Occupation violin teacher Name Scott Willits | Died 2005 | |
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Born March 26, 1895 ( 1895-03-26 ) Spouse(s) Elizabeth Blanch Britton
Rose Margaret Barthel (1948 Death) Relatives Nan Britton (sister-in-law)
Elizabeth Ann Blaesing (niece-in-law) | ||
Scott Allison Willits (March 26, 1895 – October 1973) was a prominent violin teacher with the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, Illinois, who coached many members of Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1940 through 1973. He was a student and "first American Representative" of Otakar Ševčík who created a leading pedagogical method for teaching violin that is still widely used today.
On November 21, 1917, Willits married Elizabeth Blanch Britton, who was the sister of Nan Britton and aunt of Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, the illegitimate daughter of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. In 1921, Willits and his wife adopted Blaesing. At that time the Willitses were living in Athens, Ohio, and were both teaching music at Ohio University. They raised Elizabeth Ann until her mother once again took custody five years later. The Willits' role as adoptive parents was documented in The Strange Deaths of President Harding. Willits, in recounting how he became guardian for Britton, told a student that he was summoned to the White House by President Harding. When asked how he reacted to the request Willits replied, "When the President of the United States asks for your help, you don't say 'no'."
In 2015, the New York Times reported that genetic testing by AncestryDNA, a division of Ancestry.com, confirmed Harding was Blaesing's biological father.