampment.