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This Collection contains a number of items all from the original Ramsay Family papers which were donated to the Smithsonian Institute: an account book from Andrew and William Ramsay dated 1798-1801, photocopies of Ramsay letters, history of Ramsay house, genealogical notes on the Ramsay family, Rebecca Ramsay Reese papers and diaries.

This collection contains two bound volumes of record books from the Massie family of Virginia.

Records of land grants made by the Secretary of the Colony of Virginia from 1748 to 1778, by the Virginia Land Office of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1779 until 1863, and by the State of West Virginia from its formation until 1912. These records were held by the Office of the West Virginia State Auditor at the time the Sims Index to Land Grants in West Virginia was published by State Auditor Edgar B. Sims in 1952. The land grants were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are now held by the West Virginia State Archives.

Reverend C. Shirley Donnelly, a Baptist minister and local historian, collected these materials for his own research and interest in West Virginia history. The collection contains various materials pertaining to coal mining and West Virginia history, especially in the New River area and Fayette County. It includes correspondence, land grant and deed records, pamphlets, journals, local histories, records, photographs, and art relating to mining and life in the New River area. One set of correspondence includes recollections, a yearbook, and newspaper clippings by a World War II sailor from the USS West Virginia. Another series of correspondence includes the antebellum, wartime, and postwar letters and personal receipts of Charles Dequasie, a Confederate soldier from Fayette County, West Virginia, and Robert Edward Dequasie's personal and business correspondence. Other ephemera includes West Virginia and mining journals and certificates belonging to Donnelly and others. A scrapbook and notebook of newspaper clippings pertain to early court hangings and executions in West Virginia. Political posters include those for West Virginia Governor William C. Marland and West Virginia Senators Harley Kilgore and Robert Byrd.

Business, military and legal papers, chiefly 1774-1822, of Richard Billups of Mathews and Gloucester Counties, Virginia. Papers include accounts, land records, and correspondence and some concern shipbuilding. Includes minutes, 1842, of a temperance meeting and Methodist church records.

This collection contains a deed, dated August 13, 1747, for a tract of land near the town of Greenville, Augusta County, Virginia, conveyed to Robert Alexander from William Beverley and two legal papers connected with the deed. There is also an authorized English Bible, 1766, with Robert Alexander's signature. Genealogical information by George Diehl is housed in the control folder.

This ledger (16.5" x 14" x 2") contains hand-written recipes for elixers, tonics, medicines, and other cures. Many pages are blank or have been taken out; it is not clear if there was writing on those pages.