Scott County, Tennessee
Court House Records

This page was last updated 06 September 2008

The Scott County Courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1946 and it was thought many records were lost. Then in the late 1980's, records thought destroyed were found in the basement of the Scott Co courthouse.  Some exhibited water damage.   The Scott County Historical Society now has all of the old records in their possession and are attempting to restore.   Many of the less fragile original records can be viewed at the Society's archive building.  All of the records have been photographed and can be viewed at the the Tennessee State Library Archives.  Many can also be viewed at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, UT.   The current court clerk is ________ and can be reached at:

Scott County Court Clerk
Pat Phillips
P.O. Box 87
Huntsville, TN 37756
(423) 663-2588

(Vesta Phillips retires in Sep 1998 - see her story)

Be sure to see

Genealogical Research in Tennessee County Courthouses

for tips on conducting courthouse research

"Vesta Phillips plans retirement after 40 years in Clerk's office."

HUNTSVILLE, - Come September, after 40 years in the Scott County Clerk’s Office, Vesta Phillips will, step aside.

"I'm retiring because there's a lot of things I want to do," Phillips said Monday night as she reminisced about her 20 years as deputy clerk followed by her election to five consecutive terms to the office of County Clerk.

"I've worked for 44-1/2years," she said. "Before I came in as Lloyd Cross's chief deputy clerk (in 1959), I wasa school teacher. Not many people know that."

Phillips taught in one-room schools at Griffith (at the head of Brimstone) and Campground (in the Coal Hill area), before moving on to the "big" two- and three-room schools at Glenmary and West Robbins.

A native of Brimstone and graduate of Robbins High School (in 1948), Vesta got married the summer following graduation. Her husband was T.C. Phillips, whom she had known for years.

They had a happy life together and were the parents of two children, Diane and Steve. But T. C., a truck driver died of a heart ailment in 1972. She never remarried. "I never said I wouldn't . . . but I haven't," she said.

The duties of the office have kept her busy and working directly with the public has been a rewarding experience.

"I want the people of Scott County to know I'm thankful for their years." Phillips said. "And for the love and kindness shown to me during my career. This I will always cherish, in my heart. . . forever."

She says in one way she's sad about leaving and, in another, kind of glad. "I want to spend some time with my children -- my son and his, family here in Scott County and my daughter and her family in Ohio." she said.

Phillips said a lot has changed since she first came to work in the County Courthouse. . ."in this very office."

Years ago, the County Court Clerk, as it was called then, was responsible for a lot more than just keeping the minutes of the County Court, registering motor vehicles, issuing and recording permits.

"We also had Probate Court and Juvenile Court," Phillips said. "And there were just two of us in the office."

Forty years ago, there were about 4,000 to 5,000 vehicles that were registered in Scott County each year. "It was done in one month -in March- back then," Phillips said. Today, she says, more than 23,000 vehicles are registered each year.

Also back then, Phillip8 said, the Clerk's office issued drivers license.

But despite the decrease in the number of individual duties the County Clerk has to perform, the workload has increased tremendously, Phillips said. "Now I have four full-time people in the office besides myself . . . and I could use another!"

Despite her long, successful political career, Vesta Phillips still doesn't think of herself as a politician, despite the fact she won five consecutive elections.

"I had opposition the first time I ran (beating two men) and the last time. And that's it," she said.

But now it's time to retire.

"I'm ready... but it's kind of sad, too. I'm going to miss the office," she said.

(Source: Independent Herald, Vol. 22, No. 40, Thu, 26 Feb 1998, p1)

This page was created by Timothy N. West and is copyrighted by him. All rights reserved.