Georgetta
Burbridge Hughes

Born in 1868 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She received her teaching training at Pittsburgh Central High School. She was scheduled to complete her studies in the 1883-1884 term. In Fauquier, she was certified to teach through grade 3. Her son and fourth child, John Henry Hughes was born, 1891, in Morgantown. Her husband, Wormley Hughes, served as Mt. Nebo’s pastor. Oral history indicates that while teaching, her new baby boy was cared for by Lillie Grigsby Ford, the sister of teacher Peter Grigsby. Georgetta also taught in Orlean and Delaplane in Fauquier Co., Warren, and Prince William Counties; she died, May 15, 1921, in Ashville at the home of her son, John Henry Hughes. In an oral history interview, her granddaughter, Louise Smith Thompson, noted that her grandmother completed the school term in Front Royal. When she arrived back home to Ashville for the summer, she collapsed at the gate as she entered the front yard. She died within 48 hours of completing her teaching responsibilities.



She is buried in a family cemetery in the Sage Community of Delaplane. Louise also noted that her grandmother was a disciplinarian and expected her grandchildren to maintain proper behaviors at all times – even sitting erect during dinner. Four of Georgetta’s great-grandchildren attended the Morgantown School and today four generations of her direct descendants still call Morgantown home.