America's Schoolmaster
by Richard L. Doyle
A woman's prayers, overheard in a lonely
forest, launched the career of one of America's foremost educators, William Holmes
McGuffey. While riding along a trail in 1818,
the Reverend Thomas Hughes, a prominent
pioneer, heard a woman praying that her
children might receive an education. As a
result of his investigation he arranged to have
her stepson, William McGuffey, attend the
Old Stone Academy in Darlington, Pa.
Though the family considered this episode a
miracle, in later years McGuffey himself used
to remark that his practical stepmother probably timed her prayer to be heard both by the
Almighty and his earthly representative.
Born on the Pennsylvania frontier in 1800,
McGuffey as a boy received only rudimentary
education. Even at the academy his home
duties prevented full-time attendance but he
memorized his lessons and recited them
aloud while at his chores.
After working his way through Washington College and teaching summers, McGuffey became a professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Here in 1833 he and his
wife moved into their new home (now owned
by Miami University) where the idea was born
for the readers which made his name a
household word. Here, with his own and
neighbors' children, he tested his theories of
education, often holding classes outdoors
with pupils seated on logs. His highly successful series of readers incorporating his
teaching methods proved far superior to earlier textbooks not only in their carefully
graded material but in the use of numerous
illustrations which appeared in later editions.
A striking figure in his black bombazine
suit and stovepipe hat, McGuffey was an unforgettable teacher and his readers had untold influence on the mental and moral development of generations of schoolchildren.
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