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Surveys of rural residents conducted by WVU Agricultural Experiment Station. Inquiries about farm land conditions, size of operations, profitability and the respondents opinions about the local community and its economic prospects. The 1924 survey was taken only in the Easton-Avery section of Monongalia County and contains an accompanying map with individual family farms number coded. The 1958 survey, a selection from around the state, is more indicative of demographics especially of out migration of family members to urban areas.

Dr. William D. Barns (1917-1991) was a professor of history at West Virginia University from 1940 to 1985. His fields of specialization were American agriculture and labor history, West Virginia and regional history, American economic history, and the United States since 1860. The material has been divided into three main sections of archives, books, and periodicals, and described to the box level. The contents of this collection were created or collected by Dr. William D. Barns and Mrs. Doretha Barns from the 1920s to 1995. The majority of the material pertains to the academic career of Dr. Barns. Mrs. Barns continued to collect material until 1995. Two large series that relate specifically to Mrs. Barns are the League of Women Voters and Mrs. Doretha Barns. In addition, she contributed to the series on the Federal Government, Miscellaneous, Pacifism, and Society of Friends.

This collection contains the papers of William Logan Threlkeld, professor of zoology and biology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1929-1958), including biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, research files, and printed materials.

Papers relating to the Wilson, Lewis, and Ruffner families of Prince Edward County, Virginia, Kanawha County, [West] Virginia, St. Charles County, Missouri, and Fairfield County, Ohio. Correspondence between Nathaniel V. Wilson and Dr. Goodridge Wilson, concerning land purchases, preparation for the settlement of the family, care of livestock, employment of slaves, salt making and marketing, and the market price of salt. Other members of the family migrated to St. Charles County, Missouri, and to Fairfield County, Ohio, and land prices, suitable crops, settlement and railroad building in Missouri comprise much of their correspondence. A third generation member of the family, Virgy Wilson Hall and her husband, John G. Hall, were missionaries in Matamoras, Mexico, and Colombia, South America, and her correspondence with her mother comments on living conditions, progress of the missionary work, revolution in Colombia, and health and living conditions of the residents of the Barranquilla area. In addition there is a will of Col. Charles Lewis, a series of letters between two doctors concerning health problems and treatment of various illnesses, and two diaries by Mrs. Daniel Ruffner, 1846, and Elizabeth Ruffner Wilson, 1871-1872, commenting on family life and community activities in Fairfield County, Ohio, and Kanawha County, [West] Virginia. All are photocopies. Material covers the years 1774-1942.

Correspondence, ledger books, account and cashbooks of the Parkersburg, West Virginia, firm of Withers and VanDevender (later Wiant and VanDevender), specializing in timber cutting, but also dealing in real estate, coal, oil, and orange growing. Subjects include timber cutting methods, costs, timber shipping, floods, freezes, droughts, log jams, timberland locations, timber purchases and sales, salaries of timber workers, and fruit groves in Florida. Counties mentioned include: Boone, Braxton, Calhoun, Gilmer, Lewis, Marshall, Mercer, Nicholas, Ritchie, Roane, and Wirt. Firms and corporations mentioned include the Copen Creek Coal Company, Gilmer Fuel Company, MCCAA Coal Company, Marietta Chair Company, Nixolette Lumber Company, and the Parkersburg Mill Company.