Ley, Robison, and Blosser Family Papers, 1850/1985, bulk 1850/1950

Access and use

Location of collection:
West Virginia and Regional History Center
West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Restrictions:

No special access restriction applies.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ley, Robison, and Blosser Family Papers, A&M 3328, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
2.6 Linear Feet 2 ft. 7 in. (2 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 records carton, 15 in. each); (2 small flat storage boxes, 3 in. each)
Creator:
Ley, Robison, and Blosser Family
Abstract:
Papers of the Ley-Robison-Blosser families documenting people and places of northern WV and southwestern PA; subjects include businesses, Cheat River recreation (they were Cheat River residents), WWII (Blosser letters), and the Pridevale Iron Co. Christian Ley settled and lived on the Cheat River from the 1850s to 1880s. His daughter Lillie married George Robison. The Robison couple lived on a section of Christian Ley's Land on the Cheat, where they managed a hotel, among other activities, around 1880-1920. The daughter of Lillie and George Robison, Eleanor, married Hugh Blosser, a coal miner, in 1917; they lived on the Cheat as well, operating a marina on the lake. See A&M 3950, Series 4, for more information on the Ley, Robison, and Blosser families.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ley, Robison, and Blosser Family Papers, A&M 3328, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Includes receipts, notes, portraits of Broadway stars clipped from magazines, etc.

Includes letters, receipts, etc. documenting the personal and professional activities of C. Ley; subjects include people, places, and businesses of northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh; includes letters arranging for vacation lodgings on the Cheat River.

Lillie was the daughter of Christian Ley; includes letters, receipts, etc. documenting the personal and professional activities of the Robisons; subjects include primarily people, places and businesses in northern West Virginia, especially Morgantown, and vacation lodging on the Cheat River; bulk material from 1890s.

Eleanor is the daughter of Lillie Ley and George Robison; contains the personal letters of Eleanor's friends documenting the perspective of young women at the beginning of the century.

Hugh married Eleanor Robison; includes letters from Douglas Business College and Siegel-Myers Correspondence School of Music; includes receipts and a few legal documents.

John is the son of Hugh and Eleanor Blosser: letters document his WWII experiences, including training in the United States and service in Europe as a mechanic in the U.S. Army Air Corp.

Contains personal letters of close friends.

Includes receipts, insurance policy, a few letters, etc. (See also Box 3, Folders 2 and 3 in this collection)

Christian Ley administered the Jennewine Estate, located on the Cheat

Includes correspondence, poems, clippings, etc. (at back of box)

Large book of blank Pridevale Iron Company note forms with logo; was used as a scrap book by someone, probably Lily Ley Robison, who pasted newsprint poems, perhaps from the 1880s, on 31 pages; authors of poems are Tennyson, Emerson, Stowe and one attributed to Stephen A. Douglas, but most are unidentified; also in the book are: a lock of hair, a book flyleaf with Lilly C Ley written in large script, loose poems, and three pieces of sheet music (including the song "No Father, No Mother, No Home" by George Cooper and W.M. Dwyer from "The Star," December 15, 1886; and funeral marches arranged by coronet).

Physical location:
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: West Virginia & Regional History Center
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard