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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.

A travel journal, ca. 1857; a diary, 1941; survey records, 1894-1896; account books, 1788-1811 - 1891-1894; county and parish tax levies, 1800; a book of geographic terms and facts kept by Susan I. Branson in 1836; and a Branson family record book. People mentioned include Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. Places mentioned include: Cincinnati, Ohio; and, in West Virginia, Romney, Evansville, Clarksburg, Parkersburg, Coolville, Athens, Branch Mountain, Moorefield, Front Run Valley, Camp Branch Run, Sapling Lick Ridge, Hanging Rock Ridge, Little Ridge, Cacapon River, Kim's Run, Lost River, and South Branch Valley. Subject areas covered include family and women's history, cattle business in Hardy County, and business dealings between the South Branch Valley and Baltimore and other east coast cities.

Birth, marriage, and death records, registers and indexes, deed, will, map, land, lease, and minute books. Indexes of grants, leases, and wills. Surveyor's maps, surveyor records, and survey record indexes. Table of town lots, appraisement, and sale book. Mechanic's lien records, contract records, commissioner's records petitions and records, repatriation petitions. Naturalization index and declarations of intention records. These records reflect the economic and population growth typical of WV after the Civil War. The naturalization papers reflect immigration patterns to this coal mining section of the state.

County and circuit clerks records, arranged chronologically. Records for the years 1835-1857, include bonds of ministers, tavern operators, ordinaries, ferries, and county officials; estate settlements; records pertaining to road, bridge, and public building; records of the overseer of the poor; school commissioners' and surveyors' appointments; and lists of county officials. Records for 1863-1874 include county supervisors' records; records of the Fairmont and Wheeling Turnpike; and muster certificates and reenlistment and bounty lists for the First, Second, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the First, Third, Fifth, Sixth West Virginia Cavalry, the First Light Artillery Regiment, and the Forty-fifth Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Papers for 1867-1907 include justice of the peace records, United States Admiralty Court records, and road surveyors' statements.

Papers of Thomas Tavenner and the Tavenner family of western Virginia, including correspondence; memoirs; journals; financial and legal documents; pamphlets; newspapers; and other material. Much of the material in this collection regards the Civil War. The Tavenner family were Confederate sympathizers.

Papers of the Tavenner family of western Virginia, including correspondence, newspaper clippings, maps, and other material. Much of the material in this collection regards the Civil War. The Tavenner family was sympathetic to the Confederate cause. One member of the family, William Cabell Tavenner, served in the Confederate army; his letters are part of the collection. This collection also contains material related to families allied to the Tavenner family by marriage, particularly the Withers family, including material regarding Alexander Scott Withers and his book Chronicles of Border Warfare . The collection is organized into six series, including: 1. Genealogy (1868-1952); 2. Correspondence (1778-1953); 3. Maps (1863, 1939, undated); 4. Miscellaneous (1822-1950, undated); 5. Newspaper Clippings (1829-1931); and 6. Oversize Materials (1829-1861). Please see "Scope and Content Note" and "Historical Note" for further information.

Eighteen diaries, 1890-1934, of Samuel R. Jenkins, a civil engineer from Grafton. There are lengthy entries for the period, 1890-1892, when Jenkins was a student at West Virginia University. He did surveys and supervised construction work in various parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, read widely, and commented on works of Henry George, John W. Draper, and John Fiske. There are photographs of Jenkins and of an engineering job done by him for the American Bridge Company at Ambridge, Pennsylvania, in 1902. There is also a student laboratory manual containing direction for a course of experiments in chemistry.

The day book and papers of Dr. Squire Bosworth and family. Squire Bosworth was one of the earliest physicians of Randolph County, and his day book records details of his medical practice indicating common procedures and remedies as well as charges and costs during the early nineteenth century. Bosworth was also a deputy and county clerk of Randolph County, and included among the papers are court documents. Along with his son, Squire Newton Bosworth, the family acquired interests in landholding which is reflected in deeds, surveys, correspondence and tax receipts from Texas and West Virginia. Among the correspondence is an 1885 letter from William L. Wilson surveying his Congressional re-election possibilities.