Collections

Papers of Dr. Abner Osburn, a physician who practiced in Jefferson County, West Virginia in the late nineteenth century. The collection contains Civil War material, including a letter, currency, and a pass from Harpers Ferry. Other items include bonds for the purchase of slaves, programs from various collegiate events, certificates for the legal practice of medicine, correspondence, and other material. Please see "Scope and Content Note" for further information.

Account book of Matthew Wallace, a Mill Point, West Virginia, physician, containing notes, a list of medical books, and the medical account of George B. Moffett; sentiment book of Anna McNeel Wallace, 1883-1886; and typescript copies of a sermon and journals, 1786-1788, of John Smith, a Methodist circuit rider, pertaining to his labors on the Greenbrier, Redstone, and Holston circuits.

Deeds and other legal papers of a farmer from Jefferson County, West Virginia. The collection also includes several legal documents, 1874-1877, pertaining to Dr. Nicholas Marmion of Harpers Ferry.

Account books of John Sheetz (1842-1882) with some pages used to record the words to Confederate songs; Doctor's (N.D. Pairan's) account book, 1836-1838; William Martin's account book for a general store, 1777-1783; and two ledger books used as scrapbooks, containing mainly notices of deaths and marriages.

A scrapbook and clippings, advertisements, letters, manuscripts of speeches, and notes on medical practice, compiled by Dr. John Frissell (1810-1882), a physician at the Wheeling Hospital and medical superintendent of military prisoners and soldiers in Wheeling during the Civil War. The scrapbook is a folio volume, Register of the Sick and Wounded, U.S.A. General Hospital. There is also information on the Medical Society of the City of Wheeling, the West Virginia Medical Society, medical conventions in West Virginia, and Wheeling local history.

Papers of Dr. Margaret Byrnside Ballard (1900-1991), regarding the history of Monroe County, West Virginia, and the Ballard family. As a genealogist and author of local history, she was an avid collector of the historical materials contained in this collection, most of which relate to her family and Monroe County. The collection includes personal papers, business records, historical and genealogical research material, scrapbooks, bibles, memorabilia, artifacts, photographs, broadsides, paintings, and postage stamps. See the Historical Note for more information about Dr. Ballard.

Daybooks for the practice of Dr. Marmaduke Dent (1801-1880), a physician in Monongalia County, and for a general store in Granville.

Personal, medical, and business papers, account books, and daily journals of a Harpers Ferry physician (d. 1883). Subjects include the practice of a small town doctor, his related business interests, and the education and careers of his children, three of whom became medical doctors. Included are the papers of William V. Marmion (1840-1922), who studied eye surgery in Vienna and established a practice in Washington, D.C. There are letters from George Marmion, acting surgeon and secretary of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and letters of Robert A. Marmion (1844-1907), who was a naval surgeon and the first president of the Naval Medical School in Washington, D.C. Many of the letters, especially after 1883, are those of the Marmion heirs and are concerned with family, personal, and financial affairs. Some letters shed light on the condition of the gold market after the Civil War and family activities as prominent members of the Roman Catholic faith. There are a few fragmentary records regarding John Hancock Hall, a relative, who invented and patented the first American breechloading rifle in 1811. He was later hired by the government in 1819 to establish and operate a "rifle works" in close proximity to the federal armory at Harpers Ferry (see box 17).

Correspondence, business papers, and an account book of Peter T. Laishley, a Methodist minister, physician, and merchant in Monongalia County. There are papers on the settlement of the estate of Richard Laishley in England, marriages performed by Laishley; Laishley family birth and marriage notes; accounts for services as a minister and physician, 1833-1839; and other items on church and local history.