Collections

Papers of David Goff (ca. 1804-1878) of Beverly, West Virginia, an attorney and land promoter for Harrison, Randolph, and Tucker Counties. Goff became prosecuting attorney in 1835, served as a Colonel in the Virginia militia in 1844, was superintendent of Randolph County schools in 1853, served as a member of the Virginia Assembly, and was a West Virginia State Senator from Randolph County (1875-1877). Includes letters, surveys, land grant, bonds, and receipts. The correspondence includes ALS (autograph letters signed) from Caleb Boggess, Samuel Price, Joseph Sprigg, John S. Carlile, J. M. Bennett, Thos. S. Haymond, J. H. Diss Debar, P. G. Van Winkle, Alex. H. H. Stuart, Adjutant General R. S. Garnett, A. I. Boreman, Geo. W. Munford, John J. Jacob, Charles J. Faulkner, and Henry M. Matthews. Subjects of correspondence include politics, state and national; Civil War; Randolph county schools; land; West Virginia constitutional convention of 1872; Washington and Ohio Railroad; establishment of mail routes; estates; and Goff family history.

Hereford was a lawyer and politician and served in the House of Representatives from 1871 to 1877 when he was elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Allen T. Caperton. He served until 1881. The papers include letters of recommendation; congratulations on his election to the Senate; correspondence on West Virginia politics; an editorial letter on the "salary grab;" and letters urging Hereford to run for re-election in 1881.

Correspondence and business papers of Henry Gassaway Davis (1823-1916), a successful businessman and politician from West Virginia. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1904. The collection largely documents his business and political career, although there are personal papers in the collection as well. His business interests were largely concerned with coal mining, timber, and railroads. Types of documents include letters, reports, account books, and maps, among other material. Much of the correspondence is arranged alphabetically. The scope and content note of each record series provides substantial detail regarding content.

Papers of a Grafton attorney who was a lawyer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and prosecuting attorney of Taylor County, West Virginia, assistant to Governor J.B. Jackson, collector of internal revenue for West Virginia, and a member of the Democratic National Committee. There are case papers and letters pertaining to McGraw's law practice; records relating to the purchase, sale, and development of timber, coal, and oil lands; and records of his directorships in the Grafton and Greenbrier Railroad, and the Iron Valley and Morgantown Railroad companies. The papers reflect many aspects of activities of the Democratic Party in West Virginia, ca. 1880-1899. There is a scrapbook of Rose McGraw relating largely to Mount de Chantal Academy at Wheeling. There is also a Yale Law School Senior Examination for 1876. Correspondents include J.N. Camden, John J. Cornwell, H.G. Davis, Alston G. Dayton, C.J. Faulkner, A.B. Fleming, John B. Floyd, Alvaro F. Gibbens, Septimus/Septimius Hall, J.J. Jackson, John J. Jacob, Virgil A. Lewis, Earl W. Oglebay, William A. Ohley, George C. Sturgiss, A.B. White, Israel C. White, W.P. Willey, and William Wilson.

The papers of a prominent Lewisburg, Greenbrier County lawyer and politician, Samuel Price, who served numerous terms in the Virginia state legislature and was Virginia's Lieutenant-Governor during the Civil War. He was also a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1851, the Secession Convention of 1861, and the West Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1872; and he completed the U. S. Senate term of Allen Caperton in 1876. The papers include correspondence relating to local and state politics, Price's law practice, slavery, the Civil War, land speculation, and railroads. Also included are files and ledgers documenting Price's legal and political activities as well as personal financial records. Among the prominent correspondents are the Civil War generals John Echols and Jubal Early (1872) as well as the following: G. D. Camden, Allen T. Caperton, Charles J. Faulkner, William Parker Foulke, David Goff, Henry M. Mathews, and H. O. Middleton.

This is a collection of letters and documents tracing the personal and business life of an eastern panhandle West Virginia family. The papers concern a broad range of political, social, financial, and legal topics, particularly focusing on J. Hammond Siler, Jr., his parents, J. Hammond Siler, Sr. and Jessie Castleman Siler (residents of the Town of Bath better known as Berkeley Springs). Also includes correspondence and other papers from related families. Subjects include banking, the Civil War, the Episcopal church, secession of Virginia, Virginia Loyalty Oath, women's diaries, and women's letters and papers. A notable item in the collection is the diary of Anne Doyne Wolff Strother, wife of artist and writer David Hunter Strother, documenting a trip with husband and daughter Emily to New Orleans in 1857 (S2/Box 67, folder 1a).