Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Correction!! Pennsylvania's Washington & Jefferson University Professor Alumni

I've had it wrong!

My family history is very close to accurate but with a couple of small mistakes. I had thought the musical genius in our family taught in West Virginia or Virginia, with his 8th grade education, but if someone checked records, he was never there...because...!

He taught in Pennsylvania.

I'm not a liar! I just don't have all of the minute details down perfectly yet. But I do trust my family is not composed of exaggerating braggarts because almost all of the verbal and written records turn out true. So I do actually believe that when I am told we are related to Lady Godifya (mother's side), it must be a fact, because no one seems to come up with strange connections out of the blue. And if my Grandma Dolores says a cousin cheated them out of a Sutton estate in England, by lying, I believe it.

So Pennsylvania is where, allegedly, "Papa" had a "second family" squirreled away somewhere. He was called "Papa" and not Grandpa or anything. And they pronounced it differently. It wasn't "Papa" (Paw-paw or Pah-pah)--they pronounced it "PA-pa" with the first "A" having the same sound as "A" in apple. Which is sort of different and I don't know where that came from.

So anyway, I do believe I must have some relatives I've never met in Pennsylvania.

The University he taught at was about 30 minutes from Pittsburg or so.

So this was Lebious Guy Garrett, the musical genius who taught strings/violin with just an 8th grade education because he was so immensely gifted. He also tuned pianos by ear, with perfect pitch, during The Depression, and played in Silent Movies (I think) with his sisters who all played in the orchestras.

He is my father's grandfather on his Dad's side, and my great-grandfather.

He's the one who married "a Howard", and that was Ruth Howard, who I always knew as "Nana". Her maiden name was Howard and she was educated as an English teacher, with a degree, I believe, in English Language & Literature. I think she taught high school and then her husband was a professor at the University.

Almost everyone on that side of my family has a gift for teaching. And most of the talent is in art, music, and literature.

Their children are my great-aunt and uncles and they all play piano proficiently, read music, and became teachers. I've already written about this and the rest is correct. I just had the University name wrong so I've made a correction here.

I always heard this "second family" was rumored to be in Pennsylvania and I always wondered why there, if they lived in W. Virginia or wherever. I thought maybe he went there to tune pianos or something, but now that I found out this is where he is alumni, it makes more sense.

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