Scales, Frank
Item
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Title
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Scales, Frank
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Alias
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Seales, Frank
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Gender
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Male
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Biography
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Frank Scales was probably born in enslavement, and likely in Boone County (Ky.)
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Frank's first wife was a woman named Patsy, with whom he had several children. Though the 1880 census shows them as married, they lived on two separate properties. Frank was a farm laborer near Big Bone, while Patsy was a domestic servant near Walton. They separated soon after.
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Frank married Mariah Utz, a woman thirty years his junior. They lived in Burlington in 1900, and appeared on the census with nine children. Articles in the newspaper indicate that the Scales children regularly got into trouble. Several of the children were accused of beating a neighbor’s child. Since all involved were under 10 years old the consequences were left to the parents. The incident was reported in the newspaper, with a comment insinuating the Scales children were known for their behavioral problems.
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Frank and Mariah’s children continued to have trouble as adults. Two of the sons, Ed and Noah Scales, had run-ins with the law. Ed was once jailed for assault and Noah for murder, though in Noah’s case it may have been self-defense. Instability in their childhood and generational trauma may have contributed to their ongoing troubles.
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When his son William was jailed in 1885, Frank, who lived in Burlington, paid him a visit. Though William was only twenty years old at the time, he had not seen his father in many years. Newspaper reports indicated that Frank was not inclined to claim William as his son at first, but the visit to the jail seemed to confirm the relationship.
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Just before he was lynched, William accused his father of committing the alleged crime, but as Frank did not live on or near the farm where the alleged crime was committed and William did, he was not believed.
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Birth date
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Jul 1833
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Life event(s)
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Marriage 1: date and location unknown
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Marriage 2: 30 Jun 1883; Dearborn County (Ind.)
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Dearborn County (Ind.)
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Child(ren)
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Scales, William N.
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Scales, Ida
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Scales, Annie
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Scales, Amie
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Scales, George
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Scales, Noah
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Scales, Lizzie
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Scales, Eddie
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Scales, Rose A.
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Scales, Franklin
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Scales, Wallace
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Scales, Alice
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Scales, Grace L.
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Death date
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between 1905 and 1920
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Occupation(s)
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Farm laborer (1870)
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Farm hand (1880)
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Day laborer (1900)
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Employed by
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Huffman, William (1870)
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Baker, Steward (1880)
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Baker, Steward
