In viewing the mass of mankind in the varied occupations of life, the conclusion is forced upon the observer that in the vast majority of cases men have sought employment not in the line of their peculiar fitness but in those fields where caprice or circumstances have placed them, thus explaining the reason of the failure of ninety-five per cent, of those who enter commercial and professional circles. In a few cases it seems that men with a peculiar fitness for a certain line have taken it up, and marked success has followed. Such is the fact in the case of the subject of this biography. Dr. Scott is one of the most capable physicians in his section of the state, and as proprietor of the Payette Valley Pharmacy, he has shown that he is endowed with that commercial instinct and foresight which enable one to enter into competitive business relations, and by the pursuit of honorable business methods gain prosperity.
A native of Kentucky, he was born in Brandenburg, May 6, 1854. His father. Captain William Scott, was born in the same state, and married Indiana Roberts. He was a steamboat pilot and was engaged as pilot on General Grant’s boat during the siege of Vicksburg. Although born and reared in the south, he strongly opposed the institution of slavery and advocated the cause of freedom. When the troubles between the two sections of the country precipitated the nation into civil war he took his stand as a stanch Union man and was an ardent admirer and supporter of President Lincoln. Captain Scott died in the forty-seventh year of his age, and his wife died at the age of forty-five. They left three sons, one a fruit-grower in Anaheim. California, the second a successful lawyer of Seattle, Washington, and the third the Doctor.
Dr. Scott acquired his early education in Kentucky and afterward attended school in Indiana, for the family, on account of their anti-slavery views, were obliged to leave Kentucky, and went to the Hoosier state. Determining to devote his energies to the practice of medicine, he fitted himself for the profession by a course in Rush Medical College, in Chicago, and was graduated in the class of 1883. He then practiced for a year in Nebraska, and from 1884 until 1890 engaged in practice in Los Angeles, California, whence he came to Idaho in the latter year, arriving just the day before the state was admitted to the Union. He opened an office in Payette, and at once began practice, meeting with excellent success from the beginning. As he has demonstrated his power to cope with disease and shown marked skill in the application of the principles of medical science to the needs of suffering humanity, he has gained a liberal patronage and has won rank among the leading physicians in this part of the state. In 1895 he opened the Payette Valley Pharmacy, which he con-ducted until the spring of 1899, when he sold the business.
In 1884 was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Scott and Miss F. M. Elwood, a native of New York. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, having been made a Master Mason in York Lodge, No. 56, A. F. & A. M., of York, Nebraska, in 1884. In the line of his profession he is associated with the American Academy of Railway Surgeons and with the Idaho State Medical Society. In politics he is a Republican, is an active worker in the local ranks of his party and has served as city trustee. His time, however, is principally given to his business affairs. De-voted to the noble and humane work which his profession implies. Dr. Scott has proved faithful, and has not only earned the due reward of his efforts in a temporal way, but has proved himself worthy to exercise the important functions of his calling, through his ability, his abiding sympathy and his earnest zeal in behalf of his fellow men. In manner he is most genial, courteous and friendly, and he is popular with all classes.