Search

Correspondence of Charles J. Faulkner (1806-1884), who was a Martinsburg attorney, Virginia legislator, member of Congress, and ambassador to France during the James Buchanan administration. Subjects include national and Virginia-West Virginia politics, 1827-1876, and foreign affairs, 1868-1876. Other subjects include the French Colonization Society, the slave controversy, Maryland-Virginia boundary dispute, Virginia Revolutionary debt claims, disposal of the Harpers Ferry Armory, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, numerous internal improvement schemes in Virginia and Pennsylvania, and local history of the Martinsburg and Shenandoah Valley area. Correspondents include Sherrard Clemens; Lyman C. Draper; John J. Jackson, Jr.; Daniel Lamb; Alexander Martin; Samuel Price; George W. Summers; Henry A. Wise; and Waitman T. Willey. For a more complete list of subjects and correspondents, see Scope and Content Note. For a partial list of contents, see the control folder. For more information about Faulkner, see the Historical Note.

An ALS from a Union officer "George" to his wife "Fannie" describing, in the form of a diary, a diversionary campaign into the Shenandoah Valley, 10, December - 25, December 1863. The purpose of their maneuver, which he calls "the Valley Expedition," was "to divert attention from Gen. Averill while he was making a raid up through Staunton, Virginia." The expeditionary force of about 1,600 was large enough not to fall prey to guerrillas but too small to actively engage the regular Confederate army locally under the command of Gen. Jubal Early. They successfully preoccupied and eluded the forces of Gen. Early and his diary gives details of how this was accomplished, the social conditions and attitudes of the Valley's inhabitants and the common hardships of military camps. He had not written sooner because the expedition had been under strict orders to cut off communication lines to its headquarters and home base at Harpers Ferry. Also they were not expected to return from what was considered a suicide mission.

Correspondence and miscellaneous papers of a lieutenant colonel in the Eighth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry and later the Seventh West Virginia Regiment. The letters, most of which are addressed to Polsley's wife, pertain to military activities in central West Virginia, 1862-1863, and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. These letters comment on the West Virginia statehood movement, camp life, guerrilla warfare, Polsley's confinement in Libby Prison, General John Imboden's raid, 1863, and the West Virginia capital question.

Civil War diaries of Joseph C. Snider (1839-1864) of Harrison County, West Virginia, who served in Company C of the 31st Virginia Infantry Regiment from June 1861 to his death in battle on September 19, 1864. Collection consists of three diaries on microfilm that cover the periods from June 1861 to May 1862; January 1, 1863 to July 1, 1863; and March 26, 1864 to September 19, 1864. There is no explanation for the gaps in Snider's journals. Snider provides detailed descriptions of his major combat experiences (western Virginia in 1861; the Shenandoah Valley in spring 1862; actions in western Virginia in the spring of 1863; the battle of Gettysburg; the 1864 Overland Campaign; Jubal Early's 1864 raid on Washington, D.C.; and the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign); minor skirmishes and engagements; and daily life in the Army of Northern Virginia. Folder contains handwritten account of the transfer of the diary from Joseph Snider after his death to his commanding officer, to his brother, and then passed down through the family until it was loaned to the WVRHC to make a copy.

A ledger and financial records of Logan Osborne (1836-39) also containing the will of Balamm Osborne. The ledger contains accounts of an assortment of general store goods from perishables such as food and candles to durable goods such as tools and carriages. There are Osborne family deeds, land contracts and letters about family matters and debt (1808-89). There are early nineteenth century state bank script from Louisiana, Virginia, and North Carolina. There are land indentures and legal papers from eighteenth century Virginia, mainly of Matthew Rankin and Thomas Rutherford who contended for property in Ohio County. There is the thirty-eight page diary of Cleon Moore, a Confederate soldier from Charles Town. As a volunteer regiment member he was eyewitness and participant in the siege and capture of John Brown at Harpers Ferry. His unit was again called out prior to Virginia's secession resolution. He recounts their early maneuvering, stationing and being consolidated in the Virginia Second Cavalry which served at the First Battle of Bull Run. The account ends with the early 1862 campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley of General "Stonewall" Jackson. There is Civil War related material of Logan Osborne including records of loans to the Confederate government, letters to family and friends recounting and justifying the events and cause of the Confederacy and an 1861 January 28 broadside, entitled: "To The People of Jefferson County...", of Logan Osborne as a Unionist candidate to the Virginia Secession Convention. Also there are early West Virginia political papers pertaining to Jefferson County such as an attempt to move the county seat to Sheperdstown. Also included are George Shutt business letters and certificates as a geologist; certificates from the United Daughters of the Confederacy to Mary M. Shutt; and Osborne family history, genealogy and obituaries of descendents.

Papers of Jewett Palmer, a Union Army officer, Mayor of Marietta (Ohio), and Republican official of Washington County (Ohio). Includes correspondence, daily journals, clipping scrapbooks, military records, genealogical and autobiographical notes, and printed materials. The papers regard the activities of Company B of the 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) and Company G of the 36th OVI. There are also papers of Palmer's wife, Saida Scott, who taught music. Addendum of 1996/09/23 contains a muster roll of Company G, 36th OVI, signed by Captain Jewett Palmer, for 10/31/1863 - 12/31/1863. See Scope and Content Note for more information.

Records of Storer College, West Virginia's first African American institution of higher learning, located in Harpers Ferry. Types of records include correspondence, business papers, photographs, memorabilia, issues of the Storer Record (the Storer College newspaper), financial records, scrapbooks, bulletins, minute books, newspaper and magazine clippings, diaries, motion pictures, and miscellaneous material. Includes records regarding the early years of the College, among other topics. See "Scope and Content Note" and "Historical Note" for further information.