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County court and public records consisting primarily of case papers; records of county officers; estate settlements; birth, marriage and death records; and land and tax records. There are also election records; deeds and deed indexes; and records of the administration of public health and welfare.

Personal and business papers of Isaac, Albert, and Silas R. Davis, of Ohio and Marshall counties, West Virginia. Includes estate settlements, genealogical data, justice of the peace docket and broadsides. There is a Civil War loyalty oath for J.N. Keller, a War of 1812 discharge for Thomas Moore and an 1844 presidential campaign broadside for the Whig candidate Henry Clay.

Papers of the Fairfax and Warman families of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Morgantown, and Kingwood. There are letters (1811-1874) to Elizabeth Fairfax from family members and friends; papers (1840-1851) of William Warman; papers on the settlement of the John Fairfax estate; a manuscript census book of Preston County for 1830; and an account book (1857-1872) of F.B.F. Fairfax. A few advertising circulars, 1866-1931, are included, as well as clippings on Morgantown and Monongalia County, 1868-1933.

Court case and other miscellaneous papers from various county offices, 1736-1749; record books, 1820-1948; and account books of banks, churches, general stores, insurance firms, physicians, estate settlements, and gristmills. There is a partial index of plaintiffs, defendants, and subjects in the case papers, and a checklist of the bound volumes.

County court and public records consisting primarily of case papers, financial records, and private records of local businesses. There are also some records of Hampshire County's department of the West Virginia Relief Administration, estate settlements, and elections.

Correspondence of A.F. Haymond and A. Brooks Fleming, Fairmont attorneys. Correspondents include J.M. Bennett, G.D. Camden, J. Carlile, Henry Mathews, and F.H. Pierpont mentioning politics, separation from Virginia, the Arthurdale community development, and routine legal business. Included are land and legal papers, 1760-1797, from Hampshire, Monongalia, and Ohio counties, mentioning Patrick Henry and Henry Lee. Also in the collection are: a leather billfold; estate papers and marriage records; stock certificates of early West Virginia public utility and industrial firms; and miscellaneous personal papers of A. Brooks Fleming.

Personal and business papers of the Lewis family, mainly of John D. (1800-1882), Charles C., Sr. (b.1839), and Charles C., Jr. (b.1865), of Kanawha County. For the period 1825-1875 there are papers of various members of the Ruffner, Dickinson, and Wilson families of West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, and other states. The business papers relate to farming operations, the purchase and sale of slaves, salt manufacturing and trade, the Old Sweet Springs Company, coal, iron, oil, lumbering, railroads, and real estate in Kanawha, Clay, Boone, Fayette, and Nicholas counties. There are newspaper clippings, speeches, and other papers reflecting the Lewis' interests in the Democratic Party in the period 1914-1920. Settlement papers and correspondence regarding the estates of John D. Lewis, and Joel, Daniel, and Andrew Ruffner are in the collection. The personal papers include diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and letters. Travel accounts in the United States, South America, and Europe are given in the correspondence, as well as comments on schools in West Virginia and Virginia; the building of a church in Kanawha County in 1834; missionary work in Colombia, South America, 1874-1875; Civil War and postwar conditions in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri; conditions at Camp Chase, in the Civil War; and material relating to World War I.

Papers of Dr. Margaret Byrnside Ballard (1900-1991), regarding the history of Monroe County, West Virginia, and the Ballard family. As a genealogist and author of local history, she was an avid collector of the historical materials contained in this collection, most of which relate to her family and Monroe County. The collection includes personal papers, business records, historical and genealogical research material, scrapbooks, bibles, memorabilia, artifacts, photographs, broadsides, paintings, and postage stamps. See the Historical Note for more information about Dr. Ballard.

County and circuit clerks records, arranged chronologically. Records for the years 1835-1857, include bonds of ministers, tavern operators, ordinaries, ferries, and county officials; estate settlements; records pertaining to road, bridge, and public building; records of the overseer of the poor; school commissioners' and surveyors' appointments; and lists of county officials. Records for 1863-1874 include county supervisors' records; records of the Fairmont and Wheeling Turnpike; and muster certificates and reenlistment and bounty lists for the First, Second, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the First, Third, Fifth, Sixth West Virginia Cavalry, the First Light Artillery Regiment, and the Forty-fifth Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Papers for 1867-1907 include justice of the peace records, United States Admiralty Court records, and road surveyors' statements.

Records of the Preston County court, consisting almost entirely of land records such as maps, surveys, plats, deeds, and indentures. There are also some personal papers and correspondence of Preston County residents, including Israel Baldwin and Julius K. Monroe, and the Fairfax family. Some photographs from this collection have been digitized.