LEDGER COLUMNIST

A milk bottle has sent me on a fishing expedition to find another Scott Powell walking around the planet.

As if the world needed another one.

Gaffney High Principal Marlene Davis was looking at antiques in May when she found a milk bottle from Scott Powell Dairies in Philadelphia. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised when Davis graciously presented me with the milk bottle shortly after school started.

I did what any amateur sleuth does these days when confronted with the unknown. I googled the dairy on the Internet.

During my online search, I was taken to a Web site about the Scott- Powell Dairies. The site was put together by a guy in Ontario, Canada, who collects the milk bottles and other memorabilia from the dairy.

His name is also Scott Powell.

I sent him an e-mail and received permission to use the little history on the dairy posted on his Web site.

I learned the dairy began in 1875. It originally began as the John W. Scott Dairies at 45th and Parrish Streets in Philadelphia. The company later became Scott-Powell Dairies at the same location.

Products included Dolly Madison and Aristocrat Ice Cream. Dairy branches included Darby, 23rd and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Stenton Park, Chester and Ardmore in Pennsylvania and Gloucestor, N.J.

The dairy is no longer in operation. The large number of branches indicates Scott-Powell Dairies was a major milk producer in the area at one time.

No information was immediately available about the Powell side of the dairy operation.

My namesake in Canada did pass on this trivia.

"One interesting tidbit I found amusing was the delivery men didn't like or care for the advent of the delivery truck. They much preferred the horse drawn delivery wagons," wrote Scott Powell in his e-mail to me. "It seems the horse would learn the route and learn when to start and when to stop at each delivery stop. The delivery men would just be along for the walk. The trucks meant they had to move the truck to each stop."

Scott reported the same problem I have had in dating these milk bottles.

Based on the numbers I can make out, it appears the milk bottle I have was manufactured in 1935 or 1945.

A date is just one of many questions I have about this milk bottle. It would be interesting to find out why there is a dairy in Pennsylvania with my name on it. Who are these Powells, anyway?

My cousin in Philadelphia, who works in a library, put me onto a few Web sites. A brief search found little of substance about the dairy.

The Philadelphia Historical Society would gladly offer paid research services to help track down history on Scott-Powell Dairies. While the idea is tempting, I think another road trip is in order next spring to research the dairy on my own.

There are several other Scott Powells walking around out there.

An Eagle Scout, I found it amusing to find a 2004 feature article about a Scott Powell that was a scoutmaster in Anchorage, Alaska. The article dealt with his recent retirement from running a scout camp for 30 years. Ironically, the camp was leased for a $1 a year from a dairy owner.

I have found similar links to people sharing my name who sell life insurance and work as an attorney. A Scott Powell is listed as a gaffer in the ending credits for the original "Caddyshack" movie.

I am not sure if any of these Scotts are related to me. My genealogy research has concentrated over the years on immediate family living in Indiana, Oklahoma and California.

The discovery of Scott-Powell Dairies suggests there might be a possible family link to Pennsylvania and Canada. If there is a link, it would not surprise me.

A researcher in the Cherokee County Museum told me recently, "All men and women can be traced in some form to the seven descendants of Eve."

I wonder how the milk from the Scott-Powell Dairies would taste today.

Got milk?