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Papers of Judge Gideon D. Camden (1805-1891) of Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia, and papers of his grandson Wilson Lee Camden (1870-1958). Gideon D. Camden was a lawyer, Democratic politician, member of the Virginia Convention of 1850-1851, circuit judge, and state senator (1872-1876). His papers include correspondence, legal and business papers, surveys and plats, and printed material. Subjects include Virginia, West Virginia, and national politics; the railroad, oil, timber, and coal industries; and Camden's law practice. Wilson Lee Camden papers include correspondence, legal papers, surveys and plats, printed material, business manuscripts, photographs, map, and ledgers. Subjects include the settlement of his grandfather's estate, and extensive coal, timber, land, railroad, and oil interests in West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. See Scope and Content Note for more information.

Papers of Judge Gideon D. Camden (1805-1891) of Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia. Camden was a lawyer, Democratic politician, member of the Virginia Convention of 1850-1851, circuit judge, and state senator (1872-1876). Includes correspondence, legal documents, photocopies of printed material, and land grants. Subjects of the correspondence include West Virginia politics; the elections of 1840, 1860, and 1861; Reconstruction; the Flick Amendment; Southern sentiment in Clarksburg; and the location of the capital. Other papers deal with Indian scouting between the West Fork and Buckhannon Rivers during the Revolution; land speculation in Harrison and nearby counties; New York merchants and the Civil War; public schools in Shepherdstown, 1850; the Meade Collegiate Institute; Mount de Chantal Academy; Wheeling Female Seminary; the Chicago, Parkersburg, and Norfolk Railroad; and the Virginia Debt Question. There are several items of correspondence of the Reverend John S. Martin which relate to Methodism in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C., particularly camp meetings, parish life and the slave question. There are also original and photocopied land grants signed by James Monroe, Edmund Randolph, Patrick Henry, and Henry Lee (late 1700s to early 1800s). Correspondents include Judge John J. Allen, Robert M.T. Hunter, Alexander Campbell, Judge E. J. Pitts, James A. Hall, W.P. Cooper, George W. Thompson, Judge Hugh W. Shuffey, Thomas Maslin, William E. Arnold, J. M. Mason, and Samuel D. Tompkins.

Papers of Judge Gideon D. Camden (1805-1891) of Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia. Camden was a lawyer, Democratic politician, member of the Virginia Convention of 1850-1851, circuit judge, and state senator (1872-1876). Includes business correspondence, financial records, legal papers, and court records. Materials include the early land papers of Camden's law partner, John J. Allen, and the legal papers of the firm Allen and Camden, which deal primarily with land suits and surveys in Harrison and surrounding counties. Later legal and business papers relate to the development of the West Virginia oil fields and Camden's extensive holdings in mineral and timber lands in central West Virginia. Other papers concern the Constitutional Convention of 1872, subsequent ratification, attempts to remove the legislature to Clarksburg, and West Virginia politics in general, particularly the period 1860-1874. Other subjects include Diss Debar's attempts to stimulate immigration from Alsace-Lorraine; H.G. Davis and the development of West Virginia railroads; and a debate on Christian baptism at Fairmont, 1872, between Benjamin Franklin and Professor Solomon of West Virginia University. Correspondents include Henry G. Davis, John J. Davis, J.H. Diss Debar, Johnson N. Camden, John J. Allen, Spencer Dayton, John S. Carlile, John Bassel, James M. Bennett, David Goff, Lot M. Morrill, James S. Wheat, Alpheus J. Haymond, John Jay Jackson, Jr. and Sr., George R. Latham, Nimrod Dent, Benjamin F. Martin, Okey Johnson, J. Marshall Hagans, J.W. Arbogast, and W.J. Bland. For partial inventory of business correspondence, see control folder. For series list, see Scope and Content Note.

Correspondence to Judge Gideon D. Camden (1805-1891) of Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia. Camden was a lawyer, Democratic politician, member of the Virginia Convention of 1850-1851, circuit judge, and state senator (1872-1876). The letters discuss antebellum Virginia politics, legal cases, land deals, banking, river improvement, personal business, and family relations. Correspondents include George W. Berlin, Johnson Newlon Camden, R.P. Camden, John S. Carlile, John A. Dille, John Hall, A.F. Haymond, George A. Jackson, John J. Jackson Jr., Z. Jacob, B.H. Lurty, Peter G. Van Winkle, Benjamin Wilson, and Samuel Woods. See inventory in control folder.

This collection comprises the personal and business correspondence, as well as financial and legal papers of the Goshorn family of Wheeling, West Virginia, including papers from members of several allied families. Highlights include letters from William S. Goshorn during his Civil War imprisonment and letters from a Virginia legislator in the House of Delegates (1833). An addendum (2012/09) contains three ledgers of John Goshorn (1827-1874). See the Scope and Content Note for more details.

Routine correspondence from the thirty-first governor of West Virginia, Gaston Caperton, about suggestions for government reorganization and changes in finance.

Correspondence and writings of Granville Davisson Hall, reporter for the Wheeling Intelligencer during the Wheeling conventions, 1861-1863; secretary of state of West Virginia, 1865-1873; and author of numerous works of fiction and historical studies about West Virginia.

Personal and business papers of the Martinsburg agriculturalist and banker who was a representative of the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington and a member of the West Virginia Senate, 1907-1913. Much of the material relates to fruit growing and marketing and other business activities of Silver, as well as Democrat politics. Subjects covered include: requests and discussions of the merits of political appointments; lobbying within and through the Democrat Party for agricultural interests; and discussion of campaign efforts and the prospects of electing Democrats to national and state offices.

Scrapbook of the editor of the Sutton MOUNTAINEER, member of the Wheeling Convention, 1861, and the state legislature, 1867. Clippings pertain to election returns for Braxton County and the nation; Taylor's editorials; letters to the editor; population statistics; and politics. A section of the volume consists of Taylor's record of visits to the county schools as County Superintendent of Free Schools, 1869, and a record of personal accounts.

Papers of Harley M. Kilgore, U.S. Senator from West Virginia. Includes typescripts, clippings, printed materials, and correspondence regarding U.S. Senate voting and campaigning; the Senate Judiciary Committee; correspondence with Federal government agencies, various individuals, and West Virginia state agencies; Senate legislation on a variety of topics, including appropriation, education, health, and housing; various West Virginia subjects and individuals; Kilgore's speeches, press releases, and radio broadcasts; and other topics. See Historical Note for more information on Senator Kilgore. See Scope and Content Note for more details.