Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

West Virginia and Regional History Center

West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Primary Collecting Areas:
West Virginia and Appalachia History and Culture
Description:
The West Virginia & Regional History Center preserves and provides access to the records that document the history and culture of the state and the central Appalachian region. The Center is part of West Virginia University Libraries.
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Start Over Repository West Virginia and Regional History Center Subjects Railroads

Jacob Williamson Marshall (b.1830) Papers 1.6 Linear Feet Summary: 1 ft. 6 1/2 in. (3 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 3 1/2 in.)

Marshall, Jacob Williamson
Papers of a livestock broker, farmer, and merchant of Mingo Flats, Randolph County, who was associated with John T. McGraw in the development of Marlinton and the purchase and sale of land, coal, and timber in neighboring Pocahontas County. There are some items of Civil War interest, while the bulk of the correspondence relates to the marketing of ginseng, beeswax, wool, venison, animal pelts, and farm machinery. There is significant correspondence relating to state politics and railroads. Correspondents include J.M. Bennett, J.N. Camden, David Goff, John J. Jackson, McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, John T. McGraw, and The Pocahontas Development Company. Also includes some material of G.E. Jarvis, father of Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day.
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J.B. Ford Legal Papers 0 Linear Feet Summary: 2 folders

Ford, J. B.
Suit papers and correspondence in the case of the BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD VS. J.B. FORD, general agent of the railroad at Cumberland and Wheeling. The papers include copies of documents relative to the building of the railroad from Cumberland westward to Parkersburg and Wheeling and the activities of Ford as general agent at Cumberland and Wheeling, 1852-1874. Most of Ford's evidence deals with the role of the railroad during the Civil War and its relations with the state of West Virginia. There are copies of letters from John S. Carlile, J.W. Garrett, George B. McClellan, Francis H. Pierpont, and Edwin M. Stanton. The correspondence is with Ford's attorney, William P. Preston of Baltimore.
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John Jacob Cornwell (1867-1953), Governor, Papers and Records 78.2 Linear Feet Summary: 78 ft. 2 1/4 in. (184 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (2 small flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (1 wrapped package, 5 1/2 in.); (2 oversize folders, 1/4 in.); (1 rolled storage tube, 4 in.)

Cornwell, John J. (John Jacob), 1867-1953

Papers of the fifteenth governor of West Virginia who was a newspaper publisher in Romney, an orchardman, lawyer, and counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. There are a few papers of W.B. Cornwell. The collection includes: personal and business correspondence, 1896-1953; correspondence as governor, 1916-1922; legal papers, ca.1843-1916; and material relating to "Cornwell Day," 1931; Baltimore and Ohio and other railroads; Romney Orchard Company, ca. 1916-1919; South Branch Development Company, ca.1913-1926; newspaper publishing; and other subjects. Box 100 includes papers regarding women's suffrage, including a proclamation by Governor Cornwell to extend the legislative session of 1920 in order to address the suffrage amendment, among other legislative concerns.

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Johnson Newlon Camden (1828-1908) Papers 52.6 Linear Feet Summary: 52 ft. 7 in. (95 document cases, 5 in. each); (48 small flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (4 large flat storage boxes, 3 in. each)

Camden, J. N. (Johnson Newlon), 1828-1908
Correspondence, maps, business records and other papers of a U.S. Senator, Democratic politician, and promoter of the oil industry, railroads, and coal and timber resources of West Virginia. The papers regard Camden's purchase of land in the 1850s; his activities in oil production and refining, 1860-1875; his presidency of the Camden Consolidated Oil Company and the Baltimore United Oil Company; the affairs of the Stewart Brick Company of Parkersburg; the Virginia debt controversy; and his development of railroads, including the Ohio River Railroad, the West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad, and Monongahela River Railroad, 1879-1892. See the "Scope and Content Note" for more information.
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John Thomas McGraw (1856-1920) Papers 3.75 Linear Feet Summary: 3 ft. 9 in. (9 document cases, 5 in. each)

McGraw, John Thomas, 1856-1920

Papers of a Grafton attorney who was a lawyer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and prosecuting attorney of Taylor County, West Virginia, assistant to Governor J.B. Jackson, collector of internal revenue for West Virginia, and a member of the Democratic National Committee. There are case papers and letters pertaining to McGraw's law practice; records relating to the purchase, sale, and development of timber, coal, and oil lands; and records of his directorships in the Grafton and Greenbrier Railroad, and the Iron Valley and Morgantown Railroad companies. The papers reflect many aspects of activities of the Democratic Party in West Virginia, ca. 1880-1899. There is a scrapbook of Rose McGraw relating largely to Mount de Chantal Academy at Wheeling. There is also a Yale Law School Senior Examination for 1876. Correspondents include J.N. Camden, John J. Cornwell, H.G. Davis, Alston G. Dayton, C.J. Faulkner, A.B. Fleming, John B. Floyd, Alvaro F. Gibbens, Septimus/Septimius Hall, J.J. Jackson, John J. Jacob, Virgil A. Lewis, Earl W. Oglebay, William A. Ohley, George C. Sturgiss, A.B. White, Israel C. White, W.P. Willey, and William Wilson.

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Lawrence William Nuttall (1857-1933) Papers 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Nuttall, Lawrence William, 1857-1933

One letter from J. Haynes Miller to Dr. Earl. L. Core, n.d, concerning Howard B. Tully, Sr. and Jr. and explanation of his source for the enclosed material on John Nuttall; one letter from Howard B. Tully, Jr. to Mr. Miller regarding the Nuttall material.

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Lewis Family Papers 6.9 Linear Feet Summary: 6 ft. 10 3/4 in. (14 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 folder, 1/4 in.); (1 oversize folder, 1/2 in.); (4 boxes, 12 in.)

Lewis family
Personal and business papers of the Lewis family, mainly of John D. (1800-1882), Charles C., Sr. (b.1839), and Charles C., Jr. (b.1865), of Kanawha County. For the period 1825-1875 there are papers of various members of the Ruffner, Dickinson, and Wilson families of West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, and other states. The business papers relate to farming operations, the purchase and sale of slaves, salt manufacturing and trade, the Old Sweet Springs Company, coal, iron, oil, lumbering, railroads, and real estate in Kanawha, Clay, Boone, Fayette, and Nicholas counties. There are newspaper clippings, speeches, and other papers reflecting the Lewis' interests in the Democratic Party in the period 1914-1920. Settlement papers and correspondence regarding the estates of John D. Lewis, and Joel, Daniel, and Andrew Ruffner are in the collection. The personal papers include diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and letters. Travel accounts in the United States, South America, and Europe are given in the correspondence, as well as comments on schools in West Virginia and Virginia; the building of a church in Kanawha County in 1834; missionary work in Colombia, South America, 1874-1875; Civil War and postwar conditions in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri; conditions at Camp Chase, in the Civil War; and material relating to World War I.
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Lewis Maxwell Papers 0.2 Linear Feet Summary: 1 1/2 in. (2 folders)

Maxwell, Lewis, 1790-1862
Papers of Lewis Maxwell, an attorney at Weston including primarily letters from clients concerning land in West Virginia, 1840-1859. Correspondents include J.H. Diss Debar, John S. Carlile, Matthew Edmiston, J.M. Bennett, and Benjamin H. Latrobe. Other subjects covered include railroad legislation and construction and the surfacing of the Weston-Clarksburg road.
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Lyman Stedman, Farmer and Politician, Diary 0.15 Linear Feet Summary: 1 3/4 in. (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Stedman, Lyman
Diary of Lyman Stedman (1824-1916), a farmer and former member of the House of Delegates, 1877, from Brown's Island, Hancock County. Entries concern farm operation, Republican political activities on the district and county level, comments on state and national organizations, floods on the Ohio River, steamboat and barge traffic, Hopedale School, Methodist Episcopal Church, railroad travel, circuses and fairs, taxes and land valuations, and Memorial Day.
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