Lee Scott’s obituary states he was born 2 August 1822 in St. John, St. John County, New Brunswick, Canada.  There are multiple Ancestry.com family trees connecting Lee Scott with parents Walter C. Robert Scott Esq and Elizabeth Lee and grandparents Robert Scott Esq and Mary Merrill.  Nice, but where is the source material that establishes or refutes this lineage?

The confirming evidence is hardly a perfect fit.  There are three pieces of information that tied together create a reasonable inference between Lee Scott and his parents, plus one solid confirmation  that connects Lee’s parents to his grandparents.  The following provides positive evidence for Lee Scott’s lineage as noted above – 

1. The name Lee matches Elizabeth Lee’s surname
2. Out of Lee and Charlotte Scott’s nine children six had names from the Lee Scott’s childhood family documented with Walter C. Robert Scott and Elizabeth Lee as follows –
   1. Emeline (Emeline was Lee’s older sister’s name per 1851 Canadian Census)
   2. William Clarence (William was Lee’s first name per 1851 Canadian Census)
   3. Cordelia Eliza (Eliza was Lee’s mother’s nickname for Elizabeth per Pioneer Cemetery gravestone)
   4. Alice Julia (Alice was Lee’s younger sister’s middle name per Pioneer Cemetery gravestone)
   5. Walter Edward Lee (Walter was Lee’s father first name, Edward was Lee’s younger brother’s first name per Pioneer Cemetery gravestone)
   6. Barzillai Ansley Scott (Barzillai Ansley was Robert Scott’s daughter Mary Scott’s husband’s name)

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3. William Lee Scott (26), son of Robert Scott Esq and Elizabeth Scott is listed in the 1851 Canadian Census in Salsibury, New Brunswick, Canada.  There are no other possible matches for Lee Scott in New Brunswick, even broadening search for age and name variants

4. And, connecting Lee’s parents and grandparents is a grave site in Pioneer Cemetery, Salisbury Back Rd, Salisbury, New Brunswick where three Scott generations’ grave stones are located together.

Nonetheless, with any good genealogical proof comes with contrary evidence –

1. Lee’s brother Edward C. Scott, buried with his father and mother, is not on the 1851 Canadian Census with the other family members
2. All Lee Scott’s U.S. records document Lee Scott, not William Lee Scott as in the 1851 Canadian Census
3. William Lee Scott’s age is 26 in the 1851 Canadian Census, which would make his birth year 1825, not 1822 as stated in his obituary.  However, in Lee Scott’s U.S. Naturalization application records his birth year in 1825, along with the following three U.S. Censuses (1860, 1870, 1880), so likely just a mistake in his obituary
4. In addition, there are no vital records such as birth, marriage and death certificates.  Likely these missing records are due to the dates Canada and the U.S. states began requiring these documents.

So maybe rank this information as a strong positive hypothesis versus a genealogical proof??  The good news is that New Brunswick has some local offline documents that may provide genealogical proof, and there are plenty of Scott cousins that may have family records from  Lee Scott and his parents.   Time to travel to New Brunswick!  Time to meet Scott cousins!