Editing George Roby Dempster (section)

===Early life===
Dempster was born in 1887, the ninth child of [[Scottish people|Scottish]] immigrant John Dempster and Irish immigrant Ann Doherty.  John Dempster co-managed Scott, Dempster and Company, a [[gristmill]]ing firm that operated a mill on First Creek.  As a teenager, George Dempster travelled around the country working odd jobs for various companies, including the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]], the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad, and the [[Ward Line]] shipping company.  A railroad strike in 1903 left him briefly stranded in a [[hobo]] colony in [[Iowa]].<ref name=tumblin />  Dempster graduated from the Girls High School in Knoxville in 1906, having served as the school's class president.<ref name=deaderick />

After high school, Dempster worked as a [[steam shovel]] operator on the [[Panama Canal]] project, excavating the canal's [[Miraflores (Panama)|Miraflores]] and Pedro Miguel [[lock (water transport)|locks]].<ref name=tumblin />  During the project, Dempster nearly lost his life on several occasions when rock slides caused his steam shovel to flip over.  He also contracted [[typhoid fever]], and bickered with famed physician [[William C. Gorgas]] over the most effective treatment.<ref name=tumblin />  One of Dempster's earliest innovations was a device that allowed his shovel's dipper to mechanically empty its load.<ref name=tumblin />