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Papers of James ("Jim") Franklin Comstock of Richwood, West Virginia, whose position as editor of the West Virginia Hillbilly and avocation as collector and advocate of all things West Virginia led to the preservation of much of the state's physical, visual, and textual history. The collection includes materials Comstock collected about West Virginia history as well as his own personal and professional papers. Materials include: general series of historical documents such as letters, deeds, and county court cases pertaining to a diverse range of subjects (1717, 1754-1988, undated [includes facsimiles]); letters of Lucy Prichard, former instructor at Marshall College (now Marshall University) (1925-1927, undated); clippings and typescripts of Wirt County resident and Atlantic Monthly writer Louis Eckert Reed (ca. 1960-1975, undated); account books concerning economic development and commercial activities in the northern part of the state in the 19th and early 20th centuries (1830-1938); printed material about West Virginia schools, businesses, and events as well as non-West Virginia books and pamphlets (1829-1995, undated); Comstock's personal and professional correspondence (1882-1995, undated); a wide variety of photographs, including images of West Virginia cities and towns, among many others (ca. 1850s-1995, undated); microfilmed records of the Civil War and Dunmore's War (undated); glass lantern slides, which include views of scenery and buildings in Wheeling and various other locations in Ohio County, WV (1871-1897, undated); Grand Army of the Republic and U.S. military history scrapbooks (1883-1918); broadsides, including advertisements for a circus in Moundsville (ca. 1827-1960 [includes facsimiles]); and maps and atlases of pre- and post-statehood West Virginia, counties, colonial North America, and other topics (1730-1976, undated [includes facsimiles]). An addendum of 2013/05 includes additional personal and professional correspondence, publications, newspaper morgue files, photographs, audio-visual material, artifacts, scrapbooks, account books, and maps. For more information on Jim Comstock, see the Historical Note.

An unpublished history of the Hazel-Atlas Glass Company compiled by J.S. Algeo, completed in 1956. In 1885 this firm originated in Wellsburg, West Virginia, as the Hazel Glass Company and established, later, plants at Clarksburg, Grafton, Wheeling, and Washington, Pennsylvania.

Research papers compiled by history professor Kenneth Fones-Wolf regarding his study of people who supported the Confederacy in Wheeling, (West) Virginia in 1861. Includes manuscript research notes and facsimiles of documents regarding prisoners of war; traitors; legislative petitions (topics include transportation, education, banking, temperance, and property); military service (including the Shriver Grays, a Confederate unit organized in Wheeling in 1861); religion; black newspapers and history; labor and socialism; and court records (includes marriages and naturalizations). Also includes material related to a class Dr. Fones-Wolf taught on these subjects.

County court and public records consisting primarily of court dockets and records relating to these court proceedings, including order, execution, minute, and fee books. There are also various public records, including land records, birth, marriage, and death, estate settlement, and naturalizations. There are a small number of private papers of businesses involved in court cases.

Correspondence, reports, petitions, agreements, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles relating to the soft coal industry and labor conditions, generally in southern West Virginia. Subjects covered include the eight-hour day; strikes; consolidation of coal operations; freight rates; government contracts for coal; Paint and Cabin creeks, 1912-1913; working conditions in the Polack Cigar Factory, Wheeling, 1914; investigation of the Gay Coal and Coke Company, Logan County, 1917; investigation of the Wheeling Can Company, 1918; labor conditions in West Virginia, 1917; publicity releases of Winding Gulf Operators Association, 1923-1925; and eviction of miners; labor conditions in Logan County, 1923. Correspondents include D.T. Evans, Carl Hayden, W.E. Borah, M.M. Neely, Van A. Bittner, J.P. White, F.J. Hayes, Mary "Mother" Jones, Thomas Haggerty, Woodrow Wilson, and J.J. Cornwell.

Bills of lading for Ohio River packet boats, most traveling through Wheeling. Other Ohio River destinations include: Bellaire, Clarington, Marietta, and Matamoras, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New Martinsville, Parkersburg, Proctor, Sistersville, and Wheeling, West Virginia. Steamers include: Ben Hur, Emma, John Lowry, Liberty, Matt F. Allen, New Courier, Richmond, Royal, Ruth, Sawyer, and Telegram. Goods transported include: beeswax, cakes of ice, eggs, a freezer, melons, piston rods, potatoes, and stoves.

Materials include photocopies and color copies of Socialist Party items from the national and local levels: booklet entitled "What Socialism Will Really Mean to You" by Lawrence Benjamin, published by the Socialist Party, ca. 1936; a 1911 letter requesting an official charter to become the 6th Ward Branch of the Ohio County Socialist Party which includes names, addresses, and offices held; an incomplete report from the 6th Ward; Valentine Reuther's business card; two season tickets to the League for Industrial Democracy Discussion Lectures (1937); a list of names and addresses titled "8th Ward"; Socialist Party accounting receipts (1911-15); and two blank Socialist Party membership cards. The materials suggest that one of the Reuthers was a member of the 6th or 8th Ward of Ohio County at this time. Also includes photocopies of articles related to Bill, Valentine, and Walter Reuther and their connection to Wheeling, West Virginia (1998-2006).

Publications and manuscript from the Thornton Perry Museum Collection, reflecting Perry's interest in the history of West Virginia and the immediate region. Subjects include various aspects of West Virginia history, such as the Civil War, statehood, Wheeling, John Brown, and other topics. Formats include broadsides, reports, pamphlets, almanacs, a manuscript account book, newspapers, maps, and others. See Scope and Content Note for details and contents list.