Collections

Account books, 1853-1875, of Edmund Winston, blacksmith and miller who probably lived in Caroline County, Va.

The correspondence, wills, deeds, receipts, recipes, remedies, and genealogy, of the Ellison-Dunlap Petrie families of Monroe County. The letters discuss family and business matters, enslaved Africans, the Civil War, and settlement of some family members in Kansas. There are papers about land and farming, including surveys, deeds, memos, and accounts as well as correspondence and printed material about the WVU Agricultural Extension Service. There are ledgers for Han Creek Mill and an account book of William Petrie. There is also an 1831 journal of William Petrie with entries about his travels to England, Cuba, New Orleans, and along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. There are separations from this collection of photographs, pamphlets, newspapers, and broadsides.

This collection includes materials from Dr. Emory L. Kemp's career of researching, documenting, and preserving historic structures. Kemp was a practicing civil engineer from 1952-1959, then taught civil engineering, historic preservation, and the history of technology from 1962-2003 at West Virginia University. He served as an expert consultant for the preservation of many historic engineering structures, including bridges, waterways, and mills. He also published regularly and remained active in several professional organizations.

These are the land and mercantile papers of Felix Hansford, a large land owner along the banks of Pain[t] Creek and the Great Kanawha River, near the town of Clifton in [Kanawha] County. The collection is primarily account statements, receipts and buisness notes.There are a few land surveys, entries and deeds dating back to the 1790. Some of the papers shed light on the Hansford's activities as a falt boat builder, sawmill and grist mill operator, and justice of the peace. A few letters and bank statements deal with his term as president of the Giles, Fayette and Kanawha Turnpike Company.

The papers of the President of Giles, Fayette and Kanawha Turnpike, charted in 1837, consist of land grants, deeds, and indentures; legal papers; turnpike correspondence, stock, books, contracts, and reports to the Board of Public Works, the Virginia Legislature, and stockholders.

Correspondence, business and legal papers, and Justice of the Peace documents of Felix G. Hansford, Kanawha County J.P., entrepreneur, and President of the Giles, Fayette, and Kanawha Turnpike.

Correspondence, speeches, essays, clippings, and account books of a Clarksburg lawyer, Republican state senator, and Harrison County local historian. Subjects include the history of Clarksburg and Shinnston; the Progressive Movement, women's suffrage, and prohibition in West Virginia; West Virginia Wesleyan College; West Virginia Historical Society; Methodism in Harrison County and the state; Methodist missions in Korea, China, India, the Philippines, and the United States; gristmills and covered bridges in West Virginia; America First Day [1922]; Edward Grandison Smith; Parkersburg Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; family and personal history; history of the Mason-Dixon Line; the (Clarksburg) 50-Year Club; Nutter Fort Methodist Church; and the Harrison County Fair. Also, tape recordings of an interview relating to Mr. Harmer's career as an attorney in Clarksburg.