Collections

Business and personal correspondence of several members of the Holt and Keyes families of Barbour County, West Virginia, including Ben M., Charles, Samuel T.H., and Stephen Holt, and W.G. and Bertha Holt Keyes. The collection includes records of firms operated by these families, mainly the Keyes Lumber Company, the Holt Ice Company, and Holt's Mill; genealogical material on the Holt family; records relating to foundries, coal, coke, building supplies, general merchandise, farm and construction work, mine post sales, and the Elk Creek Oil and Gas Company.

A history of the Jacob Carpenter family of Barbour County. Immigrating from Germany, Jacob settled in the United States in 1810. Much of the content is an account of pioneer and rustic ways of life in the early days of West Virginia.

Three volumes of genealogical compilations of family group sheet forms of the Murphy family and allied families by John Burns Murphy (b. July 5, 1914-d. November 24, 1992). There are three separate name indexes, one for each volume, and 12 captioned photos of the William and Hester Murphy family of Moatsville, Barbour Co., WV, 1770-1988, 1 1/2 ft. Other families mentioned most often in the index are Allen, Amos, Anderson, Anon, Arnett, Ashcraft, Bailey, Baker, Ball, Barnes, Barr, Bartlett, Baughman, Bennett, Benson, Blake, Boggess, Bolyard, Booth, Boyles, Brady, Brown, Bryan, Campbell, Canfield, Carpenter, Coffman, Cole, Copenhaver, Corder, Cox, Crim, Crites, Cross, Cunningham, Davis, Davisson, Digman, Duckworth, Duncan, Dye, Edgell, Ellifritt, Elliot, Ellison, Ellyson, Eneix, Farence, Felton, Ferguson, Flowers, Forman, Fortney, Freeman, Friend, Gainer, Gall, Gatrell, Glasscock, Glover, Godwin, Griffin, Gum, Haddix, Hall, Haller, Hannah, Harbert, Hart, Harvey, Hathaway, Hawker, Hawkins, Heldreth, Hess, Hoffman, Holbert, Huey, Huffman, Hustead, Ice, Isner, Jackson, James, Jefferies, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Keller, Kelly, Kennedy, Kittle, Knotts, Laulis, Lawson, Leach, Linville, Long, Looman, Lyons, Markley, Marple, Marsh, Martin, Mason, Matthews, McDaniel, McGee, McIntire, McIntosh, McVicker, Minear, Mitchell, Moats, Moore, Mouser, Nay, Nestor, Nutter, Odle, Ogden, O'Neal, Phillips, Pigott, Poe, Poling, Price, Pritchard, Proudfoot, Rector, Reed, Rice, Richardson, Rittenhouse, Robbins, Robey, Robinson, Rogers, Rusk, Saffell, Sanders, Sandy, Sayre, Shaffer, Shanabarger, Sharp, Shaver, Shaw, Shinn, Shreve, Simons Sinsel, Stansberry, Stark, Stemple, Stewart, Stickel, Straight, Stump, Sturm, Swiger, Swisher, Switzer, Talbott, Talkington, Taylor, Tetrick, Tharp, Thompson, Tibbs, Van Scoy, Wadsworth, Wass, Watson, Weaver, Webb, White, Whiteman, Whitman, Williams, Williamson, Wilmoth, Wilson, Woodford, Wright, Wyer, Zinn. Materials cover the years 1770-1988.

Typed articles about the history of Cove District in Barbour County, West Virginia, written by John C. Shaw. These thirteen pieces cover the period from circa 1790 to 1944 and describe significant people and events in the history of the district.

Genealogical records, compiled by Professor Joseph M. Kellogg, Lawrence, Kansas, of the Henkel, McCann, Johnson, Mitchell, and Teter families. The records include copies of many nineteenth century documents. Allied families mentioned are Apple, Eschmann, Grisemer, Hammer, Harper, Hite, Pearies, Peterson, Ruleman, Scholl, See (Zeh), Simmons, Skidmore, and Westfall-Kortrecht. Most of these families settled in the South Branch Valley and the counties of Harrison, Lewis, Randolph, Barbour, Braxton, and Gilmer. One volume contains the history and various records of the German settlers of the Tulpechocken District of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and miscellaneous records of several Shenandoah Valley and western Virginia counties.

Sketches of pioneer life on the Virginia frontier (what is now central West Virginia) in the late eighteenth century including the exploits of pioneers and Indian fighters such as Jacob Reger, Sam Hughs and Joseph and Joel Martin. White comments on the activities of the company, Confederate sympathies and activities of various citizens, the Ringgold Raiders, and the Confederate scout, John Righter.

Material regarding the family of Samuel Frances Harsh of Barbour County, West Virginia. Includes genealogy and family history records, photographs, three bibles, and artifacts. Photographs include a cased photograph, tintypes, and cabinet cards of the Harsh family and relatives, some dating to the Civil War era. The bibles date from 1865, 1880, and 1881, and include family genealogical information. There are two artifacts in the collection owned by Samuel Harsh, including a potato masher and a clock. The masher includes engravings of his name and the date of 1890. The cased photograph is an image of Samuel F. Harsh dating from 1865 as a member of Captain Haller's Home Guards, a local militia unit formed for the purpose of protecting Barbour County from Confederate raids; and there is a lock of hair, also in a union case, that was kept by his wife Louisa during the Civil War.

Ledger, 1849-1851, of Samuel D. Thorn, a purveyor of groceries, grain, and whiskey from Thorntown, Monongalia County, West Virginia; and a Sunday school minute book, Mt. Morris Methodist Episcopal Church, Barbour County, 1848-1863.