Search

Business and official papers of Monongalia sheriff, John M. Brand and his deputy, William N. Brand, 1861-1872; letter from E. I. Moore of Woodburn Seminary; class prophecy, June 1898 by Friend E. Clark of West Virginia University; and diaries kept by Miss Willa Brand during a European trip, 1913, and a journey through the British Isles in 1924.

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.

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.

Diaries of Thomas M. Leeper, 1886-1950 (Box 1). Samuel Leeper wrote a few of the first entries, and some family members wrote some of the last entries documenting Thomas Leeper's last days. Subjects in the diaries include family life; work life; weather; encounters with visitors, friends, and neighbors; and travels. Counties traveled include Calhoun, Clay, Lewis, Harrison, Marion, Wirt and more. Inserts in the diaries include receipts, penciled sketches, and other paraphernalia. Added entry at the end of the 1950 diary: "Thomas M. Leeper died 3:30 the morning of July 31-1950, funeral August 2 in Methodist Church, preacher-Rev. McKinney."

Collection includes family correspondence of the Bowman, Veach, and Leeper families. Manuscripts include a recounting of the Civil War event known as "Jones' Raid." In another document Nathaniel Cochrane, an ancestor of Thomas Leeper, recounts his capture and imprisonment by indigenous people, along with a biography of Cochrane. Daily life for that time is captured in "Home Life of the Leeper Family." Other typescript histories include "Monongah," Thomas Leeper's diary regarding heavy rains and high waters of 1888, a history of West Monongah High School, and "History of the Leeper Family."

Papers, mainly of Daniel and Daniel R. McNeill, stock dealers and mill owners of Hardy County. The early correspondence relates to the purchase and sale of livestock and the driving of herds to markets in the east. There is correspondence from members of the family in the vicinity of Chillicothe, Ohio, relating to farm and market conditions and commenting on travel from Hardy County to Ohio. There are also references to river traffic on the Scioto and Ohio rivers and to the quantity of merchandise being shipped to the New Orleans market. There are account statements for school fees, books, and general school expenses for several years in the period, 1809-1822, and 1870; a herd pedigree book, 1851-1861; and poultry and cattle records and accounts, 1913-1929.