Abstract: Two typescript narratives regarding Indian trails by John L. Johnston: 1) "The Great and 'Little Warrior' Trails" (4 pages); 2) "McCullochs Trail" (4 pages).

Abstract: Typescript narrative regarding Indian artifact by F.A. Chapman: "Ceremonial Indian Mill Located Near Johnstown, Pennsylvania". Includes diagrams.

Abstract: Papers of one of the founders of West Virginia. Includes a two-volume diary and several thousand pieces of correspondence concerning political, social, and economic affairs for the period 1830-1900. Willey, a resident of Monongalia County, was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1850, the Secession Convention of 1861, the First Wheeling Convention, and the Constitutional Convention of 1871. He was United States senator from the Restored Government of Virginia, 1861-1863, and senator from West Virginia, 1863-1871. There is much material on the temperance movement in Virginia, 1845-1860, the Civil War, and the statehood movement in West Virginia. Correspondents include Gordon Battelle, Arthur I. Boreman, Gideon D. Camden, Archibald W. Campbell, John S. Carlile, John J. Davis, Spencer Dayton, Nathan Goff, J. Marshall Hagans, Granville D. Hall, Alpheus F. Haymond, John J. Jackson, John L. Pendleton, Francis H. Pierpont, Edwin M. Stanton, George W. Summers, Peter G. Van Winkle, Alexander L. Wade, and James O. Watson. Transcriptions of letters in boxes 1-4 can be found in the Charles H. Ambler Papers, A&M 122, boxes 10-12.

Abstract: Copy of two journals kept by Henry Bedinger (of the 'Beeline Brigade') while serving in the American Revolution in New England, New York, and Virginia. Included is a return of troops raised in Frederick County, Virginia. Bedinger details the daily movements of his company and its skirmishes with British soldiers, and describes weapons, methods of punishment, and a variety of military data.

Abstract: Business and personal papers of John Rogers, merchant, land agent, and owner of grist, carding, fulling, and sawmills in Monongalia County, West Virginia. Rogers served as a director of the Morgantown and Fishing Creek Turnpike; director for Virginia of the Morgantown Bridge Company; and he was associated with many committees responsible for the construction of Morgantown schools and public buildings. Correspondence includes letters from individuals and firms in Ohio, Maryland, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Correspondents include Captain R.L. Baker at the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Arsenal.

Abstract: Correspondence, speeches, newspaper clippings, and other papers of the thirteenth governor of West Virginia, 1909-1913. Subjects include political, social, and economic affairs, 1904-1913; the presidential election of 1904 and 1912; the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek coal strikes, 1912-1913; and Glasscock's role as collector of internal revenue for West Virginia. Correspondents include George W. Atkinson, Albert J. Beveridge, William E. Edwards, Davis Elkins, Stephen B. Elkins, Henry Ford, William Green, Henry D. Hatfield, Hiram W. Johnson, James S. Lakin, Virgil A. Lewis, Isaac T. Mann, Robert R. McCormick, John T. McGraw, George W. Perkins, Gifford Pinchot, Ira E. Robinson, Theodore Roosevelt, Nathan B. Scott, Mark Sullivan, Howard Sutherland, William H. Taft, and I.C. White. There are also papers relating to the Morgantown REPUBLICAN, a campaign newspaper established by Glasscock to support his gubernatorial candidacy and the Taft ticket in 1908.

Abstract: Correspondence, maps, business records and other papers of a U.S. Senator, Democratic politician, and promoter of the oil industry, railroads, and coal and timber resources of West Virginia. The papers regard Camden's purchase of land in the 1850s; his activities in oil production and refining, 1860-1875; his presidency of the Camden Consolidated Oil Company and the Baltimore United Oil Company; the affairs of the Stewart Brick Company of Parkersburg; the Virginia debt controversy; and his development of railroads, including the Ohio River Railroad, the West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad, and Monongahela River Railroad, 1879-1892. See the "Scope and Content Note" for more information.

Abstract: Papers of a Preston County farmer, merchant, and licensed exhorter of the Methodist Episcopal Church who served in the state legislature in the years 1870-1876. There are letters of H. Davis and William Ewin regarding land and coal properties in Preston County. Also included are minutes of the incorporators' meeting of the Iron Valley and Pennsylvania Railroad, 1873, as well as scattered items relating to the Methodist Episcopal Church, Kingwood; the Northwestern Turnpike at St. George; the Grafton and Greenbrier Railroad Company; Civil War bounty claims; the Rowlesburg Lumber and Iron Company; stave making; the Wheeling Female College; political and religious speeches; and the Morgantown District Camp Meeting Association, 1877.

Abstract: Papers of Francis Harrison Pierpont (1814-1899) of Monongalia and Marion Counties, West Virginia, who served as governor of the Restored Government of Virginia during the Civil War. Includes manuscripts, typescripts, printed materials, and photocopies consisting of genealogies, correspondence, college essays, speeches, official messages, articles prepared for newspapers, legal documents, pamphlets, scrapbooks, and ephemera. Topics include Pierpont's education; his career as governor of the Restored Government of Virginia at Wheeling, Alexandria, and Richmond; the West Virginia statehood movement; politics; and his later work in the Methodist Protestant Church. Notable series include Pierpont's personal and professional correspondence; his writings and speeches, which include several drafts of his reminiscences on Lincoln; correspondence and notes of Charles H. Ambler, biographer of Pierpont, in the Subject Files series; and a series of several hundred telegrams related to statehood and the Civil War. Pierpont's correspondents include Gordon Battelle, Arthur I. Boreman, John S. Carlile, Abraham Lincoln (copies), Waitman T. Willey, and others. Please see Scope and Content Note for additional details and a link to digitized copies of Pierpont's telegrams.

Abstract: Papers of Hu Maxwell (1860-1927), historian, editor, and author of several county histories of West Virginia, along with papers and records of other family members. There are manuscripts of fiction, verse, and local history written by Maxwell, as well as a number of his manuscripts and publications dealing with forestry which were prepared while he was a member of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. Maxwell kept a diary during the years 1901-1919 while residing in Morgantown, Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., which is extensive for the period of World War I and which contains notes on the diary of Rufus Maxwell (1855-1907). See scope and content note for more detail.

Abstract: Regimental order book of troops under the command of General Sir William Howe, at Newcastle and Whitely, England, July, 1795.

Abstract: Papers of the Hagans family of Preston County, West Virginia, including Harrison, Elisha, George M., Henry C., John Marshall, Zer Hagans, and others. There are letters, invoices, account books, advertisements, and other business records pertaining to family business enterprises including several general merchandise stores and outlets in western Pennsylvania and Maryland, and at Brandonville, Kingwood, Greenville, and Palatine, West Virginia. There are several postal records from Harrison Hagans' twenty years as postmaster, 1822-1841, at Brandonville, and magistrate papers and deeds, most regarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. There are also financial records documenting Hagans' tenure as president of the Greenville Mining and Manufacturing Company which produced iron in Preston County in the 1830s. Other information records Hagans' interests in: county roads, schools, churches, government and politics; the Preston Telegraph Company; a fulling mill, 1827; and a linseed oil mill, 1842. There are Hagan patents for a washing and wringing machine (1845), and working models of mowing and threshing machines. There is a volume of minutes of the quarterly conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1834-1859, and 1861 Wheeling Convention papers regarding a new state government, and Civil War letters from family and friends.

Abstract: Correspondence and other papers of a Democrat who served in the West Virginia Legislature, 1866-1871, and the U.S. Senate, 1871-1883. Davis was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 1904 and a member of several Pan-American Commissions and agencies in the period 1889-1916. He had extensive interests in railroads, coal, lumber, and banking, and was largely responsible for development of the Elk Garden field in connection with the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh railroad. Correspondents include: John D. Alderson, George W. Atkinson, Thomas F. Bayard, August Belmont, James G. Blaine, William J. Bryan, Johnson N. Camden, Andrew Carnegie, William E. Chilton, Alston G. Dayton, Spencer Dayton, General Porfirio Diaz, Stephen B. Elkins, Charles J. Faulkner, Sr., Charles J. Faulkner, Jr., John W. Garrett, Cardinal James Gibbons, Arthur P. Gorman, Benjamin Harrison, John E. Kenna, Daniel S. Lamont, Daniel B. Lucas, James M. Mason II, William A. MacCorkle, D.W. Voorhees, Thomas J. Walsh, William C. Whitney, and William Windom.

Abstract: Papers of Archibald W. Campbell (1839-1899), editor of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. A strong unionist and Republican Party member, he worked hard through his editorials and behind the scenes in order to support the formation of the new state of West Virginia. The collection includes correspondence, clippings, ephemera, and scrapbooks dealing with the Civil War and political affairs in West Virginia's early statehood period. Some of the correspondence asks Campbell to publish specific accounts of events or rebuttals of others, showing the importance of the newspapers in shaping public perception. Correspondents include family members, Jacob B. Blair, Cassius M. Clay, Sherrard Clemens, B.F. Kelley, Francis H. Pierpont, John C. Underwood, and others. See Scope and Content Note for more information.

Abstract: William G. Brown (1800-1884) of Kingwood, West Virginia, was an attorney; member of the Virginia Assembly in the 1830s and 1840s; and a member of Congress from Virginia from 1845 to 1849 and West Virginia from 1861 to 1865. Chiefly contains deeds, plats, surveys, and other papers related to Brown's land in Preston and Monongalia counties, West Virginia, from 1860 to 1874 and items from Brown's law office concerning deeds, wills, and financial transactions from 1870 to 1883. A ledger book from Brown records the sale of dry goods items, chiefly food such as bacon, wheat flour, corn, coffee, meat, and tobacco, and notes the cost of items, debts, and account settled. Papers also include typescript essays on American history, the Constitution, and slavery, written circa 1927 and a typed copy of a letter of J.J. Phillips of Lantz, 18 July 1931, concerning the removal of Confederate remains from the Rich Mountain Battlefield.

Abstract: Miscellaneous papers collected by R. L. Hays include promissory notes from 1827, 1842, 1844, and 1865; a letter by H. N. Ogden to Peregrine Hays, 27 October 1890, regarding instruction in English being given by Ogden at West Virginia University and the number of students allowed in his courses; and a printed list of the courses offered by Ogden with a brief description of each course.

Abstract: Typed copies of letters written by Goff from France, 1918-1920, as a member of General John J. Pershing's legal staff; typed copies of speeches, 1920-1931; scrapbooks of clippings on labor violence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1911-1912, and on the appointment of Goff as United States district attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin, 1912. See scope and contents for links to items digitized and available on line.

Abstract: Letter from 1842 authored by Peter G. Van Winkle (1808-1872) regarding business and political matters. Van Winkle was a Parkersburg attorney, delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851, member of the Second Wheeling Convention of 1861, delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1861-1862, legislator from Wood County in 1863, U.S. Senator from 1863-1869, and participant in West Virginia railroad and business enterprises. Contains original manuscript and typescript copy of a letter from Van Winkle, Parkersburg, to Charles P. Bailey, dated April 12, 1842, describing his opinions on imports and foreign debt, a tariff on foreign imports, a proposed national bank, internal improvements, and other subjects of political importance in the early forties.

Abstract: L. Henry Smith (b. circa 1805) was an attorney in Bruceton Mills, Preston County, West Virginia, in the mid-nineteenth century. He and his wife, Martha, had nine children, including Lucian H. Smith (b. circa 1830) and William W. Smith (b. circa 1848). Papers of the L. Henry Smith family chiefly include receipts, bills, notes, and letters from 1823 to 1878 and primarily concern Henry Smith, Lucian Smith, and William Smith, though materials from other family members are included. Box 1 contains financial materials for Jacob Smith from the 1830s and 1840s; receipts for purchases made by Henry Smith between the 1850s and 1870s (mostly for sewing supplies such as fabric, trimmings, and lace); promissory notes; and other financial items. Box 2 contains letters to various members of the Smith family from the 1850s to the 1870s. Topics chiefly include merchandising; Henry Smith's legal and financial matters in Preston County; and news of friends and family in the Bruceton Mills and Uniontown, Pennsylvania, areas. Several letters from the 1860s relate to buying blue cloth to make Civil War uniforms and substitutes in the Union army. Letters from the late 1860s related to West Virginia University, where William Smith was a student. Box 3 contains miscellaneous items primarily related to West Virginia politics in the 1870s and West Virginia Governor John Jeremiah Jacob.

Abstract: Letters written by a lawyer and businessman near Shanghai in Berkeley County to his sister Mary, who was residing in their father's home at New Cumberland, Virginia. There are also letters written from: Wellsburg Academy, 1849-1850; Washington College, Washington, Pennsylvania, 1851-1855; Cuba, 1857; New Orleans, 1857; and Richmond, Virginia, 1858-1860. A diary includes entries from 1 January to 20 March 1864. Porter had business relations with firms in Pittsburgh concerning brick making, coal lands, and shipping. Much of the diary concerns his wife's illness and his own poor health. There are a few minor references to the Civil War and Porter's Union sentiments. Muster records of the Panhandle Greys, a state militia unit, 1861-1863, organized and captained by George McCandless Porter, are included.

Abstract: The original manuscript of an address delivered on July 4, 1844, by Joseph Johnson, Bridgeport, (West) Virginia, who served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives from Virginia prior to 1847 and as governor of Virginia from 1851 to 1856. Also included are a typescript obituary of Johnson, from a Baltimore newspaper, and a manuscript copy of the above address.

Abstract: Ledgers, journals, letter books, correspondence and other papers concerning the business of the bank. Correspondents include George A. Jackson, cashier and local pension commissioner following the Civil War, and Jonathan M. Bennett, first president of the bank.

Abstract: Letters sent to Z.T. McBee and members of his immediate family at Clinton Furnace in Monongalia County, mainly from Jackson Steele of Kansas, concerning crops, business conditions, and prices.

Abstract: Court case papers, wills, licenses, bonds, deeds, school reports, and other papers commonly recorded and filed in the county, 1774-1938. Included are: settlement papers; bound record volumes, 1781-1936, of deeds, estrays, estates, the jail, naturalization, surveys, taxes, voter registration, and marriage and deed indexes; account books for businesses and organizations, including construction firms, gristmills, retail merchandising, the humane society, medical practice, coal and lumber firms; and minute books of the Society of the Sons of Temperance.