Name/Title
Letter: Willard Seiberling to his childrenEntry/Object ID
A 2025.16.b1.f5.35Description
The two-page letter is addressed "Dear Children" and in the upper left corner includes "Judy & John" handwritten in blank ink. The writer opens the letter that it is going to record an experience the writer shared with Judy, Bill, and Jeanne that the rest of the family missed at the recent luncheon at Stan Hywet. The writer shares that amongst the table of forty members of family, Uncle Fred expressed some thoughts he had driving home from Hessel about Father's passing. This prompted a chain reaction of family members sharing their own thoughts and reflecting on the strong family unity and heritage stemming from the J F Seiberling family. The writer mentions had there been a recording of the spontaneous remarks, they would treasure that record for the rest of their lives. The writer references a poem from Aunt Mame, "The Stick-Together Family" that was previously shared and hopes the readers filed it in their family archives. The writer then reiterates the obligation to their heritage with family harmony, unity, and loyalty. The writer closes the letter acknowledging that may be the last large family meeting at Stan Hywet and regrets not making the necessary arrangements for everyone to attend. The writer signs the letter "In grateful appreciation of the abiding influence of strong family ties, affectionately" and signs "Dad" in blue ink.Subject Person/Organization
Seiberling, Willard Penfield, Shaw, Julia Seiberling, Shaw, John BurnhamCollection
PERMANENT COLLECTIONCataloged By
Katrina NeffAcquisition
Accession
A 2025.16Source or Donor
UnknownAcquisition Method
FoundLetter Details
Letter Date
Aug 18, 1955Primary Language
EnglishTranscription
Transcription
Judy + John
August 18, 1955
Dear Children:
This letter will be particularly meaningful to Judy, Bill and Jeanne as it is going to record an experience they shared with me which most unfortunately the rest of you missed. Had I been able to anticipate what an inspiring meeting of the large Seiberling family was to have at the luncheon at Stan Hywet on Tuesday, I would have seen to it that we had made the necessary arrangements so that you all could have attended.
Your Uncle Pen sat at the head of the table with some forty members of the family in the dining room but he did not act as the “Master of Ceremonies”. Near the close of the luncheon your Uncle Fred arose to express some thoughts that came to him on the long drive home from Hessel. Again and again he picked up on his car radio, from widely scattered radio stations, announcements of Father’s passing, which kept him thinking about Father and Mother and our immediate family and also about the whole Seiberling family.
His thoughts prompted your Aunt Irene to get up and express some of her thoughts. These two talks started some sort of a chain reaction, for without your Uncle Pen calling on anyone for remarks, one member of the family after another got up to express his thoughts. The spontaneous character of these remarks showed how each speaker was aware of the family ties that have bound us together over the years and how he just had to get up and pour forth what was in his heart. If there had been a tape recording of those spontaneous remarks so that we all might have a written record of what was said, we would treasure that record for the rest of our lives and have something that would be of inspiration to the our children and grandchildren. You all heard Dr. Wiegman’s uplifting talk to the members of the family in which he pictured the seeds that had been planted, the fruits from these seeds and our obligation to our heritage. The J F Seiberling family was composed of two brothers and seven sisters. Had the husbands of the seven sisters broken away from the Seiberling family and gone their separate ways, we would not have had the family unity that has been such a blessing to all of us. The wonderful family gatherings we used to have down at the J F Seiberling homestead, next door to where I grew up on East Market Street, were wonderful because the seven brothers-in-law were like brothers to the two Seiberling brothers and the seven Seiberling sisters were like true sisters to their two sisters-in-law. Similarly the wonderful family gatherings we have had over the past forty years at Stan Hywet have been what they were because they were representative of the entire J F Seiberling family. Had they been meetings of just the F A and C W Seiberling families we would not have the heritage of which Dr Wiegman was speaking. Some time ago I sent you a poem that Aunt Mame has been keeping for over sixty years on the subject of “The Stick-Together Family”. The meter was disjointed in spots and there was no particular literary merit to the poem, but it very definitely expressed the spirit of the J F Seiberling family. I hope that each of you filed that poem for safekeeping in your family archives, for in years to come, you may find that you want to make copies of it and mail it around to your children after they are married and starting families of their own.
Our obligation to our heritage is to continue to plant seeds that will bear fruit in family harmony, family unity and family loyalty. And that means having strong family ties on both sides of the family, including the in-laws.
Judy, Jeanne and Bill will long remember that meeting of the family last Tuesday. It may be the last meeting our large family will have in Stan Hywet and it is most unfortunate that I did not realize in advance how important a meeting it was going to be so that we could have made the necessary arrangements for you all to attend. If by chance there is one more large family meeting at Stan Hywet before the place is closed, I know you will all want to be there.
In grateful appreciation of the abiding influence of strong family ties,
Affectionately,
DadTranscriber
Cindi RokeLanguage
EnglishCreate Date
June 23, 2026Update Date
July 28, 2026
