William Holmes McGuffey
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He was born in Washington
County, Pennsylvania.
In 1802, McGuffey's family moved to Tuscarawas
County, Ohio. He attended country school, and after receiving special
instruction at Youngstown,
he attended Old Stone Academy. Afterwards, he attended and graduated from Washington
College in Pennsylvania, where he became an instructor.
He left Washington College in 1826
to become a professor at Miami
University in Oxford,
Ohio. A year later in 1827,
he was married to Harriet Spinning of Dayton,
Ohio, with whom he had five children. In 1829,
he was ordained at Bethel Chapel as a minister in the Presbyterian
Church. It was in Oxford that he created the most important contribution
of his life: The McGuffey Readers. His books sold over 122 million
copies. He was very fond of teaching and children as he geared the books
toward a younger audience.
In 1836, he
left Miami to become president of Cincinnati
College, where he also served as a distinguished teacher and lecturer. He
left Cincinnati in 1839
to become President of Ohio
University, which he left in 1843
to become president of Woodward
College in Cincinnati.
In 1845,
McGuffey moved to Charlottesville,
Virginia where he became Professor of Philosophy at the University
of Virginia. A year after his first wife Harriet died in 1850,
he married Miss Laura Howard, daughter of Dean Howard of the University of
Virginia, in 1851.
McGuffey is buried at university burying ground, in Charlottesville,
Virginia. The School of Education at Miami
University is named for him and his home in Oxford is a National
Historic Landmark offering tours on weekdays.
McGuffey is credited with the following quote:
-
"The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it
are derived our notions on character of God, on the great moral Governor
of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our
free institutions. From no source has the author drawn more conspicuously
than from the sacred Scriptures. From all these extracts from the Bible I
make no apology."
The McGuffey
School District, located in southwestern Pennsylvania, is named for
William Holmes McGuffey
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