Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

West Virginia and Regional History Center

West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Primary Collecting Areas:
West Virginia and Appalachia History and Culture
Description:
The West Virginia & Regional History Center preserves and provides access to the records that document the history and culture of the state and the central Appalachian region. The Center is part of West Virginia University Libraries.
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Start Over Repository West Virginia and Regional History Center Places Nicholas County (W. Va.)

A. J. Legg, Author, Typescript Regarding History of Panther Mountain Community .01 Linear Feet 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Legg, A. J.

Bound typescript entitled "A History of Panther Mountain Community (Nicholas County, West Virginia)" written by A.J. Legg of Albion, West Virginia in 1930 and published by the Agricultural Extension Division, Morgantown, West Virginia. The typescript covers the history of the community from the earliest settlement by American pioneers until the post-Civil War period. Includes coverage of topics such as the origin of the community's name, early land titles, leading families, and local schools, among others.

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Civil War Song Sheet "Nicholas Blues" 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1 page (1 folder)

McNeill, James M.
One American Civil War song sheet entitled "Nicholas Blues". It includes text only, not the music. The text, or poem, was composed by James M. McNeill, Captain of the "Nicholas Blues". McNeill took command of the unit in May 1862, after Winston Shelton (who was not reelected). "Nicholas Blues" was the nickname for Company D, Virginia 22nd Infantry, Confederate States of America, since its membership was mustered in from the residents of Nicholas County, (West) Virginia.
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Coal Mining Disaster Reports Collection 1.7 Linear Feet Summary: 1 ft. 8 in. (1 record carton, 15 in.); (1 document case, 5 in.)

Mine disaster reports, official hearing reports, and hearing and inquest transcripts (1938-1967). Most of the mine disaster reports were created by inspectors from the West Virginia Department of Mines, and some of them involved federal inspectors. Other reports were created by the United States Bureau of Mines and the West Virginia Department of Mines Coal Mine Safety Board of Review. Also includes volumes 3 through 8 of the Decisions of the Interior Board of Mine Operations Appeals (1974-1977). The mine disaster reports and associated materials pertain to the following mining companies, with counties where the disaster occurred in parentheses: American Rolling Mill Company (Boone County), Amigo Smokeless Coal Company (Wyoming County), Boone County Coal Corporation, Christopher Coal Company (Monongalia County), Davis Coal and Coke Company (Tucker County), Hatfield-Campbell Creek Coal Company (Kanawha County), Hitchman Coal and Coke Company (Marshall County), Island Creek Coal Company (McDowell County), Katherine Coal Company (Harrison County), Koppers Coal Company (McDowell County), MacAlpin Coal Company (Raleigh County), C.H. Meade Coal Company (Raleigh County), Meadows Coal Company (Raleigh County), New River and Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Company (McDowell County), Oglebay Norton Company (Nicholas County), Page Coal and Coke Company (McDowell County), Parsons Coal Company (Preston County), Pemberton Coal and Coke Company (Raleigh County), Pocahontas Fuel Company (a division of Consolidation Coal Company, McDowell County, near Tazewell County, Virginia), Pursglove Coal Mining Company (Monongalia County), Raleigh Coal and Coke Company (Raleigh County), and Red Jacket Coal Corporation (Wyoming County).
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County Highway Maps for West Virginia 33.9 Linear Feet 33 ft. 11 in. (11 roll storage boxes, 37 in. each)

West Virginia. State Road Commission

Highway maps for the 55 counties of West Virginia created in 1937. They are in two tones (blue on white), in varying dimensions (including items in the range of 36 in. x 36 in. to 36 in. x 58 in., etc.), and scaled to 1 inch equaling 1 mile. Features indicated on the maps include: roads (US, primary state roads, secondary state roads); state, county, district, and corporate lines; railroads; streams; parks and forests; highway bridges; county seats; cities and villages; lodges; farms; houses; businesses; oil and gas wells; commercial airfields; schools; churches; mines; power plants; factories; hotels; and other information.

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Craig Family Genealogy and History 0.2 Linear Feet Summary: 2 in.

Craig family
Genealogical notes and a narrative of the Craig family of Nicholas Co., WV by the James C. Colman. Recorded family members start with the Revolutionary War veteran, Robert Craig, the first of the family to settle in Nicholas County. Altogether five generations of Robert Craig and his descendents are mentioned in the narrative portion. Particularly to be noted in the narrative are those generations of the Civil War era when the family moved as refugees to Ohio and two of its members, James Samuel Craig and Peter Hamilton Craig, served in the Union Army. The family did move back to Nicholas County after the war contributing in business and political activities to the development of Richwood and Summersville. Material covers the years 1777-1996.
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Given Family Papers 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1 in.

Givens family
Financial records, court records, and miscellaneous papers regarding the Given (Givens) family of Nicholas, Braxton, and Summers Counties, West Virginia. Financial records include various Braxton and Nicholas county tax receipts for William Given, Mehitable Given, Jasper Given, Theodore Given, Franklin Given, and Israel Brown from 1835-1883. Also includes various store receipts, promissory notes, and documents regarding property ownership. Court records reference the case of Sarah S. Woods and heirs of Jesse Young v. Jasper Given, and span the 1880s and 1890s. Miscellaneous papers include a 1876 teacher's certificate for Jasper Given in Nicholas County and notes on family births and deaths.
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James E. Heath, Auditor, Listings of Delinquent Lands in Western Virginia .1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in. (1 folder)

Heath, James Ewell, 1792-1862
Listings of delinquent lands issued by James E. Heath, Auditor of Virginia. Contains printed documents pertaining to Kenawha County [Kanawha County] (1832), Greenbrier County (1833), Nicholas County (1833), Ohio County (1833), Pocahontas County (1833), and Preston County (1833).
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James Tenney Letter 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1 item (1 folder)

Tenney, James
The letter from James Tenney, Jr. to his uncle, John Tenney of Luzerne, NY describes James' journey from upstate New York to Nicholas County, Virginia via Richmond and comments on the attributes of western Virginia. It mentions Kanawha Valley salt production and the lumber industry on the Elk River which supplied materials for boats and barrels used in the salt industry. Tenney also alludes to the New England settlement in present-day Upshur County which his father joined earlier. (a transcription and photos of the letter are also included.)
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Joseph H. Hill (b. 1851) Civil War Reminiscences 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Hill, Joseph H., b. 1851
Reminiscences of Hill, a Summersville resident, about central West Virginia, particularly Pocahontas and Nicholas counties, during the Civil War period. Hill narrates a brief overview of his life, beginning with the facts of his childhood in Summersville, West Virginia, in the early 1850s to his marriage in 1869 and the subsequent birth of his children and the operation of their family farm. Hill chiefly describes his memories of the Civil War. He describes their slaves; guerrilla activities; spies; and various Union generals that passed through the area. Hill wrote this six-page narrative in 1939.
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Kincaid Family Records 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 3 in. (1 small flat storage box, 3 in.)

Kincaid family
Correspondence, genealogical records and notes, miscellaneous documents, and photographs of the Kincaid family of Augusta County, Virginia, and Greenbrier, Fayette, and Nicholas counties, West Virginia.
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