Bond was a shrewd businessman and branched out from farming to retail. Bond initially bought a store with his stepfather and another man, but the store closed after several months. He eventually purchased the Madison Mercantile Company on his own and used the store as his personal farm supply.
He bought four more town lots, and eventually owned a sawmill, five cotton gins, and a gravel pit. The gravel pit supplied the Rock Island Railroad.
Bond also reported to work at a brick supplier and learned the trade in order to open his own brick company. Three of Bond’s sons, Waverly, Theophilus, and Ulysses, joined their father in his business.
Bond also donated land as a cemetery for blacks, so that blacks could be buried for free. When Bond passed away in March 1933 at the age of eighty-one, he owned 12,000 acres and the above businesses. Reportedly, he was still working at the time of his death in 1933 and was killed by one of his bulls.
The Scott Bond photograph collection, 1893-1917 (UALR.PH.0073) is available for researchers at the Center.
