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The papers of George W. Smith (1814-1860), a merchant, justice of the peace, land agent, and presidential elector in the town of Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia. There are also papers regarding other family members. The collection serves as a narrative and record of business, local politics, and social conditions in West Virginia before and after statehood. It includes business and personal correspondence, financial and legal papers, business and political ledgers, and ephemera. The majority of the business and personal correspondence in this collection consists of incoming letters to George W. Smith from his family and business associates. There are a few letters from Nehemiah Smith, a delegate in the Virginia Assembly, some of which discuss efforts to route a proposed turnpike from Staunton to Ripley (ca. 1833-1842); and letters from Confederate prisoners of war, six from Point Lookout prison in Maryland (1864-1865), and one from Elmira, New York (1864). See scope and content note for additional details.

Papers regarding West Virginia statehood and the history of Wheeling and Ohio County compiled by Judge Gibson L. Cranmer (1826-1903) of Wheeling, West Virginia, who served as secretary of the Wheeling Convention that repudiated Virginia's secession from the United States in 1861. Series 1 includes manuscript narratives and correspondence describing events of the West Virginia statehood movement, written by eyewitnesses at the request of Gibson L. Cranmer. Manuscript authors include John S. Burdett, John S. Carlile, Daniel Frost, Lewis Ruffner, and Benjamin Wilson. Series 2 includes Cranmer's handwritten notes, drafts of articles, copies of documents, and letters solicited by him regarding the history of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia. See Scope and Content Note for details and contents list.

Two copy books and two loose leaves by Martin Browne, a land owner who lived near Red House Shoals on the north bank of the Kanawha River in Union District, Putnam County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Martin Browne was a native of Leeds, York County, England, and immigrated to America around 1785 to 1787. He operated a tavern near Winchester, Virginia until about 1808, when he moved to Red House Shoals. The copy books in this collection date from 1810 to 1833 when he was living in western Virginia and include primarily correspondence; the main correspondents are family members and his friend Thomas Stribling of Winchester, Virginia; topics include business transactions involving land, money, and slaves, as well as personal matters involving his family. Entries are detailed and literate. Copy book 1 (28 pages) dates from 1810 to 1814; copy book 2 (25 pages) dates from 1817 to 1833 (the pages of copy book 2 are not in clear chronological order). There are also two loose leaves regarding a slave sale in Frederick County, Virginia (1805), and a land sale in Mason County, Virginia (1806) respectively.