Job Scott

Job Scott (October 18, 1751 in Providence, Rhode Island – November 22, 1793 in Ballitore, Ireland) was an eminent traveling minister in the Religious Society of Friends and a prominent American quietist. His religious philosophy had a deep, shaping influence that contributed to the first schism in American Quakerism, the 1827 Hicksite-Orthodox split. Biography Scott's parents were John and Lydia Scott. As a young man he indulged in 'music, gaming and pleasure' but at the age of 19, by 'illumination and openings of divine light in my mind' he became a devout Christian, finding unity of sentiment and principle among the Society of Friends. He attended Smithfield Meeting House. In 1773, Scott boarded at Elmgrove, the home of Moses Brown, the co-founder of Brown University. Scott taught school in the Quaker meeting house in Providence and tutored Brown's children. Through Scott's friendship and example, Moses Brown became a Quaker in 1774. Scott moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, during the American Revolution and became a recognized traveling minister, sponsored in his work by Brown. He traveled widely from Vermont to Georgia in his ministry and visited the Nicholite communities, the 'New Quakers', in Maryland and North Carolina in 1789 and 1790.