Collections

Contains letters, documents, letter-books, manuscripts and articles relating to John Brown and John Brown, Jr. Topics include abolitionist activities, including those in Kansas and Harpers Ferry, farm business, and family matters. Included are bits of fatherly advice, insight into the wool industry of the mid-1800's, eyewitness commentary on events in the abolitionist movement, and a phrenological description of John Brown. Names mentioned are Jason Brown, Owen Brown, Frederick Douglass, John Sherman, Garrett Smith and Boyd B. Stutler.

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.

Contains material regarding George Washington and the Washington family, including the order book of the 8th U.S. Regiment stationed at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1799-1800); typescript regarding Harewood, residence of Washington's brother (undated); New York Times article regarding observation of Washington's birthday (1862); and material regarding the genealogy of the Washington family (1891-1931). Also contains receipt for purchase of slave (1864); genealogy regarding the Forrest family and other families (undated); and a deed for a cemetery plot (1884). Please see "Scope and Content Note" for further information as well as information regarding an addendum to this collection.

Collection consists of assorted newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and brochures relating mostly to the history of West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. See inventory folder for list of file folder headings.

Personal, medical, and business papers, account books, and daily journals of a Harpers Ferry physician (d. 1883). Subjects include the practice of a small town doctor, his related business interests, and the education and careers of his children, three of whom became medical doctors. Included are the papers of William V. Marmion (1840-1922), who studied eye surgery in Vienna and established a practice in Washington, D.C. There are letters from George Marmion, acting surgeon and secretary of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and letters of Robert A. Marmion (1844-1907), who was a naval surgeon and the first president of the Naval Medical School in Washington, D.C. Many of the letters, especially after 1883, are those of the Marmion heirs and are concerned with family, personal, and financial affairs. Some letters shed light on the condition of the gold market after the Civil War and family activities as prominent members of the Roman Catholic faith. There are a few fragmentary records regarding John Hancock Hall, a relative, who invented and patented the first American breechloading rifle in 1811. He was later hired by the government in 1819 to establish and operate a "rifle works" in close proximity to the federal armory at Harpers Ferry (see box 17).

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.