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Facsimiles of historical documents. Land grant to William Cleaver and others for 1,000 acres on the Monongahela River, 1782; certificate for money due B. Cleaver for service in the Virginia Militia, 1783; affidavits concerning the military service of William and Benjamin Cleaver, 1774-1782, in Dunmore's War, at the Falls of the Ohio, and on General George Rogers Clark's expedition against the Indians, including the Shawnee. There is also a petition, 1777, by residents of the Tygart Valley, West Fork of the Monongahela, and Buckhannon Creek settlements requesting the formation of a new county. There are four typed pages dated January 1-9, 1969, with information about the Cleaver Family - William and Hannah; William, Jr.; Benjamin; and Stephen.

The papers of a Martinsburg native related to local prominent families. There are genealogical notes and papers concerning the following families: Anderson, Beall, Chenowith, Cowan, Cromwell, Gilbert, Gray, Hoffman, Magruder, McConnell, Newcomer, and Silver. Also included are the letters and papers of Edmond L. Hoffman, who served early in the Civil War as a lieutenant in the Stonewall Brigade. He describes in extensive detail the First Battle of Bull Run. In later letters, he presents his and the prevailing Confederate opinion about the Northern generals Pope, Burnside, Hooker and Meade. He also describes Confederate forces and their officers. Included are a few letters after the Civil War from the frontier mentioning Kansas City and Oklahoma (the Indian Territory). Also includes three Confederate currency notes (1864) and one reproduction of a Confederate currency note (1954).

Historical and genealogical typescripts, clipping scrapbooks, copies of family and court records, and personal recollections of the Guyandotte Valley area of Cabell, Wayne, and Lincoln counties compiled by F.B. Lambert. Several typescripts deal with the religious institutions of the area, the development of road, river, and rail transportation, and the spread of education in the valley. Other materials deal with the frontier and Indian history of the Guyandotte country and the collection includes a school commissioner's book for 1819. Barbourville school record book, 1863, and a minute book of the Barboursville Common Council, 1950-1911.

Bound volumes of Hardy County newspapers; a Rowell's American Newspaper Directory, 1875; and a typescript on the history of newspapers in Moorefield, written by R. E. Fisher. Newspapers and book transferred.

Diaries of Thomas M. Leeper, 1886-1950 (Box 1). Samuel Leeper wrote a few of the first entries, and some family members wrote some of the last entries documenting Thomas Leeper's last days. Subjects in the diaries include family life; work life; weather; encounters with visitors, friends, and neighbors; and travels. Counties traveled include Calhoun, Clay, Lewis, Harrison, Marion, Wirt and more. Inserts in the diaries include receipts, penciled sketches, and other paraphernalia. Added entry at the end of the 1950 diary: "Thomas M. Leeper died 3:30 the morning of July 31-1950, funeral August 2 in Methodist Church, preacher-Rev. McKinney."

Collection includes family correspondence of the Bowman, Veach, and Leeper families. Manuscripts include a recounting of the Civil War event known as "Jones' Raid." In another document Nathaniel Cochrane, an ancestor of Thomas Leeper, recounts his capture and imprisonment by indigenous people, along with a biography of Cochrane. Daily life for that time is captured in "Home Life of the Leeper Family." Other typescript histories include "Monongah," Thomas Leeper's diary regarding heavy rains and high waters of 1888, a history of West Monongah High School, and "History of the Leeper Family."