Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Papers of William H. Lawrence, Second Lieutenant, 9th Company Ohio Volunteer Sharp Shooters. Includes his appointment (1864), discharge papers (1864; 2 items), and a pension certificate (1887; for "severe deafness of both ears, and disease of the heart, results of sun-stroke."). Also includes five letters Lawrence wrote to his parents during the war (1864), two in manscript and three in print form. There is also a letter to his sister (1910). Lawrence is known to have served as a Lieutenant, 9th Company Ohio Volunteer Sharp Shooters; as a 2nd Lieutenant, 60th Ohio Volunteers; and as a 2nd Lieutenant, Company "Y", 60th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Papers of a Huntington dry goods merchant, W.H. Newcomb, include a domestic diary, 1865, kept by his mother, Emily Cox of Guyandotte, and a clipping scrapbook pertaining to the Newcomb family and the Anderson-Newcomb Department Store. The scrapbook contains obituary notices, society notes, local history items, and an autographed letter from Theodore Roosevelt to W. Barkla, dated 20 October 1900.

Three diaries (1906, 1910, 1911) kept by William I. Protzman of Morgantown, West Virginia. He was a businessman who sold pianos, organs, and sewing machines.

The collection is highlighted by the Civil War papers of William K. Smith of Tyler Co. Militia rosters, wartime letters, a military pass, commendation, and pension claim are among the papers. Smith, of the West Virginia 14th. Infantry, Company F, died in a Confederate prison hospital in 1865, and other papers in the collection belonged to his widow, Christena. Family letters, financial papers, and home remedies are included.

Business records of the William Lantz Store in Blacksville, West Virginia. Includes correspondence and financial records documenting dealings with vendors in primarily Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Waynesburg (PA), and Wheeling (WV); these records are extensive and may actually represent an almost complete record of Lantz's vendor transactions. Vendor letterheads often feature decorative graphics as well as information about the suppliers. There are some records of customer transactions as well. There are also: two Civil War muster rolls dating from April and May, 1861, presumably for citizens of the Blacksville area; letters between William Lantz and his brother who worked in a bank in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania; documents regarding a proposed street railway between Blacksville and Waynesburg; and a scrapbook of clippings and photographs regarding the Lantz family and Blacksville. The scrapbook includes two artifacts: elaborate ribbons for attendees of meetings of the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.), including a ribbon for a meeting of the Rebekah Assembly in Charleston, West Virginia in 1912. The bulk of this collection dates from ca. 1840-1900.

The papers of Colonel William McCleery of Morgantown, a Revolutionary War veteran, attorney, county clerk, prosecuting attorney, representative from Monongalia County to the Federal Constitutional Convention, founder of the Presbyterian Church in Morgantown, and landholder and purchasing agent. The papers include correspondence, typescripts, land records, and some printed materials. Much of the correspondence is between McCleery and his agent, Benjamin Oden of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, regarding a debt owed McCleery by General Henry Lee. Later letters to Matthew Gay concern the purchase, operation, and sale of the Monongalia Iron Works, and landholdings in Ohio and Indiana. The typescripts include sketches of McCleery, Isabelle Stockton McCleery, John Minor, and James Swan. Correspondents include William Shinn and James and John Swan. Other letters are by or mention Aaron Burr, William Haymond, Thomas Jefferson, Zackquill Morgan, and John Rutherford.

Newspaper clippings, notes, biographies, correspondence, and proclamaiton compiled by Blagg for a study of the life of a Preston County editor, Republican politician, and the state's twelfth governor (1905-1909), and Blagg's unpublished manuscript on Dawson's career.

Papers of William Nelson Page, civil and mining engineer, who was manager of the Hawk's Nest Coal Company, 1877-1880; built and operated the Victoria Blast Furnace, Goshen, Virginia, 1880-1885; organized and developed the Gauley Mountain Coal Company, 1889-1917; served in the West Virginia National Guard for twenty years; and was mayor of Ansted for ten years. Subjects include the American Society of Civil Engineers, Deepwater Railway Company, Guy's Run Iron Land, Iron and Steel Works Association of Virginia, Loup Creek Colliery Company, Mt. Carbon Company Limited, Tidewater Railway Company, Virginia Railway, and the West Virginia Mining Association. Correspondents include Abram S. Hewitt and G.W. Imboden.