Search

Papers of John and Sarah Atkeson-Morgan documenting Atkeson-Morgan family history and the history of the Morgan home and farm in Putnam County, West Virginia for period ca. 1840-1900.

This collection in comprised principally business and family correspondence and general papers of the Baer family of the Panther Gap vicinity of Rockbridge County, Va. with a concentration of papers relative to the family's land holdings such as maps, indentures, and wills. Other highlights are a group of twenty-one manuscript weaving drafts for making household textiles, a family Bible in German(l744), local militia fines, genealogical materials, some relating to the Decker and Hite (Heyt) families, and two farming account books of Joseph Baer, 1853-1859.

This collection contains a letter from Isaac French to J. Huntsman, Esq. dated June 17, 1849. French was a guest at Robert Buckner Bolling's plantation in Charles City County, Virginia, called Sandy Point. The letter has no postal markings or stamps, indicating an individual carried it. French describes to his friend his trip to the plantation, the weather, the size of Bolling's fields, the condition of the crops, and the epidemic of cholera and smallpox in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Richmond. Robert was part of the prominent Bolling family and directed the operations of their holdings. The Sandy Point plantation, on the banks of the James River, was included in the dowry of his wife, Sara Melville Menge. Bolling was said to have over 500 enslaved workers and was active in the American Colonization Society.

Family papers of Alexander Smith, Charles Edgar Brown, and Joseph Moreland; correspondence; materials relating to local history and Moreland's civic, social, religious, and professional activities.

Papers of the Jerdone family, 1753--1890 (bulk 1771-1845): letters, letterbooks, diaries and account books of immigrant Francis Jerdone (1721-1771), a Scottish factor who lived in Hanover County, Yorktown and Louisa County, Virginia, and letters of his wife, Sarah (Macon) Jerdone.

Papers of the fifteenth governor of West Virginia who was a newspaper publisher in Romney, an orchardman, lawyer, and counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. There are a few papers of W.B. Cornwell. The collection includes: personal and business correspondence, 1896-1953; correspondence as governor, 1916-1922; legal papers, ca.1843-1916; and material relating to "Cornwell Day," 1931; Baltimore and Ohio and other railroads; Romney Orchard Company, ca. 1916-1919; South Branch Development Company, ca.1913-1926; newspaper publishing; and other subjects. Box 100 includes papers regarding women's suffrage, including a proclamation by Governor Cornwell to extend the legislative session of 1920 in order to address the suffrage amendment, among other legislative concerns.

This collection includes 9 letters dated from 1839, 1845-1863 from correspondents such as A. C. Finley and Ebenezer Dickey Junkin to Jonathan Brooks of Brownsburg, Va., as well as bills and receipts. The subjects of the letters include news from Finley of Clarksville, Va. regarding finances and business, agriculture, and family news. In his 1845 letter to Brooks, Finley references a Jewish business but does not specifically name the company or individual(s). In his 1847 letter, Finley references illness and death among local folks as well as Lexington, Va. and a "negro man." The bills and receipts date from circa 1840-1872. Included are receipts for tax payments and subscriptions.