Search

Papers, photographs and maps of a wealthy Morgantown family with interests in real estate and coal mining. Most of the business papers are those of J. M. G. Brown, a West Virginia University law school alumnus, who was president of Scotts Run Fuel Corporation. Brown was also a housing developer whose company, Suburban Real Estate of Morgantown, was a competitive concern not only locally but throughout north central West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania. There are papers indicating his attempts to open Morgantown to airline service. His sister, Mary Virginia Brown was a genealogist and local historian noted for A History of the Negroes of Monongalia County. Among her papers are genealogies of the Bannister, Brown, Bushey, Dorsey, Suter and Williams families. There are also original documents of Colonel William McCleary, an early settler of Morgantown. There is also a manuscript "List of Taxable Property for 1786, Monongalia County," including five pages listing residents and their "tithables," horses, and cattle.

Correspondence of the Varner and Darrah families. Folder 1 includes original manuscript letters to and from members of the two families (1870-1884). Folder 2 includes manuscript genealogical information from the Varner family bible, and typed transcripts of the papers of the Varner family of Monongalia County, West Virginia, dating from 1775 to 1918, which includes correspondence with the Darrahs. The two families were related. For additional materials related to the Varner family, please see A&M 3543.

Bound typescripts of reminiscences and local history prepared by James R. Moreland, Morgantown, including "History of the Various Courts of the County of Monongalia...," and "Morgantown, West Virginia, Its Practical Jokes and Jokers...With Some Sketches Pertaining to Its History and Development." Indexed.

The papers of Colonel William McCleery of Morgantown, a Revolutionary War veteran, attorney, county clerk, prosecuting attorney, representative from Monongalia County to the Federal Constitutional Convention, founder of the Presbyterian Church in Morgantown, and landholder and purchasing agent. The papers include correspondence, typescripts, land records, and some printed materials. Much of the correspondence is between McCleery and his agent, Benjamin Oden of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, regarding a debt owed McCleery by General Henry Lee. Later letters to Matthew Gay concern the purchase, operation, and sale of the Monongalia Iron Works, and landholdings in Ohio and Indiana. The typescripts include sketches of McCleery, Isabelle Stockton McCleery, John Minor, and James Swan. Correspondents include William Shinn and James and John Swan. Other letters are by or mention Aaron Burr, William Haymond, Thomas Jefferson, Zackquill Morgan, and John Rutherford.