Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Civil War correspondence of the DeBussey brothers of Ravenswood, WV. There is a single letter each from John DeBussey and George DeBussey. John DeBussey served in the Confederate Army while George DeBussey served in the 2nd. WV Cavalry. Most of the letters are from Adolphus DeBussey who served in the 4th. WV Infantry as a musician. In his letters Adolphus documents the service of his regiment in the Kanawha Valley early in the war and in the Western Theater during the battles of Vicksburg, Mississippi and Chattanooga, Tennessee. There is much mention of fighting and prolonged encampments in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Included are details of an 1861 Confederate raid on Burning Springs, an 1861 skirmish at Gauley Bridge, and the 1861 battle of Guyandotte. The letters also record his experiences during Sherman's march through Georgia. The collection includes Corporal Adolphus DeBussey's flute with its case.

Includes the wills of A. P. Howard, Corry, Pennsylvania; 1897, and Sarah H. Howard, Wellsville, N. Y., correspondence, reports, leases, tax receipts, and mortgage. Information on J. W. Howard and Hugh H. McCullough estates. Copy of Bradstreet's report on the University Company of Olympia, Washington and J. R. Chaplin, manager of the Company. Also, report on various business enterprises and financial standing of A. P. Howard. Some correspondence of Edward Spencer and tax receipts for land in Kansas. One copy of "The Practical Engineer," John Wallace, Pittsburgh, Penna., 1865, and one copy of "The Popular Educator," Vols. III and IV, London, N. C.

Includes business and personal correspondence, accounts, legal papers, bank statements, maps, etc. Business correspondence, 1850-1938, include letters concerning A. P. Howard's various business enterprises; farm, livestock, fruit and produce, Wellsville, Ohio; printing firm, Columbus, Ohio; tannery, Corry, Penna.; bank and metal works, Pittsburgh, PA; farm, Congo, WV; subscription agent in Wellsville, Ohio for National Era, Washington, D.C. Earlier letters are to A. G. DeSellem, an uncle, including several concerning missionary work and anti-slavery activities; mention is made of several colleges, Western Reserve, Oberlin, and a school in Albany.

Nineteenth century records regarding African-Americans, including deed of emancipation (1829), two brief autograph letters by abolitionists Charles Sumner and Wendell Phillips (1850, 1882), eight copies of "The Anti-Slavery Record", a significant abolitionist publication (1835), and twenty popular song broadsides featuring minstrel song themes (ca. 1830s-1860s).

Papers of historian, researcher, and author Alan Clarke. He authored a number of books relating to the history of railroads in the region of the state of West Virginia. This collection is minimally processed.