The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-09-30
him to his aunt'S

Miami tradition tells that he rode into Oxford
with his little brother Alexander with his per-
sonal copies of Livy, Horace, Memorabilia and
the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible in his
saddle bags.
Soon after coming to Oxford he met Harriet
Spinning, daughter of Judge Isaac Spinning of Day.
ton, who was visiting her uncle in Oxford They
became engaged and were married April 3, 1927.
In 1923 Professor McGuffey built as their
home the house that still stands in the shadow
of the campus. In this home three children,
Mary Henrietta and Charles, were born.
While at Miami, McGuffey wrote the first and
second of the graded set of readers. The third
and fourth readers written later at Gin
cinnati. His brother, Alexander, as he grew to
manhood became an attorney in Cincinnati He
aided Professor McGuffey in the revision of the
readers and collected much of the material for
the fifth and sixth readers.
After some time at Miami, Professor McGuf-
fey, whose interest lay in the field of literature
and philosophy, rendered professorship Of
mental philosophy. He carried on theological
studies privately and on March &c. 1922 he re-
ceived his ordination into the ministry of the
Presbyterian church, with the degree of doctor
of divinity. He never held a regular charge
but filled many pulpits Sundays.
McGuffey recognized the dearth of reading
material in the common schools of the time
He had keen literary sense and was able to
select much that appealed to young minds 1t
was this selection of lessons from wide range
of authors that caused him to name the readers
McGuffey Eclectic Readers.
The first reader was issued in 1885, the Sec
ond in 1887. and the third and fourth in 1885,
The qualities that made the readers so pop
ular are the basic principles of life, honesty,
justice and truth behind the lessons. In find
ing application of moral principles he selected
the best in British and American literature.
He takes in every phase of life with the
home the foundation of it ALL The first
reader is all play, but in the second he begins
to get little more responsibility, holding to
the home and stressng kindness to the family
and to animals
The third reader is character builder.
Every lesson has a moral. The fourth reader be-
gins to give bigger and broader vision of life
with lessons of travel religion and craftsmanship.
In 1886 Doctor McGuffey left Oxford to accept
the presidency of Cincinnati college. In 1889
he became president of Ohio university at
Athens In 1914 he returned to Cincinnati
and served as professor at Woodward college,
afterward known as Woodward high school.
In 1915 McGuffey went to the University Of
Virginia professor of natural and moral
philosophy. He remained at this institution,
designed and built by Thomas jefferson, until
his death May A. 1873
Even the most casual survey of the McGuffey
Readers reveals the stern reality of life in the
century before this one There is not speck of
humor in them, from McGuffey's New First
Eclectic Reader, from which the wee children
learned their ABCs and gazed with fascinated
eyes at the quaint woodcuts of birds and beasts
to McGuffey's New Sixth Eclectic Reader an
imposing volume containing 456 pages of solid
and forbidding type described on the 1yleaf as
Exercises of Rhetorical Reading With Intro
ductory Rules and Examples"
Old timers will remember the books with their
stiff cardboard covers, a delicate blue in color
and with an appropriate decorative scene be-
meath the highly dignifed title That first book
had a picture of three children two brothers
and sister, perhaps, gathered a wooden
bench beneath the dormer window They are
exemplary children, you know that at glance.
They are combed and washed to a degree The
young mans necktie hangs precisely beneath his
stiff white collar. The young woman's frock is
the proper ankle length. Every one Is sternly
starched They are all primly intent on
volume that one strongly suspects is no other
than McGuffeys Reader
There is note of uplift in the whole SERIES
Picture the serious six-year-old porting over
Oh my God let me do no sim
Aid to do bid.
Our God all do.
Let all I do be fit for his eye.
Let me do to all as bid.
Let me do as all are bid to do to me.
The books grow thicker as we proceed through
the grades. McGufey's New Second Eclectic
Reader has 1872 pages. Some of the titles are
1.-The Good Girl" The Good Boy" James
Bland" who was cruel and robbed birds nest
The stories always end with moral and
some Of the verses set to music and sung. The
book ends with the ten commandments In verse
and an exhortation: