Fayette County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers

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:

Only microfilm is stored onsite. All of the original physical material is stored offsite. Please make an appointment prior to visiting.

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], Fayette County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers, A&M 0362, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
9.60 Linear Feet Summary: 9 ft. 7 1/4 in. (19 document cases, 5 in. each); (8 reels of microfilm, 1.75 in. each); (3 reels of microfilm, .75 in. each) (4 record books, 4 in.)
Creator:
Fayette County Court
Abstract:
County court and public records primarily concerning deeds, estates, guardianships, executors, poor and paupers, roads, and "scalp certificates" for various animals. There are also record books, predominantly personal property and land books, and a few private accounts. There is also a breadth of material concerning records of personal property; county courthouse and jail; marriages; liquor, attorney, minister, and professional licenses; apprenticing; surveys and plats; lunacy; court proceedings; elections and voting; and public utilities and taxation.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Fayette County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers, A&M 0362, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

County court and public records primarily concerning deeds, estates, guardianships, executors, poor and paupers, roads, and scalp certificates for various animals. There are also record books, predominantly personal property and land books and a few private accounts.

There is also a breadth of material concerning records of the county courthouse and jail; marriages; liquor, attorney, minister, and professional licenses; surveys and plats; lunacy; court proceedings; elections and voting; and taxation. Record types are predominantly estates and deeds; bonds and oaths; and orders and accounts. A few are letters, petitions, and other miscellaneous types.

Boxes 1-18 contain envelopes with a wide variety of records. The collection was arranged chronologically, so the contents of an envelope are from the same year but differ topically. Most envelopes are labeled "Regardings" and contain a variety of materials. A few are labeled "State Cases," or "Misc. Papers" and are primarily certificates and accounts concerning witnesses.

There are many detailed records of the settlements of various estates; names can be found in the card index. There is also a wealth of materials concerning land, property, deeds and taxation. Animal scalp certificates are records of bounties paid by the county for the scalps of various animals, primarily foxes. There are also documents of guardianships, primarily bonds, as well as oaths and bonds for various officials. There are several records of official licenses for attorneys and ministers, as well as lists of other professional licenses. Road records consist of records of road surveyors, planning and location of roads, as well as accounts and receipts for cost of building and labor. There are also records of bridges. Furthermore, there are a small number of records of various fraternal and benevolent orders.

A bulk of the remaining boxed materials has to do with accounts and receipts, primarily wages, orders, accounts for medical attention, repair and construction of the county courthouse and jail, receipts for court proceedings and jailing, costs of lunacy proceedings, and other various court expenses. Records about the care of the poor and paupers make up a substantial portion of the receipts, primarily for the expenses of funerary needs, medical attention, and general keeping. Boxes 1 through 5 are reproduced on microfilm (FAY 1-3).

Box 19 contains three record books: Fayetteville Town Council minute book/ County Clerk's record of benevolent associations (first 26 pages missing, includes the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, Masonic Lodges, the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, item no. 2); a Board of Education minute book (pgs. 1-135) with Accounts (pgs. 136-185) [loose pages containing account settlements in back], item no. 3); and a land entry ledger (no. 19).

Highlights include: a license for a house of private entertainment (undated, box 1); a request for more jail guards to prevent mobs (undated, box 1); records of John Bowyer, a prominent early settler of the area (1841); two deeds concerning an enslaved girl named Sarah, aged 18, passed from the Casley's to the Bailey's and then to the Easley's (1859 and 1860); the sale of a pauper for $10 (1860); two Civil War records, an "Opinion as to legality of removing records South during Rebellion"(1861) and an account of tools seized by General Wise (1862); a bond for an apprenticeship between Maria Bailey and Charles Easley, a Black man (1870); records concerning small pox (1873); petition concerning Sewell Station, and Deep Water (1878, envelope 6); a patent for curing leaf tobacco (1879); land deeds for the Sewell (1879) and Falls (1890) school districts; two petitions from citizens of Collinsville and Glen Jean against licensing saloons (1896), and deeds for Methodist Episcopal and Baptist churches.

This collection also has 57 record books. Except for the books in box 19, none of the originals exist. Instead, every ledger except for the County Clerk's record of benevolent associations (box 19, item 2) is available on microfilm (FAY 4-8). Record books are primarily personal property books and delinquent and land tax ledgers. Also included are a court docket, a county census, lists of voters, two poll books, and four private account books. The poll books are for 1890, but they have a record of the May 20th, 1872 poll book included. Private account books include G.P. Huddleston's accounts of wages for various types of work, prices of farm produce, groceries, boats, yard goods, liquor, etc. (item no. 52); a memo book of Railway repairs (item no. 53); and two account books for Gauley Tie and Lumber Company (items 54-55).

Microfilm reels 9-11 contain a partial reproduction of the alphabetical index, as well as a chronological and subject index. The original indexes are also available for consultation upon request.

Acquisition information:
Gift from Fayette County Seat, 1940.
Arrangement:

Collection was processed so that envelope numbering was repeated for each year. For example, boxes could have Envelope 1, 1867; Envelope 2, 1867; Envelope 1, 1868; Envelope 2, 1868; etc.

Some Record books have the same item number (for example, there are two ledgers labeled item no. 2). These records are a single item; it is just that two different records were kept in one book.

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: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard