Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Burial flag, cord, pictures, and correspondence, 1963-1964, concerning disposition of these items. There is a resume of Rowan's life after 1922 and information on his military service, which included a mission in Cuba prior to the Spanish-American War, which was glorified in Elbert Hubbard's A Message to Garcia. There is a resume of Rowan's life, most notably his U.S. Army career, 1881-1909. An 1881 graduate of West Point, he served on the frontier against Indians and on the International Railway Survey in Central and South America before being appointed military attache to Chile, where he co-authored The Island of Cuba in 1897. This book established him as an expert on Cuba, which led to his assignment as a courier to the rebel general Garcia prior to America's war with Spain in 1898. The successful fulfillment of this mission made him famous and, along with gallantry in the subsequent Philippine campaign, was the basis for his being given the Distinguished Service Cross and other rewards.

Letters written by a lawyer and businessman near Shanghai in Berkeley County to his sister Mary, who was residing in their father's home at New Cumberland, Virginia. There are also letters written from: Wellsburg Academy, 1849-1850; Washington College, Washington, Pennsylvania, 1851-1855; Cuba, 1857; New Orleans, 1857; and from Richmond, Virginia, 1858-1860. A diary includes entries from 1 January to 20 March 1864. Porter had business relations with firms in Pittsburgh concerning brick making, coal lands, and shipping. Much of the diary concerns his wife's illness and his own poor health and there are a few minor references to Civil War developments and Porter's Union sentiments. Muster records of the Panhandle Greys, a state militia unit, 1861-1863, organized and captained by George McCandless Porter, are included.

Materials from several political campaigns are among the papers, including those of Rosalinda Flint's 1978 campaign for the U.S. Senate; Brian Williams' 1978 campaign for West Virginia House of Delegates, 27th District; Tom Moriarty's 1980 campaign for West Virginia Governor; and the 1980 campaign to elect Andrew Pulley and Mathilde Zimmermann as President and Vice-President, respectively, of the United States. The campaign papers address such issues as occupational health and safety, especially in coal mining; the 1978 suit by Flint and Williams protesting the restrictive election laws of West Virginia; the dangers of nuclear power; women's rights, especially the Equal Rights Amendment and freedom to obtain abortions; and the reinstitution of registration for the draft.