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Genealogical material on the Clarke family and a diary of Belle Clarke; an account book of J.P. Clarke for general merchandise, farm, and labor accounts, with entries for the steamboat GENERAL JACKSON; several account books and a map of the Wirt Oil and Mining Company operations; items relating to the West Virginia State Grange, and a ledger of William H. Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio, an agent of the Grange.

A report by Peter F. Stout, engineer and geologist, on oil-producing land near Parkersburg, West Virginia, commenting on available rail and water transportation, and production of nearby wells. The report was written to accompany a (lost) survey plat sent to the prospective buyer of the land.

Clippings concern Parkersburg local history and the development of Burning Springs and other oil fields in the Wood County area.

A scrapbook containing a brief history of Sistersville and the oil industry in Tyler and other counties and states; a stock certificate of the Sistersville & Salem Turnpike Company, 1853; bills of lading for Ohio and Muskingum River steamers, 1855-1934; and a list of steamboats operating on the Muskingum River, 1830-1890

Papers of Rush Meadows, a Charleston, West Virginia, mining engineer and mine operator, containing correspondence, maps, reports, and photographs on companies involved in coal, oil and gas production in Appalachia, the Rocky Mountain states, and Latin America.

Correspondence, speeches, reminiscences, and newspaper clippings of a West Virginia newspaperman, state auditor, 1927-1929, and businessman. Subjects covered include the West Virginia gubernatorial campaign of 1924, Rush D. Holt's decision to run for the U.S. Senate in 1934, oil wildcatting ventures of Michael Benedum and J.C. Trees, the economy, oil imports, depletion allowances on the production of oil and gas, and labor legislation. Correspondents include Holmes Alexander, Robert C. Byrd, Phil Conley, John W. Davis, Ken Hechler, Rush D. Holt, Robert E. Maxwell, Jim Comstock, M.L. Benedum, Frank Lausche, William R. Laird, A.B. Koontz, William Proxmire, Jennings Randolph, James A. Farley, Michael A. Musmanno, Robert S. Kerr, and Douglas MacArthur.

Material relating to Volcano, Wood County, the center of a booming oil industry, 1865-1879. Specifically mentioned is the Stiles Oil Company, owned by William Cooper Stiles, Jr. The collection consists of articles, photographs, court proceedings, correspondence, and record books.

Correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and printed material of the Republican national committeeman, state political leader, and president of the Plymouth Oil Company. Subjects include Republican national conventions, 1928-1960; state and local politics, 1919-1961; National Petroleum Council; Plymouth and related oil companies; Republican rejection of the League of Nations; and Hallanan's role as temporary chairman of the 1952 Republican National Convention. Correspondents include Michael L. Benedum, John W. Bricker, John J. Cornwell, John W. Davis, Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Leonard W. Hall, Warren G. Harding, Henry D. Hatfield, Will H. Hays, Herbert Hoover, Herbert Hoover, Jr., Arthur Krock, Alfred M. Landon, Louis Johnson, William E. Jenner, Henry R. Luce, Theodore R. McKeldin, William C. Marland, Richard Nixon, Chapman Revercomb, Harold E. Stassen, Harold E. Talbot, Earl Warren, and Sinclair Weeks. Subjects include the controversy over the review policies and contents of the West Virginia GUIDE; dispute with the Surplus Commodities Corporation over the distribution of food to striking miners in the southern coalfields, 1939; the H.G. Kump - M.M. Neely primary contest, 1942; support for Rush D. Holt's isolationist policies; the gubernatorial race, 1940; the contest between the Steel Workers' Organizing Committee and the Weirton Steel Employees' Security League, 1937; Holt's opposition to the "Little Hatch Bill"; the establishment of a merit council in the Department of Public Assistance, 1939-1940; and Holt's presidential address before the West Virginia Bar Association, 1944. Correspondents include John J. Cornwell, John W. Davis, Rush D. Holt, George W. Johnson, Paul V. McNutt, Matthew M. Neely, Milo Perkins, Lee Pressman, Jennings Randolph, Chapman Revercomb, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William H. Vanderbilt.