Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Benjamin Frayser, a history reenactor from Roaming Shores, holds copies of the four winning bookmarks from a one-month contest that ended July 1. Frayser also portrayed President James A. Garfield during an appearance at an America250 event Saturday at the main branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

YOUNGSTOWN — Just a simple tour and a growing pool of knowledge were all it took for Benjamin Frayser to start a passionate trajectory.

“I toured his house (in Mentor), heard stories of his life, career and personal convictions, and I was hooked,” Frayser, of Roaming Shores, said.

Frayser was referring to the steps that led to his strong interest in President James A. Garfield, who served six months as the 20th president from March 1881 until he died Sept. 19, 1881, after having been shot two months earlier while preparing to board a train to New Jersey. Garfield was 49.

Frayser, a history reenactor, perhaps took his interest in the president a bit further than most, because he dressed as Garfield for an America250 event Saturday afternoon at the main branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

Garfield was born in poverty in a Cuyahoga County log cabin that lacked a solid floor, Frayser said.

Despite a difficult early life, Garfield, a Republican, came to believe in the American dream while embracing his beliefs in working hard, reaching as high as one wishes and striving to be better, Frayser noted.

During his short presidency, Garfield’s key achievements included civil service reforms as well as the creation of the National Department of Education, Frayser said. Also, Garfield worked with Secretary of State James G. Blaine to promote greater free trade, especially with Latin America.

Other planks Garfield supported were government-supported education to improve black people’s civil rights, cracking down on corruption in the post office, opposing corporate monopolies and pushing for additional federal support for educating especially southern blacks.

Garfield also was a lawyer and a preacher in the Restoration Movement who served in the Ohio Senate from 1859 to 1861 and was a major general in the Union Army who opposed Confederate secession. At the time, the Republican Party was split into the “Stalwarts,” who supported the existing government patronage system, and the “Half-Breeds,” who sought civil service reform, Frayser noted.

On July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a deluded office seeker who stalked the president, shot Garfield, who he blamed in large part for his failure to achieve public office.

“I did it. I will go to jail for it. I am a Stalwart, and (Chester A.) Arthur will be president,” Guiteau reportedly said shortly after his arrest.

Also available at Saturday’s patriotic gathering were copies of the four winning bookmarks from a contest last month that wrapped up July 1. The four winners for their age groups were Clara O’Neill, 5; Adrian Patoray, 8; and Stella Mitchell, 15. Jennifer Downie was the winner in the over-age 18 category.

The festivities also included arts and crafts for children, a display of vintage photographs of downtown Youngstown and a large loom on the front lawn in which attendees were able to craft patriotic and community-themed red, white and blue rugs and other similar items.

In addition, John Scalzi, a science-fiction writer who penned a book titled “When the Moon Hits Your Eye,” gave a presentation.

Providing a live outdoor jazz performance was the Dave Kana trio of Youngstown.