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The papers received from Mr. Brinkman in 1938 include manuscripts, typescripts, and printed items, and general merchandise account books. The manuscript items are mainly letters, receipts, account statements, and certificates concerning the general merchandise business of George Brinkman in Grafton, Grafton Gas Works, Charles Brinkman's History of Grafton, history of the first memorial service and the location of the National Cemetery in Grafton (Box 13), and stock in the Grafton & Greenbrier Railroad Company.

This collection includes court case papers and exhibits from Taylor & Harrison Counties; deeds; title abstracts; one land grant; a coal lease for mining & stripping; one letter; and a genealogy chart for the Morgan family.

Scrapbooks maintained by Charles Carpenter, Grafton, between 1939-1963. Subjects include descriptions of libraries, book and manuscript collections, museums, rare and unusual books, magazines, book reviews, newspapers, and advertisements for books. There are items as early as 1838, 1875, 1898, 1905, 1917, but the mass of the collection is in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Recurrent topics include book auctions, book burnings, the dime novel, the Freedom Train, the Gutenberg Bible, Hyde Park Library, Incunabula, the Library of Congress, "London Times Notes on Sales," The Morgan Library, New York Times magazine and book review, New York Times columnists (Philip Brooks, Edward Larocque Tinker, and Herbert W. Horwill), and stamps. There are also letters concerning books from Charles Carpenter's son. For more detailed description, see inventory sheet.

Correspondence of Johnson and allied families concerning local church matters and family news, a majority which concerns the descendants of Joseph and William Johnson, the most prominent members of the family. Joseph was the first governor of Virginia from the western part of the state. His brother, William, was the first postmaster at Bridgeport. Noteworthy is a letter to William Johnson dated November 29, 1864, from Mason Hesser a Confederate prisoner at Elmira, New York, during the Civil War. There are genealogical data and articles on the Johnsons, dating from 1801 when they first settled in Bridgeport. In addition, there are programs concerning the Johnson Day Luncheon and Bridgeport Cemetery Dedication sponsored by the City of Bridgeport.

Papers of a Grafton attorney who was a lawyer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and prosecuting attorney of Taylor County, West Virginia, assistant to Governor J.B. Jackson, collector of internal revenue for West Virginia, and a member of the Democratic National Committee. There are case papers and letters pertaining to McGraw's law practice; records relating to the purchase, sale, and development of timber, coal, and oil lands; and records of his directorships in the Grafton and Greenbrier Railroad, and the Iron Valley and Morgantown Railroad companies. The papers reflect many aspects of activities of the Democratic Party in West Virginia, ca. 1880-1899. There is a scrapbook of Rose McGraw relating largely to Mount de Chantal Academy at Wheeling. There is also a Yale Law School Senior Examination for 1876. Correspondents include J.N. Camden, John J. Cornwell, H.G. Davis, Alston G. Dayton, C.J. Faulkner, A.B. Fleming, John B. Floyd, Alvaro F. Gibbens, Septimus/Septimius Hall, J.J. Jackson, John J. Jacob, Virgil A. Lewis, Earl W. Oglebay, William A. Ohley, George C. Sturgiss, A.B. White, Israel C. White, W.P. Willey, and William Wilson.