TRUMBULL COUNTY Family of early settlers donates historical items

The documents go back two centuries.
WARREN -- A letter from President James Garfield and a 19th century school book are among the hundreds of items donated to local institutions by the family of one of the first settlers in Trumbull County.
Documents left behind by Asahel and Lucy Mygatt Adams and their decedents also include a diary from an 1802 trip from Connecticut to the Western Reserve and many letters.
"I believe they paint an excellent picture of what life was like in the early 1800s," said Dave Ambrose, president of the Trumbull County Historical Society.
The letters provide an intimate glimpse of family life that one can't get from textbooks or public documents, he said.
The historical society hopes to make some of the documents available online at www.trumbullcountyhistory.org.
Portions of the collection are also going to the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, Sutliff Museum, Harriet Taylor Upton Association, Trumbull County Historical Society, First Presbyterian Church of Warren, John Stark Edwards House, Girard Historical Society and the Niles McKinley Memorial Library.
"Down the two centuries, the Adams family has been very conscientious about saving for posterity their papers and documents," said Ralph Leard Sr., whose deceased wife, Lucinda, was a great-great-great granddaughter of Asahel Adams.
The collection is also being photographed for the institutions, said Leard, who coordinated the donation for the family.
Surviving members of the family include Norman W. Adams Jr. of Florida and Nancy Adams McCord of Pennsylvania.