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 Date range 1790 Places Preston County (W. Va.)

Deakins Family Papers, 1778/1925 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 3 in. (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 oversize folder, 1/2 in.)

Deakins family

Additional Deakins family papers, consisting of correspondence, bond of conveyance, deeds, surveys and plats. [ALS] to Colonel Francis Deakin from John Compton, 1793, relative to surveys made by John Compton in 1792; bond of conveyance for land in Randolph County owned by Deakins heirs, 1809; five deeds for land owned by the Deakins family in Randolph and Preston counties W. Va., 1808-1885; 1848 deed from Francis Deakins to Northwestern Turnpike Co.; seven surveys and plats for lands in Preston, Tucker, Harrison and Upshur counties, largely owned by the Deakins family, 1788-1881.

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Deakins Family Papers and Surveying Compass, 1778/1925 2.5 Linear Feet 2 ft. 6 1/4 in. (5 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 large flat storage box, 5 in.); (1 oversize folder, 1/4 in.)

Deakins family
Includes records from several generations of the Deakins family of Montgomery County, Maryland and north central West Virginia. William (1742-1798) and Francis (1739-1804) Deakins, among the first generation, were active as land speculators after the American Revolution, applying their skills as surveyors to leverage acquisition of western lands. From 1778 their activities are documented through deeds, agreements, surveys, plats, surveyors' field books, court papers, and letters related to land purchased in Harrison, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, and Upshur counties. Other papers concern Leonard M. Deakins (1747-1824) and his descendants. Of special significance in the collection is the compass used by Francis Deakins to survey the "Deakins Line" in 1787-1788, a north-south line separating western Maryland from (West) Virginia.
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Papers regarding Early Settlers of Aurora in Preston County, 1788/1943, bulk 1820/1916 0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case), 1 oversize folder (.1 in)

Account books, and legal, business, and personal papers of some early settlers at Aurora, Preston County, West Virginia. There are records of a tannery, blacksmith shop, a general merchandise store, and a sawmill, as well as deeds and subscription lists for the Lutheran and German Reformed churches. Also included in the papers are land surveys, wills, deeds, plats, school notebooks, tax receipts, and other items.

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Preston County, Aurora School History, 1790/1994 0 Linear Feet Summary: 7 pages

Preston County. Aurora School
A history of the schools of Aurora, Preston Co. from their founding by early settlers of German descent to the present efforts to reconstruct the recently fire destroyed building. Mentioned are changes in location, types of schools, school principals, funding and various costs such as those for construction. Some early funding, especially to aid poor children, was raised locally by money accumulated in a literary fund. In the nineteenth century other funds were acquired from the Peabody Educational Fund, a national fund created by George Peabody to assist needy public schools. Early settlers mentioned in the establishment of schools are John Stough, Christian Whitehair, Jacob Ridenour, Abraham Wotring and Peter Heckart. Those influential in education after the pioneer era are Franklin V. N. Painter, C. M. Malcom, the Stemple family, Frank J. Pyles, Glenn Wright and Kenneth Parsons.
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Preston County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers, 1775/1918 4.15 Linear Feet Summary: 4 ft. 1.75 in. (5 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 large flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (1 Oversized record carton, 17 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Preston County
Records of the Preston County court, consisting almost entirely of land records such as maps, surveys, plats, deeds, and indentures. There are also some personal papers and correspondence of Preston County residents, including Israel Baldwin and Julius K. Monroe, and the Fairfax family. Some photographs from this collection have been digitized.
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Records and Manuscript regarding Early History of Aurora, West Virginia, 1787/1865 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Aurora, Preston County

Deed for 800 acres on Foleys Meadows in Monongalia County, to Thomas James Goff, June 25 1787; tax receipts of 1829 and 1843 for Thomas and James S. Watson; a bill of goods of Stephens, Miller & Co., Baltimore, 3 May 1865, to Messrs. Wotring Co., Aurora, W.Va.; a manuscript plat for unidentified land.

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Samuel Hanway Papers, 1782/1818 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 oversize folder)

Hanway, Samuel
Manuscript surveys and plats of land in Monongalia and Preston counties, West Virginia, by Samuel Hanway, county surveyor. There are papers showing acreage and owners; an early plat of Morgantown showing streets, lots and numbers; plat of courses of the Monongalia and Preston County boundary; maps of Monongalia and Preston counties, including a map of eleven tracts of land on Prichard and Whiteday Creek, Monongalia County, which notes the Morgantown-Clarksburg Road, Cratzer's Tavern, and the Van Swearing(en) Walnut Tavern and Mill.
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Thornton Tayloe Perry, Collector, Papers, 1732/1965 4.5 Linear Feet Summary: 4 ft. 6 in. (12 index card boxes, 4 1/2 in. each) [the boxes contain a total of 68 reels of microfilm]

Perry, T. Tayloe
This microfilm version of the Thornton Tayloe Perry Collection held by the Virginia Historical Society contains historical material collected by Perry over a 30 year period. It concentrates upon western Virginia and West Virginia with particular emphasis upon the lower Shenandoah Valley and Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan counties of West Virginia. The microfilm was placed in the West Virginia Collection by the Virginia Historical Society under provisions of a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant.
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William G. Brown (1800-1884) Papers, 1789/1931, bulk 1843/1880 0.5 Linear Feet 4 1/2 in. (1 flat box, 3 in.); (1 wrapped volume)

Brown, William G. (William Gay), 1800-1884
William G. Brown (1800-1884) of Kingwood, West Virginia, was an attorney; member of the Virginia Assembly in the 1830s and 1840s; and a member of Congress from Virginia from 1845 to 1849 and West Virginia from 1861 to 1865. Chiefly contains deeds, plats, surveys, and other papers related to Brown's land in Preston and Monongalia counties, West Virginia, from 1860 to 1874 and items from Brown's law office concerning deeds, wills, and financial transactions from 1870 to 1883. A ledger book from Brown records the sale of dry goods items, chiefly food such as bacon, wheat flour, corn, coffee, meat, and tobacco, and notes the cost of items, debts, and account settled. Papers also include typescript essays on American history, the Constitution, and slavery, written circa 1927 and a typed copy of a letter of J.J. Phillips of Lantz, 18 July 1931, concerning the removal of Confederate remains from the Rich Mountain Battlefield.
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