William Lindsay Scruggs

Background

William Lindsay was born in 1836 on his father's plantation, twenty miles above Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, on the French Broad River. He descended from Richard Scruggs who was in Virginia as early as 1665, was the eldest of seven children born to Frederick and Margaret (Kimbrough) Scruggs.

Education

William Lindsay Scruggs attended the grammar school near his home, was further instructed by a private tutor, and finished at Strawberry Plains College in East Tennessee.

Career

In 1858 Scruggs was principal of the Hamilton Male Academy. Removing to Georgia in 1861, he was admitted to the bar, but instead of practising law edited the Columbus Daily Sun, 1862-65. He subsequently moved to Atlanta, where from 1870 to 1872 he edited the Atlanta Daily New Era.

He was appointed minister to Colombia, in April 1873. He was arbitrator in a claims case between the British and Colombian governments, settling it satisfactorily to both; he also negotiated a successful settlement of a long-standing maritime case, that of the Montijo. Recalled August 16, 1876, when further appropriations for the legation were withheld by Congress, he served as consul at Chin-Kiang, and then at Canton, China, and in 1882 returned to Colombia as minister resident, becoming minister plenipotentiary two years later.

Before retiring to private life under Cleveland's administration in December 1885, he succeeded in dissuading the Colombian government from enforcing an increase in customs duties at Panama and Colon. After Harrison's inauguration, Scruggs returned to the diplomatic service as minister to Venezuela, March 30, 1889, and became deeply interested in the dispute with Great Britain over the British Guiana boundary.

After the election of Cleveland, he left his post, December 15, 1892, although he was not formally recalled until February 3, 1893. His espousal of Venezuela's cause won him appointment by that government as its legal adviser and special agent in August 1894. Almost immediately he published an able polemic pamphlet, British Aggressions in Venezuela; or the Monroe Doctrine on Trial (1894), and persuaded L. F. Livingston, the congressman from his district in Georgia, to introduce a resolution recommending that both parties to the dispute refer their differences to arbitration. Scruggs pressed his views upon the secretary of state, W. Q. Gresham, but without complete success, and when the latter fell ill he carried his case directly to President Cleveland.

As special agent of Venezuela Scruggs appeared before the Boundary Commission established in 1895, on whose findings the final arbitration (1897 - 99) was based. His Brief Concerning the Question of Boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana was published in 1898. Scruggs had now finished his public career. Thereafter he wrote extensively, publishing numerous other articles for historical, economic, and legal reviews.

He survived his wife for fifteen years, died of apoplexy at his home in Atlanta.

Achievements

• Being the U. S. ambassador to Colombia and Venezuela, William Lindsay Scruggs played a key role in the Venezuela Crisis of 1895 and helped shape the modern interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. His famous works: British Aggressions in Venezuela; or the Monroe Doctrine on Trial (1894), The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics (1900; 1905); Evolution of American Citizenship (1901); The Monroe Doctrine; Whence It Came, What It Is, and What It Is Not (1902).

Works

More photos

• book

  • Fallacies of the British "Blue Book" on the Venezuelan Question

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics: With Notes on Other Parts of Central and South America

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • British aggressions in Venezuela: or, The Monroe doctrine on trial

    (This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)

Politics

Politically Scruggs was a Unionist, reflecting the influence of his early environment, and he labored editorially for an intelligent reconstruction of the seceded states.

Personality

Scruggs was a well-read man and a good linguist, especially in Spanish. He bore a striking facial resemblance to Roscoe Conkling, but was tall and slender.

Connections

Scruggs married Judith Ann Potts of Stafford County, Virginia. His wife, by whom he had one son and four daughters, died in 1897.

Father:

Frederick Scruggs

Mother:

Margaret (Kimbrough) Scruggs

Spouse:

Judith Ann Potts

coworker:

Leonidas Livingston

References

• Who's Who in America 1910 - 1911 - Vol. VI: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States
• Scruggs Genealogy With a Brief History of the Allied Families Briscoe, Dial, Dunklin, Leake and Prin