Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Official records of the American Legion post established at West Virginia University in 1945.

Correspondence, typescripts, notes, clippings, photographs, and printed material of a local historian and promoter of patriotic societies from Berkeley Springs. Many of the papers pertain to the local history of the eastern panhandle. Subjects include the town of Bath (Berkeley Springs); James Rumsey; George Washington; Porte Crayon (David Hunter Strother); Washington Bicentennial; National Flag Day; D.A.R.; and American Indian Day. One of the clippings scrapbooks includes a photo of West Virginia Governor William G. Conley with Key to Bath, West Virginia (ca. 1929-1933), and another scrapbook contains an announcement for a meeting of the "equal suffrage club" on 25 August 1915.

Diaries of an Episcopalian clergyman beginning with his appointment 1 November 1923 in Wheeling as a bishop and ending with entries by his wife after his death. Strider retired as diocese bishop in 1955, returned to the family estate, Rose Hill Farm, Jefferson County, which he managed until his death. The diaries contain routine entries about matters such as family news and comments on books read and impressions of historic events, such as the assassination of President Kennedy. Much information was compiled by Mrs. Edith K. Strider on his last illness and funeral service and she also includes the obituary of Robert E. Lee Strider (1887-1969).

Ambler's accounts with the heirs of S.W. Ambler and S.M. Keys of Jefferson County, West Virginia. Other heirs are Letty C., Lucy J. and C.E. Ambler. There are also entries concerning the estates of H. Keys, S.W. Washington, and Jacob Zinn. There is information on management of farms and residences, business firms in the area of Charles Town, tenant and owner shares, U.S. Treasury crop allotments, and labor shortages during World War II.

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.

This microfilm version of the Thornton Tayloe Perry Collection held by the Virginia Historical Society contains historical material collected by Perry over a 30 year period. It concentrates upon western Virginia and West Virginia with particular emphasis upon the lower Shenandoah Valley and Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan counties of West Virginia. The microfilm was placed in the West Virginia Collection by the Virginia Historical Society under provisions of a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant.