Joseph James Scott was born in Oberlin, Ohio, circa 1861. Scott was a man of considerable means and wealth. The Ohio native may have arrived in the Goldsboro area around 1885 when, according to advertisements in the Goldsboro Messenger, he opened a business specializing in house moving—the literal moving of houses. Scott died in Goldsboro on June 25, 1933. His will and probate records indicate that he was a prolific property owner.