Scott Allison Willits (March 26, 1895 – October 1973) was an American violin teacher with the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservato ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, who coached many members of the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

from 1940 through 1973. He was a student and "first American Representative" of

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a soloist and an ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. Biography Ševčík was born in Horaž ...

who created a leading

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...

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 Nanna Popham Britton (November 9, 1896 – March 21, 1991) was an American secretary who was a mistress of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. In 1927, she revealed that her daughter, Elizabeth, had been fathered by Hard ...

and aunt of

Elizabeth Ann Blaesing Elizabeth Ann Britton Harding Blaesing (October 22, 1919 – November 17, 2005) was the daughter of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, and his mistress, Nan Britton. Harding and Britton, who both lived in Marion, Ohio, ...

, the

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

daughter of

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

, the 29th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. 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 The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reported that genetic testing by AncestryDNA, a division of

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

, confirmed Harding was Blaesing's biological father.

References

Sources

* ''DNA Is Said to Solve a Mystery of Warren Harding’s Love Life.'' Baker, Peter. The Washington Post, Washington, DC, August 15, 2015. * ''Troubled Presidency's Scandalous Footnote.'' Rasmussen, Cecilia. The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, July 18, 2004 * Associated Press Wire Service. ''Secret Kept for Twenty Years: California Woman Says She is Daughter of Harding''. Tri-City Herald, Pasco, Washington, p. 15, July 17, 1964. * Dean, John; Schlesinger, Arthur M. ''Warren Harding'' (The American President Series), Times Books, 2004. * Ferrell, Robert H. ''The Strange Deaths of President Harding''. University of Missouri Press, 1996. * Mee, Charles Jr. ''The Ohio Gang: The World of Warren G. Harding: A Historical Entertainment'' M. Evans & Company, 1983. * ''Presidential mystery stays unsolved.'' Sloat, Bill. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, May 31, 2006. * Peter Marsh Biography. ''USC Thornton School of Music: Faculty Profiles'' http://www.usc.edu/schools/music/private/faculty/pmarsh.php * Private Interview with former students, Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Covey, 1970 {{DEFAULTSORT:Willetts, Scott 1895 births 1973 deaths Warren G. Harding Musicians from Chicago 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians American male violinists Violin pedagogues Ohio University faculty American Conservatory of Music faculty