Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

William Davenport Wayt (1846-1913) of Marshall County, West Virginia, was a country doctor in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Collection contains papers of William Davenport Wayt and several of his descendants, including his son, William Blaine Wayt (1879-1956), a teacher and farmer; his daughter, Jessie Logan Wayt (1888-1965), a teacher; and his granddaughter, Margaret Wayt DeBolt (1931-2009), a journalist, author, and genealogist, all of Marshall County. Materials include diaries for several family members; transcripts of letters; miscellaneous manuscript materials, literary books and clippings; church and farm books; and articles from the Hillbilly newspaper that relate to the Wayt family in particular and to life in West Virginia in general. Twenty-two volumes of William Blaine Wayt's diaries form the bulk of this collection and document his life from his youth in the 1890s to his death in 1956, offering details of his family's daily activities and providing insight into the life of a rural West Virginia farmer and teacher during the first half of the 20th century. Collection also includes several files of notes and materials collected by Gregory Winters during his research on the Wayt family. There is also an addendum of Wayt family material consisting mostly of photographs. See scope and content note for details.

Papers collected by Roy Bird Cook, a Lewis County native and Charleston pharmacist, who in his role as historian, researcher, and author, was a pioneering and effective advocate for the preservation of West Virginia history. This collection includes the papers he collected in connection with his research, including documentation of the Civil War in West Virginia, Stonewall Jackson and his family, and genealogy of North Central West Virginia, among other topics. Materials include letters and papers of the Hays family, including Samuel L. and Peregrine Hays of Gilmer County (1836-1884, 1952-1962, undated [includes facsimiles]); records of the Confederate 31st Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and later correspondence, clippings, and papers about the regiment and its members (ca. 1856-1955, undated [includes facsimiles]); various collections of individual and family papers and Civil War correspondence (1793-1974, undated [includes facsimiles]); original and copies of Stonewall Jackson letters and papers, as well as papers pertaining to Jackson family members (1801-1963, undated [includes facsimiles]); and materials related to the history of pharmacy and medicine, with a special focus on West Virginia (ca. 1832-1961, undated [includes facsimiles]). There is also an extensive series of bound notebooks containing manuscripts, transcriptions, clippings, genealogies, pamphlets, and images regarding the following topics: Stonewall Jackson, Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, Colonel George Jackson, and Thomas Jackson Arnold; the Civil War, including historical sketches of battles as well as originals and copies of soldiers' diaries, journals, and letters; Lewis County; Charleston and the Kanawha Valley; Douglas S. Freeman; Granville Davisson Hall; Camden family; George Washington; and other topics.

Personal correspondence, legal and financial papers, diary, and newspaper clippings of Mrs. Sallie Maxwell Bennett of Weston, wife of Louis Bennett, Sr., the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 1908. The collection concerns the career of her son, Louis Bennett, Jr., particularly his student days at Yale, his pioneer efforts to organize the West Virginia Flying Corps, his service in the Royal Air Force [RAF], and his subsequent death in World War I. Additional topics include Mrs. Bennett's effort to memorialize her son, family affairs, and a South American trip in 1915. Correspondents include Louis Bennett, Sr. and Jr., and John W. Davis.