Aaron and Mary West/Orange and Emma Comstock family papers

Aaron West's diaries provide rich detail as to the responsibilities and daily activities of a grammar school principal in Toledo, Ohio, in the 1850's and early 1860's, and later, those of Superintendent of the Sylvania Schools. Aaron provides information on subjects taught, school room conditions, discipline, background and personalities of teachers, and school social activities in these diaries, especially while principal in Toledo. He also details the growth and development of Toledo and Sylvania. Additionally, he maintains in the diaries precise accounting of his expenditures and receipts for each year. After purchasing the farm in Sylvania, he maintains detailed accounts of the farm chores, livestock purchased and sold, and crops planted and harvested. Thus his diaries provide an informative narrative of both urban and rural life and the daily activities of a farmer and educator.

Mary West's diaries are much less detailed; however, they provide some narrative on household and farm chores, sicknesses of the children, church and social activities, trips taken, and visits with friends and family. The two sets of diaries complement each other and provide, both from a male and female perspective, information on the daily life of a family in northwest Ohio.

Completing this part of the collection are a pupil register/autograph book kept by Aaron (1842-1867), an account ledger kept by Mary (1884-1886), letters written between members of the West and Titus families (1822-1868), a weekly report card (1844), and two papers written by Aaron.

The Orange and Emma Comstock papers consist largely of correspondence between Emma West Comstock and her son Ernest who was attending Oberlin College. The letters describe family business, health matters, and general information from home. Some of Ernest's letters describe his experiences at school. Also included are letters between Ernest and other family members. There is also a group of correspondence between Elsie, her mother Emma and Emma's brother Henry and his wife Connie to Mary West and other relatives, written from Leipzig, Germany where Henry was attending classes. These letters describe the trip to Europe and life in Germany in the 1890's. Like the West diaries, the letters in this part of the collection provide rich detail and descriptions of life at the time and give insight into the relationships between family members. Also included is a photograph album in which most of the subjects are identified, a Titus family genealogy, a collection of letters in book form transcribed by James Titus (1836), Orange and Emma's marriage license (1875), Emma's high school Diploma (1877), and commencement invitations (1896-1902).