Collections

Start Over Date range 1972 Subjects Diaries and journals. Level Collection

Brooke Family Papers, 1814/1990, bulk 1880/1960 1.81 Linear Feet Summary: 1 ft., 9.75 in. (2 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 document case, 2 in.); (1 artifact box, 3 in.); (1 flat storage box, 1.5 in.); (3 reels of microfilm, 1.75 in. each)

Brooks family
Correspondence, clippings, biographical sketches, photographs, artifacts, and other items relating to the family of St. George Tucker Brooke (1844-1914), a professor at West Virginia University College of Law, 1878-1909. Correspondence includes business and personal letters to and from St. George Tucker Brooke and Charles Frederick Tucker Brooke, a Rhodes Scholar and Shakespearean authority at Yale; letters between Francis (Frank) Brooke to Mrs. Mary Brooke while he served in the U.S. and France during World War I (1918-1919); and letters from James Harold in Ireland to his son James in New York (ca. 1870). Other items include a surveyor's call book for Tucker County (1856-1857), which includes notes on the Tucker-Randolph County boundary; "A Narrative of My Life: for My Family," 1763-1849 by Judge Francis T. Brooke; a manuscript recipe book (1814); and microfilmed copy of typescript "Autobiography of St. George Tucker Brooke, Written for His Children" (reel 3). More detail about collection contents can be found in the control folder.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Brooks F. McCabe, Collector, Papers, 1770/2019 2.58 Linear Feet 3 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 index card box, 12 in.; 1 flat storage box, 4 in.

Two personal diaries of R.E. McCabe of Charleston, West Virginia, containing notes on trips to Europe (1924) and California (1937). On the California trip he briefly describes Kansas City, Boulder, Denver, Santa Fe, Taos, and Los Angeles, muses on real estate values, and notes oil rigs and pipelines. There is a short genealogy of the Hayward family. The diaries also include references to the Ward, Fleming, Brooks, and Watson families. Also includes photographs of members of the Ward, Fleming, Brooks, and Watson families.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Ellison Family Papers, 1819/1977 3.3 Linear Feet Summary: 3 ft. 4 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each)

Ellison family

The correspondence, wills, deeds, receipts, recipes, remedies, and genealogy, of the Ellison-Dunlap Petrie families of Monroe County. The letters discuss family and business matters, enslaved Africans, the Civil War, and settlement of some family members in Kansas. There are papers about land and farming, including surveys, deeds, memos, and accounts as well as correspondence and printed material about the WVU Agricultural Extension Service. There are ledgers for Han Creek Mill and an account book of William Petrie. There is also an 1831 journal of William Petrie with entries about his travels to England, Cuba, New Orleans, and along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. There are separations from this collection of photographs, pamphlets, newspapers, and broadsides.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Elma H. Martin Papers, 1917/1979 0.8 Linear Feet Summary: 10 in. (2 document cases, 5 in. each)

Martin, Elma H.
Correspondence, newsletters, news clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, and materials relating to the family of Elma Hicks Martin, originally of Webster Springs, West Virginia. The bulk of the material documents everyday life of Mrs. Martin's sisters, Mary Lee and Aretas Eudora Hicks. The former was a high school home economics teacher in Colorado, and the latter a home economics teacher at West Liberty State College, West Virginia. The correspondence of Mary Lee Hicks relates to her personal and professional life, covering her illness, marriages, and formal education. The Aretas Eudora Hicks correspondence cover two trips to Europe and her career in home economics.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Harry A. Goldsmith Papers, 1951/1974 3.75 Linear Feet Summary: 3 ft. 8 1/2 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 scrapbook, 4 in.); (1 wrapped package, 1/2 in.)

Goldsmith, Harry A.
Personal papers including greeting cards, post cards, news clippings, autographs of prominent individuals, travel brochures, letters and diaries of Harry Goldsmith, a Morgantown clothing store proprietor.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

John W. Davis, Lawyer, Papers, 1842/1978 3.54 Linear Feet 3 ft. 6.5 in. (4 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 small flat storage box, 3 in.); (1 large flat storage box, 3 in.); (1 large flat storage box, 3.5 in.); (1 box, 4 in.); (2 boxes, 4 1/2 in. each); (5 reels of microfilm, 1.75 in. each)

Davis, John W. (John William), 1873-1955

Scrapbooks, diaries, correspondence and papers of the noted lawyer and 1924 presidential aspirant for the Democrats, John W. Davis, kept by his daughter, a famous author, Julia (McDonald) Davis Adams. Noteworthy is a 1948 official publication in tribute to Davis' career as Solicitor General of the United States (1913-1918). There is a typescript copy of his diary recounting his wartime and post-war tenure (1918-1921) as the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. His letters include some of his candid feelings about the political events of his day such as the New Deal and tributes to his scholarly approach to practicing law from Supreme Court Justices Robert H. Jackson and Felix Frankfurter.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Joseph McGill, Diary of a Coal Mine Surveyor and Engineer, 1854/1987, bulk 1854/1856 0.1 Linear Feet 3/4 in. (1 folder)

Gill, Joseph
Copy of a transcription of the diary of Joseph McGill (1807-1874), an engineer and surveyor who emigrated from England to the United States. During the period covered by the diary (1854-1856), McGill was working for the "Coal River and Kanawha Mining and Manufacturing Company Coal Mines" at its property along the Big Coal River, Brier Creek Section, Boone County, (West) Virginia. The diary records McGill's daily work activities, including tasks, locations, and travel, as well as work performed by and wages paid to his workmen. The diary was transcribed by Joseph Patrick McGill (a descendant of Joseph McGill), who also added an introduction to the diary containing biographical, genealogical, and other information. The original transcription of this diary is located at Marshall University.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Logan Osborne Family and Business Records, 1761/1982 0.15 Linear Feet Summary: 1 3/4 in. (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Osborne, Logan
A ledger and financial records of Logan Osborne (1836-39) also containing the will of Balamm Osborne. The ledger contains accounts of an assortment of general store goods from perishables such as food and candles to durable goods such as tools and carriages. There are Osborne family deeds, land contracts and letters about family matters and debt (1808-89). There are early nineteenth century state bank script from Louisiana, Virginia, and North Carolina. There are land indentures and legal papers from eighteenth century Virginia, mainly of Matthew Rankin and Thomas Rutherford who contended for property in Ohio County. There is the thirty-eight page diary of Cleon Moore, a Confederate soldier from Charles Town. As a volunteer regiment member he was eyewitness and participant in the siege and capture of John Brown at Harpers Ferry. His unit was again called out prior to Virginia's secession resolution. He recounts their early maneuvering, stationing and being consolidated in the Virginia Second Cavalry which served at the First Battle of Bull Run. The account ends with the early 1862 campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley of General "Stonewall" Jackson. There is Civil War related material of Logan Osborne including records of loans to the Confederate government, letters to family and friends recounting and justifying the events and cause of the Confederacy and an 1861 January 28 broadside, entitled: "To The People of Jefferson County...", of Logan Osborne as a Unionist candidate to the Virginia Secession Convention. Also there are early West Virginia political papers pertaining to Jefferson County such as an attempt to move the county seat to Sheperdstown. Also included are George Shutt business letters and certificates as a geologist; certificates from the United Daughters of the Confederacy to Mary M. Shutt; and Osborne family history, genealogy and obituaries of descendents.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Margaret M. Simon, Compiler, "Trips from Ohio to New Germany in Preston County, Virginia 1826, 1833, 1835", 1825/1986 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 2 items (41 pages)

Simon, David
Transcript of "Trips from Ohio to New Germany in Preston County, Virginia 1826, 1833, 1835; Journal entries taken from the Tagebuch [Diary] of David Simon, Boardman Township, Mahoning County, Ohio; translated from the German original with an introduction and indexes by Margaret Miller Simon." The journal entries record the travel experiences of David Simon from Mahoning County, Ohio to Washington, Pennsylvania and New Germany in Preston County near present-day Aurora; includes a record of relatives visited, including the Simon, Reinhart, Stemple, and Easterday (Ostertag) families. Also includes copies of selected pages of David Simon's original manuscript journal in its original German.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Maxwell Family Papers, 1845/2017, bulk 1845/1950 10.1 Linear Feet Summary: 10 ft. 1/2 in. (20 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each); (1 large flat storage box, 3 in.); (2 wrapped scrapbooks, 1 in. each); (1 wrapped diary, 2 1/2 in.); (wrapped galley proofs, 1 in. ); (wrapped diplomas, 2 items); (3 wrapped ledgers, 1 in. each); (1 card file box, 4 in.) 0.01 Gigabytes 1 .pdf file

Maxwell family
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.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Content Warning

ARVAS is an aggregator of archival resources. ARVAS does not have control of the descriptive language used in our members’ finding aids.

Finding aids may contain historical terms and phrases, reflecting the shared attitudes and values of the community from which they were collected, but are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical or mental ability; religion; sex; and sexual orientation and gender identity.

Many institutions and organizations are in the process of reviewing and revising their descriptive language, with the intent to describe materials in more humanizing, inclusive, and harm-reductive ways. As members revise their descriptive language, their changes will eventually be reflected in their ARVAS finding aids.