Donnell Everett Scott was born on March 3, 1887, in Graham, North Carolina. Scott was drafted into federal service from the national guard in August 1917 as a major for service during the First World War. He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant colonel (September 1918) and colonel (February 1919). His entire war service was spent with the 120th Infantry, and he saw combat at Ypres-Lys and the Meuse-Argonne. After serving overseas for close to a year, Scott returned stateside in April 1919 and received an honorable discharge in June. In July 1920, Scott (who was at that time commanding officer of the 1st Infantry, North Carolina National Guard) was witness to, and took an active role in putting down, an attempted lynching in his hometown of Graham, North Carolina. He died in Burlington on February 10, 1955.