Early park commissioner was nephew of William McGuffey

YOUNGSTOWN -- Members of the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society presented a report this week to Mill Creek MetroParks commissioners regarding some park history.
Dan and Ruth Smith of Poland and Richard S. Scarsella, society president, gave the report about Hamilton Harris' service on the park board.
Harris, a Youngstown businessman and philanthropist, served on the first board of park commissioners from August 1896 to 1917. He served with Volney Rogers, one of the forces in the development of the park.
Harris and Henry Tod, another board member, worked on many of the administrative details of developing the park.
Harris, who died in 1928, was a son of Anna McGuffey Harris, sister of William Holmes McGuffey. McGuffey is known for the publication of the Eclectic Readers, first published in 1836, and is known as America's schoolmaster.
Dan Smith is a great-grandson of Hamilton Harris and a great-great-grandnephew of William Holmes McGuffey.
The William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society donated the McGuffey homestead to Mill Creek MetroParks in 1998. The 78-acre tract of land on McGuffey Road, called the McGuffey Wildlife Preserve, is listed as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Park Service, Department of the Interior.