William Scott Dilworth was the son of William Dilworth and Elizabeth Scott, a sister of James Scott.  The Dilworth family originally came from England and this branch settled at St. Mary’s, Georgia, soon after the Revolutionary War. 

 

William Dilworth moved to Quincy where he died leaving his widow with three sons and one daughter.  James Scott had settled in Jefferson County and married Margaret Bailey, sister of General William Bailey. 

 

After her husband’s death, Elizabeth with her four children joined the new settlers where she could receive the aid and assistance of her brother and the children’s uncle. 

 

Dilworth was married to Cornelia Gaulden of Quitman, Georgia, and they had three children: Elizabeth, Laura and Charlie.  He built the handsome home in Monticello which they occupied in winter and lived at their plantation home between Lloyd and Monticello in the summer. 

 

Dilworth joined the Confederate Army in response to a call for two additional regiments to defend the coast of Florida.  He enlisted in the 3rd Florida Infantry and rose to the rank of colonel in the Civil War and, at one point, was the commanding officer of all the Confederate troops in the District of Middle and East Florida. 

 

Dilworth was headquartered in Fernandina, but the companies were detached along the coast toward New Smyrna.  Resuming his law practice after the war, he insisted upon upholding of the civil rights of the Black Freedmen which was not the usual practice in the South at this point in history.