Maine Memory Network

Horace W. Shaylor was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1845. His parents, Israel, a ship carpenter, and Frances, a homemaker, had six children: Lucien, Frances, Egbert, Horace, Henry and Cornelius.

Horace and Henry were twins; however, Henry died at age of 13.

Horace took up the study of penmanship as a child. His first penmanship teacher was Platt Rogers Spencer, the creator of Spencerian Script, a uniform system of cursive writing.

Shaylor was in the 1863 graduating class of Platt R. Spencer School of Penmanship of Geneva, Ohio. The school was a small log structure; the students had to supply their own chairs and candles.

Spencer, known as the "Father of American Handwriting," was born in 1800 along the Hudson River. He, like Horace W. Shaylor, spent his youth in Ashtabula.

Spencer's mother was widowed and his family was so poor that he could not afford paper. Instead, Spencer practiced his handwriting on leaves, bark, snow and sand.

He loved writing so much that he performed extraordinary acts just to explore it further. One time he walked barefoot for 20 miles simply to borrow a book. Another time, Spencer was supposed to demonstrate script for a visitor but did not have a pen; he used a broom straw and blood from his finger instead.

Spencer taught handwriting at age 15. Often he was so engaged with his lessons, he forgot to collect pay from his students.

His script has been described as rhythmic, comfortable and derived from natural forms. During lessons Spencer often brought in items from nature such as rocks, to show the forms had similar curves to handwriting.

Though the Spencerian Script was an established penmanship technique, it was soon taken over by the Palmer method.

The Palmer method omitted the curls and swirls, focusing instead focused on legibility, rapidity, ease and
endurance.

Palmer introduced "muscle motion," which focused on writing with the proximal arm muscles, rather than finger muscles. In fact arm movement was so instrumental that the method suggests a penman cut off the right under sleeve of his shirt, as to not obstruct movement, therefore producing better results.

A. N. Palmer (1860-1927), like Spencer, had a mother who was widowed.

Palmer attended the Bryant and Stratton Business College. He later went on to work as a clerk and bookkeeper where he learned that speed was important in the world of business. Speed became a major part of Palmer's writing philosophy.

At 28 he founded a penmanship magazine, The Western Penman and published Palmer's Guide to Muscular Movement and Writing. The guide appealed to Catholic schools because of its emphasis on hard work and discipline.

In 1904 Palmer attended the St. Louis exposition where a New York City superintendent witnessed his writing methods. Four years later half the public schools in NYC were teaching the Palmer method.

Palmer had offices in New York, Chicago, Cedar Rapids and Maine. By his death 25 million people had been taught the method and it was continuing to be taught in three quarters of the schools in America.

Neither Spencer nor Palmer acknowledged left-handed writing.

Horace W. Shaylor moved to Maine in 1861 at the age of 18, arriving with only two dollars. Shaylor got work as a business college instructor.

He lived in Portland with his wife, Augusta, and their two children, Horace Wood Jr. and Luella (Evelyn) Shaylor.

Shaylor's daughter, Luella, born in 1871, was an artist who worked as a sculptor and a painter, specializing in miniatures.

She and her husband, Harry True Harmon, lived at 147 Pine St., Portland. Her studio was located on the top floor of her house, which provided the best light.

She attended the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts and later moved to Massachusetts. Luella was associated with the National Academy of Design, Gloucester North Shore Art Association, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Society of Independent Artists and Boston's Vose Galleries.

She was elected into seven prominent art clubs in the country, and was appointed to serve on the Jury of Society of Miniature Painters, based in Pennsylvania.

Harmon believed "work is play" she truly loved painting and sculpting, but she also believed that "home comes first," that she "wouldn't put art over her woman's duties and family life."

Horace Jr. (1870-1952) was an engraver who started Shaylor Engraving Co. on Middle St. in Portland.

Horace Jr. lived in the Falmouth Foreside with his wife, Rose, and daughter, Georgina. He was a member of the Maine Charitable Mechanics Association and The Portland Club.

He retired from his engraving company in 1938 and moved to Santa Monica; there he died after a long illness at 84.

A decade after moving to Portland, Shaylor Sr. began publishing penmanship textbooks. The books were a success; two million copies were sold in five years.

Shaylor went on to become the supervisor of drawing and writing in the Portland Public School district.

In 1915 he retired and as a parting gift he prepared calendars for all Portland Public School teachers.

In February 1921 Shaylor and his daughter both held art exhibitions in Portland. Luella featured her famous miniatures depicting her daughter, son-in-law, and herself.

Her father, who rarely showed his artwork to those other than close friends, featured pencil drawings and watercolor images of Maine landscapes.

The exhibitions were reviewed highly, with a particular emphasis on the rarity of a father-daughter show.

In 1925, Shaylor donated 125 pieces of artwork to the Nathan Clifford School and the Butler School including pictures in pencil, watercolor, India ink, ink, and illumination.

Along with donating all the materials including the frames and hanging wire, 80-year-old Shaylor supervised the hanging of the art.

The "Shaylor Corridor" also included a bust of Horace W. Shaylor by his daughter and a bronze tablet relief of HWS with a memorial testimony written by former pupil, William B. Jack, superintendent of Portland Public Schools. The tablet dedication reads:

This Corridor
Is Dedicated to
Horace W. Shaylor
Who Was Forty-Five Years
Teacher, Guide, and Friend
To the Boys and Girls of Portland
--------
He Opened the Door to the
World Beautiful, and Little
Children Saw the Happy Island
The Peaceful Valleys, and the
Everlasting Hills.

One proviso to his gift was that if the pictures were no longer wanted by the schools, they would be sold and the proceeds would be placed in a fund for unfortunate and indigent teachers. Shaylor started the fund by writing a $1,000 check.

Shaylor died on December 30, 1925 at age 80. He had been ill for two weeks prior to his death.

Shaylor was a member of the National Penmanship Association, the High Street Congregational Church and State Street Church Society.

Shaylor had been a teacher of drawing and penmanship for 51 years.