McGuffey descendants to donate letters

Three letters from the 1850s will be added to the McGuffey archives.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
HUBBARD -- Sisters Shirley Eckley of Hubbard and Janet Hamaker of Austintown have some very old letters they plan to give to the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society.
They have a special interest in seeing that the documents are preserved: Anna McGuffey Harris, sister of William Holmes McGuffey, was their great-great-grandmother.
McGuffey, regarded as the "Schoolmaster to America" for his McGuffey "Eclectic Readers" published in the 1800s, grew up in nearby Coitsville Township. He went on to become an educator of note and an ordained minister, as well authoring the readers, which once were commonplace educational tools in America's schools.
"Mother was very big about us knowing our relationship with the McGuffey family," Eckley said, adding that she and her sister have always known about the local McGuffey Historical Society but never joined until now.
"I felt like a minor celebrity in school," Eckley said, explaining that when the McGuffey Reader was discussed in class, she always acknowledged that she was related to the famed author.
Hamaker, the older sister and admittedly the less talkative one, said she didn't discuss her familial connection in school. "No one really knew that I was related to him," she recalled.
Related on maternal side
The sisters, both retired, are the daughters of the late William Johnson Patterson and Sallie Harris Patterson. The McGuffey connection is on their maternal side. They grew up on Youngstown's South Side and both graduated from South High School.
The society, the last existing one, now has 10 McGuffey descendants among its members.
Eckley said she recently read a newspaper article about McGuffey and decided it was time to join.
She contacted Richard S. Scarsella, the society president, and advised him that she and her sister had some old family letters they wanted to donate to the McGuffey archives.
The documents include an 1856 letter from Erastus Poe Harris -- Anna McGuffey Harris' son who went to live with his uncle William Holmes McGuffey at the University of Virginia -- to Theodore Calvin Harris, his brother and Eckley's and Hamaker's great-grandfather.
McGuffey saw to Erastus' education and the young man grew up to become a doctor. The letter details his attendance in class and other matters during his education at Virginia.
The other two letters, dated 1851 and 1852, were written by Hamilton Harris, another of Anna McGuffey Harris' sons, to a nephew and discuss various family matters.
Eckley, a retired Hubbard elementary teacher, said she was struck by how beautifully they wrote -- both in the penmanship and the flow of their words.
Hamaker said she is excited about joining the society.
"I would love to go back and find all the people who were related to mom and dad," she said.
Eckley, who describes herself as a history buff, said they're just completing a family genealogy and she finds the work exciting.
She's especially excited about becoming acquainted the other McGuffey descendants who are members of the society.
They're like an extended family, Eckley said, adding, "I'm hoping to get to meet them all."
gwin@vindy.com