George grew up in the East Mill Creek area of Salt Lake City and learned the blacksmith trade from his father, George Lawson Scott. When he was 24 he married Lydia Honeysett, and in 1896 they had their first child, George Milton Scott, who they called Milton. The little family moved to Iona, Idaho, and on October 9, 1898, Lydia gave birth to a little girl, Lydia Harriet. It was a terrible shock to George when both Lydia and the baby died. He was unable to take care of Milton by himself, so he enlisted the help of his mother, Josephine. She took little Milton into her home and cared for him. Perhaps it was at this time that George took up drinking a little whiskey now and then. He had many friends in the area, was well liked, and did fine work.

In October, 1899, he married Sarah Wilkinson Miles. Sarah's daughter, Lydia Scott Hess, many years later confided in me the story that went along with this marriage. Seems Grandpa (George) was at a loss as to what to do, because he wanted to have his little son, Milton, with him, but couldn't see how he could manage that. It was breaking his heart. So his church Bishop invited him to sit up front of the congregation one Sunday, look over the audience, pick out a woman he would like to wed, and he would see to it that the deed was done. He scanned the likely prospects, picked out Sarah, and on October 19, 1899, they were married. I don't know how Grandma felt about that, but she took on the job and stuck with it until "death did them part".

They were living in Peterson, Morgan county, Utah, when their first child, Sylvester Charles, was born August 14, 1900. He was a handsome baby, with black hair and brown eyes. William Douglas, born July 3, 1903, was a complete reverse of Sylvester (they called him "Ves"), having RED hair and blue eyes. Sometimes Milton would be able to stay with them, and Ves dearly loved his older brother, but Grandma Josephine pretty much raised him. Lee Lawson came along on Februay 5, 1906, and then the first little girl, Sarah Lydia on March 7, 1909 was born at St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake. The next year, little William sickened and died. The family was devastated.

About 1913 George moved his family to Tremonton, where he worked for Bob Burge in his blacksmith shop. But Sylvester said he had too many friends who liked to drink with him, and it was becoming a real problem. He would sometimes be quite mean, and he didn't hesitate to thrash him over the least small thing. His son, Lee, said: "Then we moved to Black Pine, Idaho. Dad wanted to quit drinking, that was about the time prohibition came into law. I must have been about 9 years old. Dad sent a load of cedar posts to Tremonton (Utah) with Bob Young and Sylvester to get all the whiskey it would buy. Bob and Sylvester didn't come back for several days and when they did, there wasn't a drink of whiskey left. Was there ever one mad Scotchman! Dad finally broke the habit and I never heard of him taking a drink again."

George and Sarah homesteaded 320 acres at Black Pine, Idaho, but it was a discouraging venture. This was a valley on the east side of the Black Pine Mountains, and it was covered with a growth of juniper trees (or cedar trees). These do not grow straight and tall like pine trees, but are compact and grow very crooked branches. Lydia writes: "Father got enough logs to build a two-room log cabin with dirt roof and floor. We had not lived here long when Sylvester left home." George also built a large bowery with two sides closed in to break the wind. This was where he set up his blacksmith shop.

For a while George was "presiding elder" over the small group of people living there, until most of the people decided it was too difficult to make a living there, and they moved away. It was seven miles for them to haul water, and it cost five cents a barrel. George cut cedar posts for a living, getting five cents for each top-grade post. Lee writes: "We had a nice fat pig ready to kill for our winter meat. I built a fire and got the water hot to scald the pig. Dad went up to the pen to kill the pig, and there laid the pig dead, so he had no meat that winter. One winter, we didn't have a bite in the house to eat. In family prayer that morning, Dad asked the Lord to provide for his family with enough groceries until the weather broke. Along about noon that day, a fellow came in there and said, 'Yesterday I slaughtered a pig. When I was cutting it up I though about you folks, and I thought maybe you would like a piece of it'. He brought half a pig. A while later, another fellow came and brought two or three sacks of flour, and another fellow brought some spuds (potatoes). This went on all day, until, when the day was over, we had enough to get by quite well."

In 1922, George and Sarah gave up trying to farm their land in Black Pine. George bought two lots in Holbrook, Idaho, along with a blacksmith shop. He set up a cot in the corner of the shop and worked at getting a two-room house moved onto a lot so his family could move in. "They must have made an impressive entrance with their two wagons loaded with household belongings, the family cat and dog, and the ever-necessary outhouse in tow." (From the Holbrook and Surrounding Areas History Book)

Both George and Sarah loved flowers, and they kept a front yard full to enjoy and share with others. Even though my Dad Sylvester, left at a young age, he had learned from them to love flowers, too, and we always had a yard full. George did blacksmith work for farmers from Arbon to Snowville, Utah and from Black Pine to Malad, Idaho. He loved his work and the town children loved to stand in the doorway and watch him work. He was always fair, and during the hard times, did his blacksmith work for half price.

Later on, he began having some heart trouble, and he was working as janitor at the school and at the church. While tending the furnace at the church on November 2, 1931, he died. He is buried in the Holbrook, Idaho cemetery.