Biography:Sarah Armstrong: Difference between revisions
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'''SARAH ARMSTRONG.''' | '''SARAH ARMSTRONG.''' Sarah Elizabeth Gray was born in 1883 in Gray Station, Derry, Derry, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the eldest child (. She grew up in a musical family descended from Ulster-Irish immigrants; her grandfather was a fiddler, and hs sons Charley (Sarah's father), Laney, Abe, Joss and Dan were all musicians who played a variety of instruments and were accustomed to playing for dances. The extended Gray family also boasted of musical members; her first cousins (Gray) also had a family band. Sarah began learning fiddle at the age of five, mentored in particular by her uncle Laney, who was the most accomplished fiddler in the family. However, Sarah's family band (The Gray Boys) broke up around 1910 when Laney moved to the far Western United States, although individual members still played for dances in the area. Menton of the extended Gray family music making can be found in Eleanor Thomas's book '''Community Express''', in her section on Gray Station. She recalled: “Dances were held at the Grays. Lena Gray would play the piano, or organ, and Davie would play the fiddle. What good times they were! Dance until early morning.” [Davis Gray (1847-1923) and his daughter, Lena, born in 1879. Davis was a son of Israel Gray, Sarah’s grandfather] <ref>John Matviya, "Tunes of Gray: Derry’s Own Sarah Gray Armstrong and the Gray Boys" [https://laurelmountainpost.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/tunes-of-gray-derrys-own-sarah-gray-armstrong-and-the-gray-boys/]</ref><br> | ||
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Revision as of 05:37, 20 October 2018
SARAH ARMSTRONG. Sarah Elizabeth Gray was born in 1883 in Gray Station, Derry, Derry, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the eldest child (. She grew up in a musical family descended from Ulster-Irish immigrants; her grandfather was a fiddler, and hs sons Charley (Sarah's father), Laney, Abe, Joss and Dan were all musicians who played a variety of instruments and were accustomed to playing for dances. The extended Gray family also boasted of musical members; her first cousins (Gray) also had a family band. Sarah began learning fiddle at the age of five, mentored in particular by her uncle Laney, who was the most accomplished fiddler in the family. However, Sarah's family band (The Gray Boys) broke up around 1910 when Laney moved to the far Western United States, although individual members still played for dances in the area. Menton of the extended Gray family music making can be found in Eleanor Thomas's book Community Express, in her section on Gray Station. She recalled: “Dances were held at the Grays. Lena Gray would play the piano, or organ, and Davie would play the fiddle. What good times they were! Dance until early morning.” [Davis Gray (1847-1923) and his daughter, Lena, born in 1879. Davis was a son of Israel Gray, Sarah’s grandfather] [1]