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Journals of James and William Dickson, operators of a gristmill, fulling and carding mill, and a general merchandise store in Blooming Valley, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The journals contain entries for the account of John Brown for the years 1826-1833.

Correspondence, photographs, post cards, newspapers, pamphlets (regarding typical antebellum and postbellum topics such as slavery, states rights, etc.), official records including the 1793 marriage license for Lund Washington (George Washington's cousin) and Susanna Grayson, a 1732 shipping order for items, including gold and silver, to be transported from Delaware to London, a 1837 document authorizing payment of a navy pension to the children of Lt. John Packette, and memorabilia of a prominent Jefferson County family, the Davenport-Gibson-Packette-Todds. The bulk of the correspondence is that of Mrs. Frances Packette Todd, Braxton Davenport (Port) Gibson, Susan G. (Zan) Gibson and Mrs. Anne Gibson Packette. Mrs. Todd was an heiress who travelled much in her youth and she was married to a distant cousin, Augustine J. Todd, who, like her, also claimed descent from George Washington's family. Her aunt, Zan Gibson, was an active local historian and genealogist. Her uncle B. D. (Port) Gibson was a lawyer who was a state legislator at the turn of the century. There are letters and artifacts of his days as a student at the University of Virginia where he was quite popular and an esteemed member of the rowing team. There are also several letters of his sisters, Anne and Zan, from a private French school in Canada. There is a shell jacket of a Confederate uniform belonging to Mrs. Todd's grandfather, John Thomas Gibson. He was a non-commissioned officer serving in an engineering unit of the CSA Army which was stationed around Richmond near the end of the Civil War. Gibson also commanded militia units during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. There are letters of his concerning the hiring out of slaves before and during the war. After the war he once again became successful in business and built a mansion in Charles Town upon the site where John Brown was executed. One other prominent family member was Capt. James Gibson who served in a Virginia infantry regiment stationed at Norfolk during the War of 1812. Subjects covered include family matters, politics, land, slavery, education and warfare.

Clippings and illustrations regarding abolitionist and activist John Brown, who led a raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, precipitating the American Civil War. Includes: 1) facsimile of a page of the newspaper "Independent Democrat" of Charlestown, Virginia from 10-25-1859 including article giving an account of the raid by John Brown; 2) facsimile of a page of the newspaper "Daily Enquirer" of Richmond, Virginia from 11-21-1859 including copy of Brown's petition for a writ of error in his trial; 3) original copy of pages from "Frank Leslie's" illustrated newspaper from 12-10-1859 featuring article of final interviews with John Brown and an illustration of John Brown's execution; 4) photocopy of pages from "Harper's Weekly" from 1909 featuring article titled "How Patrick Higgins Met John Brown, His Story of What He Saw of the Raid on Harper's Ferry", October 16, 1859". Also includes two small undated newspaper clippings of images of "John Brown's House on Franklin Street", and of Brown's "Wool Warehouse on Railroad Row"; and two small undated magazine clippings of images of the schoolhouse John Brown used as an arsenal, and of insurgents thrown off a bridge at Harper's Ferry.

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 blueprint of a chalk copy of the engraving on John Brown's headstone.

Interviews with and reviews of the fiction of Julia Davis, a member of a prominent Harrison County family whose most distinguished member was her father, John W. Davis, the 1924 Democratic Presidential candidate. In the interviews she tells of the influence upon her career of Melville Davisson Post and of the historic activities of her family, particularly before and during the Civil War. Her maternal grandparents, who resided in Jefferson County, observed the trial and execution of John Brown. Based upon their memoirs and those of their neighbors she wrote a successful play for the West Virginia centennial, "The Anvil" about the Brown raid and trial. There are also two reviews of the body of her literature emphasizing its historical nature and its sympathetic but realistic exploration of the dialectical tensions between minorities and the dominant group in America.

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.

Correspondence between H. E. Matheny and Boyd B. Stutler who were antiquarian collectors of West Virginia and authors on the local history of the state. The correspondence is primarily about West Virginia imprints and historical literature. There is much discussion of the following topics as they pertain to West Virginia: colloquial language, frontier and pioneers, post offices and postal service, crimes and criminals, the Civil War, early oil industry, and printers, printing and newspapers. Historical figures often mentioned are: Harman Blennerhassett, Alexander Campbell, T. M. Harris, John Hardy, and John Brown and family. There is much mention of other colleague collectors including: Guy Tetrick, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Bird Cook, Delf Norona, and Otis Zirkle. There is some discussion of family matters and the contemporary political situation, particularly regarding John F. Kennedy, his assassination, and the turmoil of the 1960s.