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Start Over Subjects Confederate States of America - secession crisis. Level Collection
West Virginia and Regional History Center

Davis Family Papers, 1800/1941

0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case)

One box of material including original and typescript copies of letters exchanged between Anna Kennedy and J.J. Davis for the period 1860-1862. Also included is material on the Chapin family, Davis and Steen family genealogy and Reed family Bible. Correspondents are J.J. Davis, Anna Kennedy, J.W. Davis, Phineas Chapin, Rev. Asa Brooks, and J. W. Wayland. John W. Davis' certificate of Admission to practice before the Supreme Court of West Virginia dated 1896. His sponsor was Melville Davisson Post and President of the Court was Homer Holt. Also, Davis' commission as a Notary Public dated 1898.

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Davis Family Papers, 1800/1941 0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case)

Davis, John J. (John James), 1835-1916

One box of material including original and typescript copies of letters exchanged between Anna Kennedy and J.J. Davis for the period 1860-1862. Also included is material on the Chapin family, Davis and Steen family genealogy and Reed family Bible. Correspondents are J.J. Davis, Anna Kennedy, J.W. Davis, Phineas Chapin, Rev. Asa Brooks, and J. W. Wayland. John W. Davis' certificate of Admission to practice before the Supreme Court of West Virginia dated 1896. His sponsor was Melville Davisson Post and President of the Court was Homer Holt. Also, Davis' commission as a Notary Public dated 1898.

West Virginia and Regional History Center

George Ellis Moore Manuscript, 1963

0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case)
Manuscript of BANNER IN THE HILLS by George Ellis Moore, presenting the story of secession and the Civil War in western Virginia and tracing the steps by which West Virginia was created.
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George Ellis Moore Manuscript, 1963 0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case)

Moore, George Ellis
Manuscript of BANNER IN THE HILLS by George Ellis Moore, presenting the story of secession and the Civil War in western Virginia and tracing the steps by which West Virginia was created.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

George Ellis Moore Manuscript, 1963

0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 3 in. (1 small flat storage box, 3 in.)
Manuscript of BANNER IN THE HILLS by George Ellis Moore, presenting the story of secession and the Civil War in western Virginia and tracing the steps by which West Virginia was created.
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George Ellis Moore Manuscript, 1963 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 3 in. (1 small flat storage box, 3 in.)

Moore, George Ellis
Manuscript of BANNER IN THE HILLS by George Ellis Moore, presenting the story of secession and the Civil War in western Virginia and tracing the steps by which West Virginia was created.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

Gibson Lamb Cranmer Papers regarding Statehood and Other Material, 1787/1895, bulk 1822/1881

0.4 Linear Feet 5 in. (2 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each)
Papers regarding West Virginia statehood and the history of Wheeling and Ohio County compiled by Judge Gibson L. Cranmer (1826-1903) of Wheeling, West Virginia, who served as secretary of the Wheeling Convention that repudiated Virginia's secession from the United States in 1861. Series 1 includes manuscript narratives and correspondence describing events of the West Virginia statehood movement, written by eyewitnesses at the request of Gibson L. Cranmer. Manuscript authors include John S. Burdett, John S. Carlile, Daniel Frost, Lewis Ruffner, and Benjamin Wilson. Series 2 includes Cranmer's handwritten notes, drafts of articles, copies of documents, and letters solicited by him regarding the history of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia. See Scope and Content Note for details and contents list.
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Gibson Lamb Cranmer Papers regarding Statehood and Other Material, 1787/1895, bulk 1822/1881 0.4 Linear Feet 5 in. (2 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each)

Papers regarding West Virginia statehood and the history of Wheeling and Ohio County compiled by Judge Gibson L. Cranmer (1826-1903) of Wheeling, West Virginia, who served as secretary of the Wheeling Convention that repudiated Virginia's secession from the United States in 1861. Series 1 includes manuscript narratives and correspondence describing events of the West Virginia statehood movement, written by eyewitnesses at the request of Gibson L. Cranmer. Manuscript authors include John S. Burdett, John S. Carlile, Daniel Frost, Lewis Ruffner, and Benjamin Wilson. Series 2 includes Cranmer's handwritten notes, drafts of articles, copies of documents, and letters solicited by him regarding the history of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia. See Scope and Content Note for details and contents list.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

H.E. Matheny, Collector and Compiler, Civil War Correspondence and Other Material, 1861/1865

0.17 Linear Feet Summary: 2 in. (1 folder, 1/4 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Forty-nine letters of Ephraim W. Frost of Co J., 116th Reg, Ohio Vol Inf. Frost, who lived in Coolville, Ohio, near Parkersburg, was stationed at Moorefield, Martinsburg, near Romney, Winchester and Sleepy Creek in Morgan County, where his Reg. was guarding the B & O. The letters comment on fighting in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864 around Woodstock, mention of McNeill, Imboden, and Mosby, and contain much on camp life in the eastern panhandle area. Frost was wounded near Piedmont in May 1864 and died at Annapolis, Maryland in January 1865.

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H.E. Matheny, Collector and Compiler, Civil War Correspondence and Other Material, 1861/1865 0.17 Linear Feet Summary: 2 in. (1 folder, 1/4 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Matheny, H. E. (Herman Edmond), 1910-

Forty-nine letters of Ephraim W. Frost of Co J., 116th Reg, Ohio Vol Inf. Frost, who lived in Coolville, Ohio, near Parkersburg, was stationed at Moorefield, Martinsburg, near Romney, Winchester and Sleepy Creek in Morgan County, where his Reg. was guarding the B & O. The letters comment on fighting in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864 around Woodstock, mention of McNeill, Imboden, and Mosby, and contain much on camp life in the eastern panhandle area. Frost was wounded near Piedmont in May 1864 and died at Annapolis, Maryland in January 1865.

West Virginia and Regional History Center

H.E. Matheny, Collector and Compiler, Papers, 1956/1961

0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1 in. (1 folder)

Published and unpublished manuscripts on episodes in West Virginia history; Civil War history; hunting; and police protection in industrial plants. Facsimile and typescript copies of 19th century materials as follows: Letter of Gen. T.M. Harris concerning organizing and outfitting of troops, 1861; copies of newspaper articles by Gen. Harris concerning "the Sabbath question", 1876; Letters (typescript copies) of Pvt. James Z. McCausland's Brigade, 1863-1864 (7 items), on the Battle of Droop Mountain: fight at Dublin, picket duty around Warm Springs, Virginia; the Battle of Monocacy, and Early's raid on Washington, 1864; McChesney's handwritten request for medical discharge, 1865; letter (typescript copy) from William E. Kimble to Mortimer Johnson, Feb.20, 1862, Camp Allegheny on running mail through Union lines: and an article, West Virginia's rare Civil War Books, by H.E. Matheny. Confederate Soldiers' letters: (1) to his mother from James Z. McChesney, Nov. 16, 1863, relating to the Battle of Droop Mt. (2) two letters from W. I. Kunkle to James Z. McChesney relating some Civil War experiences.

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H.E. Matheny, Collector and Compiler, Papers, 1956/1961 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1 in. (1 folder)

Matheny, H. E. (Herman Edmond), 1910-

Published and unpublished manuscripts on episodes in West Virginia history; Civil War history; hunting; and police protection in industrial plants. Facsimile and typescript copies of 19th century materials as follows: Letter of Gen. T.M. Harris concerning organizing and outfitting of troops, 1861; copies of newspaper articles by Gen. Harris concerning "the Sabbath question", 1876; Letters (typescript copies) of Pvt. James Z. McCausland's Brigade, 1863-1864 (7 items), on the Battle of Droop Mountain: fight at Dublin, picket duty around Warm Springs, Virginia; the Battle of Monocacy, and Early's raid on Washington, 1864; McChesney's handwritten request for medical discharge, 1865; letter (typescript copy) from William E. Kimble to Mortimer Johnson, Feb.20, 1862, Camp Allegheny on running mail through Union lines: and an article, West Virginia's rare Civil War Books, by H.E. Matheny. Confederate Soldiers' letters: (1) to his mother from James Z. McChesney, Nov. 16, 1863, relating to the Battle of Droop Mt. (2) two letters from W. I. Kunkle to James Z. McChesney relating some Civil War experiences.

West Virginia and Regional History Center

Henri Jean Mugler Diary and Memoir, 1838/1899

0.44 Linear Feet Summary: 5 1/4 in. (3 reels of microfilm (38 vols), 1.75 in. each)
Diary and memoir of a Confederate soldier, railroad laborer, and shop owner from Grafton. The memoir begins with Mugler's birth in Alsace-Lorraine in 1838, and covers his immigration to the United States; enlistment in the United States Army in 1851; military duty in New York, Boston, Rhode Island, Texas, California, and the Washington Territory where he participated in the expedition against the Yakima Indians as a member of Company B, Third Regiment, United States Artillery, under Phil Sheridan; and his return to Orange County, Virginia, where following the passage of the Secession Ordinance he enlisted in the Thirteenth Virginia Infantry serving as chief musician. The memoir concludes with Mugler's military career during 1861-1862. The diary covers the remainder of his military service, 1862-1864, and his confinement as a war prisoner at Elmira, New York, 1864-1865. Following the war, Mugler returned to Washington, D.C., and eventually gained employment with the National Cemetery Corps, working at various Virginia battlefields. While in Virginia he served as a delegate to the Virginia Republican Convention of 1867. He worked at the National Cemetery at Grafton and for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, eventually becoming superintendent of painters on the Road Division in West Virginia. After 1874 he worked briefly as a self-employed painter, and then opened a paint and hardware store in Grafton which he managed until the end of his life. Subjects include the Battle of Mine Run, the retreat from Antietam, the Battle of the Wilderness, prison life at Elmira, New York; reconstruction in Virginia; railroading and the railroad towns of Keyser, Oakland (Maryland), Parkersburg, Fairmont, and Wheeling; the strikes of 1877; interviews with Generals Ord and Sheridan; the Murphy Temperance Movement and W.C.T.U. activities; the Liberal Republican movement of 1872; the Greenback Party; the Chicago World's Fair of 1893; political figures such as John S. Carlile, John G. Carlisle, John T. McGraw, John W. Mason, Frank Hereford, John E. Kenna, John A. Logan, James G. Blaine, and "Sockless" Jerry Simpson.
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Henri Jean Mugler Diary and Memoir, 1838/1899 0.44 Linear Feet Summary: 5 1/4 in. (3 reels of microfilm (38 vols), 1.75 in. each)

Mugler, Henri Jean
Diary and memoir of a Confederate soldier, railroad laborer, and shop owner from Grafton. The memoir begins with Mugler's birth in Alsace-Lorraine in 1838, and covers his immigration to the United States; enlistment in the United States Army in 1851; military duty in New York, Boston, Rhode Island, Texas, California, and the Washington Territory where he participated in the expedition against the Yakima Indians as a member of Company B, Third Regiment, United States Artillery, under Phil Sheridan; and his return to Orange County, Virginia, where following the passage of the Secession Ordinance he enlisted in the Thirteenth Virginia Infantry serving as chief musician. The memoir concludes with Mugler's military career during 1861-1862. The diary covers the remainder of his military service, 1862-1864, and his confinement as a war prisoner at Elmira, New York, 1864-1865. Following the war, Mugler returned to Washington, D.C., and eventually gained employment with the National Cemetery Corps, working at various Virginia battlefields. While in Virginia he served as a delegate to the Virginia Republican Convention of 1867. He worked at the National Cemetery at Grafton and for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, eventually becoming superintendent of painters on the Road Division in West Virginia. After 1874 he worked briefly as a self-employed painter, and then opened a paint and hardware store in Grafton which he managed until the end of his life. Subjects include the Battle of Mine Run, the retreat from Antietam, the Battle of the Wilderness, prison life at Elmira, New York; reconstruction in Virginia; railroading and the railroad towns of Keyser, Oakland (Maryland), Parkersburg, Fairmont, and Wheeling; the strikes of 1877; interviews with Generals Ord and Sheridan; the Murphy Temperance Movement and W.C.T.U. activities; the Liberal Republican movement of 1872; the Greenback Party; the Chicago World's Fair of 1893; political figures such as John S. Carlile, John G. Carlisle, John T. McGraw, John W. Mason, Frank Hereford, John E. Kenna, John A. Logan, James G. Blaine, and "Sockless" Jerry Simpson.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

Isaac McNeel (b.1830) Papers, 1850/1908

3.7 Linear Feet Summary: 3 ft. 7 1/2 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 small flat storage box, 3 in.); (1 account book, 1 1/2 in.)
Correspondence, legal and business papers, mercantile records and tax receipt books of Isaac McNeel, who operated a store at Edray and Mill Point, Pocahontas County, West Virginia, served as sheriff of the county, operated a gristmill, raised livestock, and was appointed provost marshal of the county in 1862 by the Confederate Army. The collection also includes letters and school reports of McNeel's sons, Winters and Summers, while students at Washington and Lee and the Medical and Law Departments of the University of Virginia, 1893-1897. Other school material pertains to the Hillsboro Male and Female Academy and the Lewisburg Female Institute. Subjects include mercantile and cattle trade with Baltimore and Richmond; business conditions in the l850s and in Richmond during the Civil War; slave hiring; ginseng trade; agriculture; the American Party, 1855; Henry A. Wise; Virginia Secession Convention; effect of the Union blockade on Richmond commerce; speculation in whiskey, tobacco, and cattle during the Civil War; and postwar economic and political conditions in the Pocahontas County area.
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Isaac McNeel (b.1830) Papers, 1850/1908 3.7 Linear Feet Summary: 3 ft. 7 1/2 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 small flat storage box, 3 in.); (1 account book, 1 1/2 in.)

McNeel, Isaac (b. 1830)
Correspondence, legal and business papers, mercantile records and tax receipt books of Isaac McNeel, who operated a store at Edray and Mill Point, Pocahontas County, West Virginia, served as sheriff of the county, operated a gristmill, raised livestock, and was appointed provost marshal of the county in 1862 by the Confederate Army. The collection also includes letters and school reports of McNeel's sons, Winters and Summers, while students at Washington and Lee and the Medical and Law Departments of the University of Virginia, 1893-1897. Other school material pertains to the Hillsboro Male and Female Academy and the Lewisburg Female Institute. Subjects include mercantile and cattle trade with Baltimore and Richmond; business conditions in the l850s and in Richmond during the Civil War; slave hiring; ginseng trade; agriculture; the American Party, 1855; Henry A. Wise; Virginia Secession Convention; effect of the Union blockade on Richmond commerce; speculation in whiskey, tobacco, and cattle during the Civil War; and postwar economic and political conditions in the Pocahontas County area.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

J. Hughes, Letter Regarding Response of Berkeley County Citizens to the Ordinance of Secession, 1861

0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 2 pages (1 folder)
Letter of May 14, 1861 regarding response of citizens of Berkeley County, Virginia to the Ordinance of Secession and the Wheeling Convention, authored by Berkeley County resident J. Hughes from Martinsburg to Convention delegate J.S. Bowers who was representing Berkeley County. The letter records strong Union sentiment in the County, and a meeting of Berkeley County residents in support of the Preamble and Resolutions adopted at the Clarksburg Convention of April 22 that led to the Wheeling Convention of May 14. The letter also refers to a printed account of the meeting. The Ordinance of Secession was passed by the Virginia Legislature on April 17, 1861 in response to President Lincoln's call for troops on April 15 after Fort Sumter was attacked on April 12. A vote by Virginians on Secession occurred on May 23 leading to the US Civil War.
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J. Hughes, Letter Regarding Response of Berkeley County Citizens to the Ordinance of Secession, 1861 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 2 pages (1 folder)

Letter of May 14, 1861 regarding response of citizens of Berkeley County, Virginia to the Ordinance of Secession and the Wheeling Convention, authored by Berkeley County resident J. Hughes from Martinsburg to Convention delegate J.S. Bowers who was representing Berkeley County. The letter records strong Union sentiment in the County, and a meeting of Berkeley County residents in support of the Preamble and Resolutions adopted at the Clarksburg Convention of April 22 that led to the Wheeling Convention of May 14. The letter also refers to a printed account of the meeting. The Ordinance of Secession was passed by the Virginia Legislature on April 17, 1861 in response to President Lincoln's call for troops on April 15 after Fort Sumter was attacked on April 12. A vote by Virginians on Secession occurred on May 23 leading to the US Civil War.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

John J. Davis (1824-1916) Papers, 1824/1935

3.9 Linear Feet 3 ft. 10 1/2 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 flat storage box, 4 in.)
Papers of John J. Davis, a lawyer and politician from Clarksburg, West Virginia. This collection contains correspondence, account books, photographs, essays, speeches, and other material. Also included in this collection are writings of Davis' granddaughter, Julia McDonald Davis. There are also artifacts, including a school slate and three leather billfolds. Please see "Scope and Contents" for further detail.
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John J. Davis (1824-1916) Papers, 1824/1935 3.9 Linear Feet 3 ft. 10 1/2 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 flat storage box, 4 in.)

Davis, John J. (John James), 1835-1916
Papers of John J. Davis, a lawyer and politician from Clarksburg, West Virginia. This collection contains correspondence, account books, photographs, essays, speeches, and other material. Also included in this collection are writings of Davis' granddaughter, Julia McDonald Davis. There are also artifacts, including a school slate and three leather billfolds. Please see "Scope and Contents" for further detail.

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