The 1880 census records Duncan Scott as a barber in Savannah. The 1910 census records his son Walter Sanford Scott as a bookkeeper at a bank at 311 Duffy Street. The 1920 census records Walter at 540 Taylor Street — now Bank President.
Walter Sanford Scott ran the Wage Earners Savings Bank — the financial institution that W.E.B. Du Bois held up as a model of Black economic self-sufficiency. The New Georgia Encyclopedia describes him in three words. Local Black millionaire.
He was the son of a barber. He built one of the most significant Black financial institutions in the American South. He lived at 540 Taylor Street — a beautiful Victorian-era home that is still standing today.
No comprehensive biography of Walter Sanford Scott has ever been written. His house stands unmarked. The 1950 census confirms his widow still living there after his death. Four census records document his life at confirmed Savannah addresses.
| Name | Scott |
| Relation | Head |
| Occupation | Bank President |
| Address | 540 Taylor Street |
| Enumerated | January 8-9, 1920 |