Spencer, Platt R. (Platt Rogers), 1800-1864

Teacher and originator of Spencerian penmanship.

From the description of P. R. Spencer letter : Geneva, Ohio, to A. H. Webster, 1855 Sept. 12. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 173260178

Penmanship teacher and business school co-founder, of Geneva, Ohio.

From the description of Miscellanea, [late 18--]-1976 (bulk [late 18--]). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70953287

From the description of Letter, 1852 Dec. 9. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70970460

Penman, poet, educator and developer of the Spencerian system of penmanship.

Platt Rogers Spencer, developer of the Spencerian system of penmanship, was born in East Fishkill, New York on November 7, 1800 and died in Geneva, Ohio on May 16, 1864. His father, Caleb, a farmer and soldier in the Revolutionary War, died in 1806 at which time the family relocated to largely unsettled Ashtabula County, Ohio. From an early age, Platt was passionate about fine writing and practiced his craft whenever and wherever he could. Since paper was a precious commodity he often had to make do with writing on birch-bark, leather, snow, even the fly-leaves of his mother's Bible. His original calling was to the ministry, but his struggles with alcoholism derailed those plans and instead, he concentrated his energies on being a clerk and bookkeeper and began his long and profitable career as a teacher of cursive writing. His recovery from alcoholism made him a life-long abstainer and a public advocate for abstinence. He was also an ardent abolitionist (he founded the Ashtabula County Anti-Slavery Society) and devoted himself to public service as treasurer for Ashtabula County, Ohio. In addition to being a prolific poet, advocate for political causes, founder of business schools in Ohio and New York, he was also an inspiration to his children all of whom followed in their father's artistic footsteps. At one time, they, their cousins and in-laws - thirty-eight in all - taught the Spencerian system. His son, Lyman Potter Spencer, for example became a noted artist, civil war hero, calligrapher, and teacher. His daughter, Sarah Spencer Sloan, established her own career as a noted calligrapher as well as being wife to a prominent Chicago artist, Junius Sloan. Another daughter, Ellen Spencer Mussey, was a noted writer, legal advisor of two Foreign Legations in Washington, D.C., and first president of the Woman's Business Club of Washington, D.C. Sons Harvey and Henry founded schools in New York City and Washington, D.C. respectively and became very good friends with their former teacher, President James A. Garfield. Another son, Robert Closson Spencer, established a Spencerian Business College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and one of his sons became a well-known architect in the Chicago-area, sharing studio space for a time with Frank Lloyd Wright. As well as the business schools that bear his name, Spencer also had a library and an elementary school in Geneva, Ohio, named after him.

From the description of Platt R. Spencer papers, 1827-1951, bulk 1850-1900. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 642346414