Viola Scott Nichols
Ellen Viola Scott was born n Provo 24 January 1873 to Franklin Scott, Sr., and Sarah Ellender Stubbs, the second child of eleven children. She lived in Provo until she was eight years old, at which time her parents moved to Arizona (1881), and they lived there for four years.
When she was twelve, her family moved to Mexico for a short time. In 1885 she made a visit to Provo and lived there for four years before moving to Mexico again in 1889. Her family lived in Chihuahua until June 1893, when they moved to Sonora.
Husband Killed by Bear
Hyrum’s brother, George C. Naegle, wrote a letter to his brother and sister telling of the tragic event. “Nearly all winter some of us boys have gone to the valley about fifteen miles from here, west over the mountain on the Sonora side on the Sierra Madres to the ranch. There we would stay the week and return home on Saturday night. On account of being so busy and as father and some of the boys were over at the new purchase in Sonora we were usually there only one at a time to look out for the stock, and especially to save the calves and colts from the bears, mountain lions and big grey wolves, which have been very destructive this spring. Already over three hundred dollar worth have been lost. Brother Hyrum came home on Saturday night and said he had encountered a bear but did not get him.
One Tuesday we hunted in different directions and found several of our best calves gone. Then we decided to go together next day…and gather up all the cows and calves. As we came up North Creek driving a little bunch of cattle, Hyrum exclaimed, ‘There’s a bear.’ It was a monster, too. Instantly we jerked our guns and leaped to the ground…. As the brute was going along the bottom of the canyon, Hyrum put in the first shot and I the next both hitting him. In rapid succession we fired several shots and I think most of them struck the bear. As he climbed the hill on the opposite side, my third shot brought him rolling and bawling down the hill.
He only lay a second and gathering himself up he scrambled to the top of the hill and fell under and oak. Hyrum started after him, but having only three cartridges in my magazines in the haste and excitement of trying to put in more, unfortunately, the first one caught fast and I could neither force it in nor out until I got my pocket knife. By that time Hyrum was across the creek and climbing the hill and following the bear. The bear got over a little rise out of sight and was lying down, and he did not see him until within two rods, when the bear sprung up and after him. His gun would not go off. When the beast was nearly upon him he started backwards, still trying to pull the trigger, but it failed. The bear struck him with his left paw and then jumped on him. I chased the bear and fired four shots before killing the animal.
I could see his critical state, and knowing that God alone could help us in our lonely and helpless condition, I told Hyrum to exercise all the faith he had strength to do and I would again administer to him.” With the help of God, they managed to ride the fifteen miles to home. He was given the best of care, but he died two days later on June 24.
His brother George writes: “To endure such a ride in his condition was characteristic of his extraordinarily strong constitution. Not a groan or a sound did he make while the bear was upon him, and not one man in one hundred could have borne what he did without complaint. I desire to add our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for his tender mercy in bearing him to his home, wife and family. I tell them nothing but the power of God supporting him was he able to reach home.”
After this terrible ordeal Viola returned to Provo. She was sealed to her husband in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City 7 September 1892 with Joseph R. Naegle being proxy for Hyrum. She gave birth to a baby daughter on 14 February 1893 and at a special fast meeting just prior to the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple on 25 March 1893 she was given the name of Ellen Elva Naegle. Viola attended the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple and then returned to Mexico when her child was three months old and lived with her parents.
Viola with her second husband, Emesiah S. Nichols, with Ellen Elva Naegle and Alfred Hyrum Nichols.
Viola was married to Emesiah Sage Nichols on 17 May 1896 by her father, Bishop Franklin Scott, Sr., at Colonia Oaxaca, Sonora, Mexico. Viola was 22 years younger than her husband. He had been married to Martha Rebecca Hanson ad had five children and was later divorced. Viola and her new husband had eight children: Alfred Hyrum, Melvin Franklin, Lee Roy, Charles Weldon, Nina, Lola, Phoebe, and Anton William.
One of her daughters described her mother as a small woman, real long blonde hair which she used to braid or twist into a knot on top of her head. She had blue eyes and a pleasant smile and a rather prominent nose. She was quiet and demure and never lost her temper and never used a swear word. Her mother was a good seamstress and made all their clothes, was a good cook and manager. Whenever she sat down to rest, she was always knitting or crocheting something and made pretty throw rugs, both hooked and braided.
Viola’s daughter, Nina, wrote a history of her father and she describes him as having dark hair and blue eyes, over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and he had a nice smile. He always wore a mustache that was sandy red which he kept dyed when he was young. All his life he bred and raised fine horses and mules which he usually sold as teams.
Home Destroyed by Flood
Tragedy again struck Viola and her family in November 1905 when the Oaxaca flood washed their home away along with thirty others. Their first home was a one room adobe home, then a two room with a fireplace.
After the flood there was very little left and the farm land was gone. They had five rough years and then in 1910 they moved to Morales, about twenty-five miles down the river on a farm of 115 acres.
Due to the war in Mexico in 1912, they moved to Pomerene, Arizona, and lived in a two-story house with a lot and a small farm where they raised potatoes, corn, melons and alfalfa. Then they moved to Gilbert in the Salt River Valley in 1917. Emesiah started to buy 80 acres of land and had a well dug. He put in a small orchard and vineyard. The always had 20 to 30 mild cows and sold either the whole milk or cream. About this time there was a big slump in the market and they couldn’t make payments so they lost the place. Their son Alfred had just come home from the Navy and he rented a farm and the family lived on it. Emesiah was getting along in years so he didn’t try to farm any more and they just had cows to make a living.
Viola in later years
Viola was very active in the Church. She was a Sunday School teacher, counselor and later president in the Primary and Relief Society.
Tragedy Strikes Again
Viola was called as a regular temple worker in the Arizona Temple where she served faithfully. Four miles east of Mesa, while she was on her way to the temple on 10 October 1929 the car in which she was a passenger was hit broadside by another car and she died in the hospital of a fractured skull. She was 56 years old at the time of her death. Her son Lee Roy was planning to be married but the wedding plans turned into funeral preparations. Viola’s husband Emesiah lived ten years longer and died 1 August 1939.
Viola leaves a large posterity of faithful members of the Scott family: nine children and 57 grandchildren.
Editor’s note: This history has been compiled from several sources. It has been inspiring to learn more about this courageous woman who was such a good example to all of us. It was originally printed in The Andrew Hunter Scott Bulletin, Number 54, Summer-Autumn 1993.
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