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| Swoger & Sons Upright Pianos, Pittsburgh |
On April 1, 1899, J. L Tiner made a deal with D. Griffin Gunn to swap his old piano for Mr. Gunn's new piano in their land deal. The new piano was worth $420.00. It was purchased from Swoger & Sons of Pittsburgh. On August 24, 1899, he received the piano at the depot in Sutherland Springs on the San Antonio Gulf Railroad. Mr. Gunn paid the freight cost of $12.40.
On December 2, Tiner's daughter, Mary Adele, played two pieces on the piano at the Melody Club's "entertainment" at the Messinger Hotel in Sutherland Springs. The admission was 10¢ and the money raised was to benefit the Christmas tree that was to be presented at the School house on Christmas night for the children of the Sabbath School at Sutherland Springs. Mr. Tiner said she played well for her age and that she played by ear and did not know the notes.
On November 4, 1899 Elnora bought music from Thomas Groggan, the "oldest music house in Texas" for $2.50.
On December 1, 1899, Miss Julia Pleasner, a music teacher from San Antonio, gave notice that she would not be teaching any more. She had been teaching for two months. I suppose this means that she had been teaching in Sutherland Springs for two months.
On December 19, 1899, Elnora herself began giving piano lessons to Miss S. E. Clifton at 75¢ a lesson.
On February 8, 1900, Mr. Tiner and his daughter, Elnora, went to San Antonio for a music lesson. They got into town at 3 o'clock, stopping at Mrs. Green's boarding house. Mr. Tiner gave the address as 213 N. Arden Grove at 9th Street. At 10 o'clock the next morning, Elnora took a lesson from Miss Julia Pleasner, whom Mr. Tiner described as a Norwegian lady. Actually she was from the nobility of Norway and related to the famous Norwegian pianist and composer, Edvard Grieg. Miss Pleasner goes on to marry former State Senator from Bexar County, Theodore Harris, in June of 1903.
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| Austin Statesman, June 21, 1903 |
They moved to the East Coast. The couple had a home in Providence, Rhode Island, a cotton plantation in Santo Domingo, and a summer home in Putnam Heights, Connecticut. Elnora's lesson cost $1. Here's a photo of Miss Julia Pleasner Harris from her passport to Santo Domingo in 1917.
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| Julia Harris passport and photo November 1917 |
Isn't it amazing to think of Norweigan nobility giving piano lessons in Sutherland Springs in 1898? I wonder if any family members know what happened to the Swogers & Sons upright piano.
Update: It looks like those piano lessons for Elnora paid off. I found this newspaper article:
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