This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
His Fine Spencerian Hand and the Penmanship Era
Elmo Scott Watson recalls the golden age of penmanship in American schools, tracing Platt Rogers Spencer’s rise from a frugal Ohio farm boy to the creator of a national script system. The piece blends childhood joys and strict instruction with Spencer’s innovations in copybooks and flourishing, noting his influence, temperance reform, and lasting memorials after his death in 1884.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Elmo Scott Watson
Spencer
East Fishkill
Dutchess County
New York
Caleb Spencer
Rhode Island
Jerusha Covell Spencer
Ghatham
Cape Cod
Jerusha Spencer
Hudson River
Windham
Greene County
Passlig
Platt
Gret
Alleghenies
Ohio
Western Reserve
Jefferson
Ashtabula County
Conneaut
Deak
Bis
Caboll
United States
Baa
Platt Rogers Spencer
New York State
Biles Persis Duty
Ashtabuln
Geneva
Oberlin
Jericho
Onio
Midwest
East
Middle West
Platt B. Spencer
Pittsburgh
Certan Commercial College
Phinney & Company
Buffalo
Businega
America
Persis Doty Spencer
Thia
Ives