Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Folklore of West Virginia collected by Woofter, who was a student of John Harrington Cox and Louis Watson Chappell. The collection consists of a card file of approximately 10,000 folklore items, including superstitions, sayings, riddles, remedies and tales, as well as a pair of unpublished bound volumes entitled FOLKLORE OF WEST VIRGINIA containing folklore and folksongs with musical notation by Woofter's protege Patrick Gainer. While Woofter never published his discoveries, he did supply materials to important publications by John Harrington Cox and Josiah Combs.

Broadsides and other materials dated between 1855 and 1951 that relate to Jackson and Marion counties in West Virginia. Includes a Marion County petition for a court of limited jurisdiction, undated; a petition from Jackson County about the establishment of school districts, undated; a photograph of six types of paper money, 1852-1914; and a newspaper column by E. E. Meredith about Nathan Goff, 1951. Broadsides are titled "To the Voters of Marion County," 28 January 1861; "On the Internal Improvement Policy of the State, and the debt, resources, revenue and expenditures of the Commonwealth of Virginia," 8 May 1855; and "Programme of the Fairmont Sabbath Schools, July 4th 1864".

Correspondence, business and legal papers, maps and printed materials of a French emigre, land speculator, and merchant from Cincinnati and Parkersburg. Subjects include Levassor's extensive landholdings in Kanawha, Lincoln, Jackson, Wood, Wirt, and Monongalia counties, and activities of his land agents; James Swann lands; the coming of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad to Parkersburg; the Panic of 1857 in that city; oil fever in the Wood County area, 1859-1866; and the activities of J.H. Diss Debar, West Virginia's first commissioner of immigration. Correspondents include J.H. Diss Debar, James M. Laidley, Charles Lisez, and Alexander Quarrier.

Papers relating to the Full family of Pendleton and Wirt counties, West Virginia. Includes nearly 350 original items, each with an item number. Items are subdivided into three categories, including: 1. non-tax receipts, court-related documents, promissory notes, etc.; 2. letters, deeds (including a land grant), and miscellaneous longer items; and 3. tax receipts. The Full family lived in Pendleton County, (West) Virginia until moving in 1817 to what would become Wirt County (in 1848). In 1817, that area was still on the edge of the frontier. While the Full family were not the first settlers, they arrived when the area was still very sparsely settled. Their receipts and store account records reflect the growing population and increased availability of goods over time. As was typical of most settlers, they were farmers. Two documents highlight the problems that many settlers faced with getting clear title to their land. Several documents reflect Reuben Full's time serving as a Justice of the Peace for Wirt County (1858-1860). The oldest dated item relates to Lewis Full paying his Revenue Tax to Jos. Henkle via Joseph Roy in pounds, shillings and pence in Pendleton County in 1791. A few undated items are possibly older. Most items are dated between 1800 and 1880. The most recent document is a 1904 letter. The collection also includes a document of transcriptions (2015; in box 2), which includes background information on the family, a table of contents, and an index of persons, places, businesses, and topics.

The papers of George W. Smith (1814-1860), a merchant, justice of the peace, land agent, and presidential elector in the town of Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia. There are also papers regarding other family members. The collection serves as a narrative and record of business, local politics, and social conditions in West Virginia before and after statehood. It includes business and personal correspondence, financial and legal papers, business and political ledgers, and ephemera. The majority of the business and personal correspondence in this collection consists of incoming letters to George W. Smith from his family and business associates. There are a few letters from Nehemiah Smith, a delegate in the Virginia Assembly, some of which discuss efforts to route a proposed turnpike from Staunton to Ripley (ca. 1833-1842); and letters from Confederate prisoners of war, six from Point Lookout prison in Maryland (1864-1865), and one from Elmira, New York (1864). See scope and content note for additional details.

Papers regarding West Virginia statehood and the history of Wheeling and Ohio County compiled by Judge Gibson L. Cranmer (1826-1903) of Wheeling, West Virginia, who served as secretary of the Wheeling Convention that repudiated Virginia's secession from the United States in 1861. Series 1 includes manuscript narratives and correspondence describing events of the West Virginia statehood movement, written by eyewitnesses at the request of Gibson L. Cranmer. Manuscript authors include John S. Burdett, John S. Carlile, Daniel Frost, Lewis Ruffner, and Benjamin Wilson. Series 2 includes Cranmer's handwritten notes, drafts of articles, copies of documents, and letters solicited by him regarding the history of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia. See Scope and Content Note for details and contents list.

Cemetery readings from Jackson County, ca.1800-1966, including the Barnett Cemetery at Rock Castle; the Foster Chapel Cemetery; the Levi Moore Cemetery; the Given Cemetery; the Fairview Cemetery; the Mt. Moriah Church Cemetery; and the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

Execution book, 1848-1850, and county court fee book, 1850-1958.

Diaries kept by Luther Wolfe, C.A. Wolfe, and Mary Kinser, of Jackson County, which mention weather conditions, community events, family news, and events of national importance.