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Papers of David Goff (ca. 1804-1878) of Beverly, West Virginia, an attorney and land promoter for Harrison, Randolph, and Tucker Counties. Goff became prosecuting attorney in 1835, served as a Colonel in the Virginia militia in 1844, was superintendent of Randolph County schools in 1853, served as a member of the Virginia Assembly, and was a West Virginia State Senator from Randolph County (1875-1877). Includes letters, surveys, land grant, bonds, and receipts. The correspondence includes ALS (autograph letters signed) from Caleb Boggess, Samuel Price, Joseph Sprigg, John S. Carlile, J. M. Bennett, Thos. S. Haymond, J. H. Diss Debar, P. G. Van Winkle, Alex. H. H. Stuart, Adjutant General R. S. Garnett, A. I. Boreman, Geo. W. Munford, John J. Jacob, Charles J. Faulkner, and Henry M. Matthews. Subjects of correspondence include politics, state and national; Civil War; Randolph county schools; land; West Virginia constitutional convention of 1872; Washington and Ohio Railroad; establishment of mail routes; estates; and Goff family history.

Diary by E.C. Smith, a student at West Virginia University (WVU), regarding his experiences in 1874. Activities documented include academic (preparing papers, Greek and Latin studies, reading Charles Darwin, etc.), literary society (elections, debates, recitations), military cadet (drills, lectures, marching), and Methodist Episcopal Church events (including sermons and other activities). He also attended a commencement (June 18). Recreational and social activities are also recorded, including baseball, boating, swimming, croquet, and amateur musical performances; and picnics, dances, visiting friends from the Morgantown Female Seminary, and eating at restaurants. Names of professors and fellow students are recorded. Alexander Martin, the first President of West Virginia University, is reported to have delivered two sermons, and a lecture on astronomy. There are references to carriage, railroad, and steamboat travel, and to the towns and cities of Morgantown, Fairmont, Grafton, Parkersburg, Ravenswood, Point Pleasant, Spencer, and Harper's Ferry. Includes transcript of 108 pages.

Papers of a Grafton attorney who was a lawyer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and prosecuting attorney of Taylor County, West Virginia, assistant to Governor J.B. Jackson, collector of internal revenue for West Virginia, and a member of the Democratic National Committee. There are case papers and letters pertaining to McGraw's law practice; records relating to the purchase, sale, and development of timber, coal, and oil lands; and records of his directorships in the Grafton and Greenbrier Railroad, and the Iron Valley and Morgantown Railroad companies. The papers reflect many aspects of activities of the Democratic Party in West Virginia, ca. 1880-1899. There is a scrapbook of Rose McGraw relating largely to Mount de Chantal Academy at Wheeling. There is also a Yale Law School Senior Examination for 1876. Correspondents include J.N. Camden, John J. Cornwell, H.G. Davis, Alston G. Dayton, C.J. Faulkner, A.B. Fleming, John B. Floyd, Alvaro F. Gibbens, Septimus/Septimius Hall, J.J. Jackson, John J. Jacob, Virgil A. Lewis, Earl W. Oglebay, William A. Ohley, George C. Sturgiss, A.B. White, Israel C. White, W.P. Willey, and William Wilson.

Correspondence of Septimius Hall (1847- 1926), a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1872 and a state legislator. Letters concern state politics, 1881-1886, and the Virginia Debt Commission, 1913-1916. Correspondents include: J. J. Woods, Johnson N. Camden, E. D. Talbott, & W. E. Chilton. The papers include an autograph volume with signatures of the members of the State Legislature, 1881-1882.