It was certainly no secret in our family that "Pappy" (Ralph GARNER) had been conceived out of marriage by his folks.
So the story goes like this:
When Cora GROFF found out she was pregnant in the early spring of 1906, she told the father of said pregnancy Ben GARNER. His response was to take off for Ohio to hide with Mennonite or Amish cousins there. Cora complained to her parents, who complained to Ben's parents. Ben's father (and possibly brothers) went to the cousin's home in Ohio and drug Ben back despite his protests and made him marry Cora. Remember they were both minors and Ben admitted that the baby was his.
Notice on the below marriage license that both fathers had to give permission for the wedding to take place.
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| Source: my personal collection |
While I never personally witnessed any unkindness toward my grandfather due to the hoopla of his conception and birth, from comments made in my hearing, it must have been quite the scandal at the time. Apparently it took my gr-grandfather several years to get over his snit at being forced to marry Cora, although as years went on that changed.
Ralph's early education suffered due to being shuffled around to different relatives and while in the 1910 census he is living with his parents, by the 1920 census he is living with his maternal grandparents.
My mom remembered her mom (with her 10th grade education) working with Pappy from the daily newspaper and family Bible to teach him to read. I remember Pappy reading the Lancaster paper daily when I was around.
As an adult, Pappy told me that he only completed the second grade.
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