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Correspondence, business and legal papers, surveys, account books, and a diary of a Burning Springs surveyor, oil developer, rural entrepreneur, horticulturalist, and captain of the Little Kanawha River steamer GENERAL JACKSON. Collection includes a brief journal of a trip from Des Moines, Iowa, to the Forks of the Platte in 1860; papers of Clarke's venture in quartz mining and milling in the Colorado Territory, 1861-1863; surveys of the Burning Springs oil region; letters from James C. Clarke, president of the Wirt Oil and Mining Company of which Clarke was superintendent; papers on the National Grange, the West Virginia Grange (Patrons of Husbandry), cooperatives, and the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia Wool Growers Association; a diary of farming operations at Burning Springs; letters from Clarke's brother, James C., while a member of the Pennsylvania senate, 1875-1880; letterheads from Little Kanawha and Ohio Valley mercantile firms and steamboat companies; and family letters. Other subjects covered include: the Allegheny Valley Railroad; early history of Bethalto, Illinois; the speculative spirit and western expansion, 1860; freighting on the Great Plains during the Civil War; construction of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad near Council Bluffs in 1868; and the effect of the German crisis of 1866 on American oil prices.

Petitions from northwestern counties to the Virginia State legislature for internal improvements, namely turnpikes, railroads and river navigation claims. Mention is made of the Ohio River, Little Kanawha River, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Northwestern Turnpike.

Photostats of deeds, surveys, plats, and grants, the latter signed by Thomas M. Randolph, David Campbell, and William Smith, governors of Virginia, in 1820, 1838, and 1847, for land in Harrison and Doddridge counties; a school attendance sheet for 1865; and a report to the board of education of the number of school-age children in District 4 of Doddridge County in 1869. Also included are a number of photographs taken around Webster Springs showing the hotel, a subscription school, and public school classes, ca.1900, along with two photographs of lumbering activities near Holly River. There is also a typescript, "An Adventure of Two Years in Webster Springs High School, 1915-1917," by Maud M. Hull; and a short history of the Webster Hardwood Lumber Company at Dixie.

Papers relating to the early development of Marietta and the Ohio Valley include the journal, 1784-1790, and correspondence, 1776-1824 (3 vols.), of a Revolutionary War officer and organizer of the Ohio Company, General Rufus Putnam; papers of Samuel Prescott Hildreth entitled: "Early Events in the Valley of Ohio, 1787 to 1847" (2 vols.); letter from Nathan Goodale to Rufus Putnam, 15 March 1788; journal of Joseph Buell, 1785-1789; and a journal of John Mathews, 1786 (holograph copy).

Aside from routine municipal affairs these journals contain material on the development of internal improvements in the Parkersburg, West Virginia, area like the Wheeling-Parkersburg struggle for the western terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the development of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad, and the demands for various river improvements. There are also a few references to Civil War military activities and the development of the oil industry in the Wood County area. Mayors mentioned include C.S. Despard, John J. Jackson, and Peter G. VanWinkle.

Most of the letters are to Helen M. Robinson of Fetterman, Taylor County, West Virginia, from relatives and friends. Subjects discussed include housekeeping, fashions, farming, schools, religion, and the Civil War from both the Confederate and Union perspectives. There are frequent, specific references to the political and military state-of-affairs in the upper Ohio Valley region.

Papers mainly related to the Civil War in southern West Virginia, including correspondence, maps, photographs, newspaper clippings, muster rolls, and other material. Highlights of the collection include material regarding Captain John V. Young of the 11th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry; Captain James S. Cassady of the 7th West Virginia Cavalry; Captain W.D. Thurmond and his company of Partisan Rangers; and the 8th and 13th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry units. The collection is organized into seven series, including: 1. Correspondence (1841-1888, undated); 2. Maps (1861-1935, undated); 3. Miscellaneous (1851-1867); 4. Photographs (undated); 5. Sketches (1898, undated); 6. Newspaper Clippings (1861-1938, undated); and 7. Muster Rolls (1864, undated).

Copy of a diary of a Morgantown resident, with references to early merchants and public officials; the building of schools, churches, and business buildings; volume of river traffic; and roads and mail routes opened.

Correspondence of a Civil War general who had business interests in the Cannel Coal Company, Coal River Navigation Company, James River and Kanawha Company, and the Western Oil Company. Subjects include coal, oil, iron and steel; improvements on the Kanawha, Coal, and Ohio rivers; English investments in the Cannel Coal Company and the Winifrede Mining & Manufacturing Company; and timber prices. Civil War correspondence includes letters from Francis H. Pierpont and General Jacob D. Cox. There are letters from Rosecrans to his wife while commander of Union forces in western Virginia; persons mentioned include Generals John B. Floyd, R.C. Schenck, Jacob D. Cox, George Crook, George B. McClellan, Braxton Bragg, and U.S. Grant. There is postwar political comment on ex-Confederate officers in government positions and U.S. Grant's terms as president.