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Harry T. Leeper, Collector, Papers 0.83 Linear Feet 10 in. (2 document cases, 5 in. each)

Leeper, Harry T.

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."

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

H.E. Matheny, Collector and Compiler, Civil War Correspondence and Other Material 0.17 Linear Feet Summary: 2 in. (1 folder, 1/4 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Matheny, H. E. (Herman Edmond), 1910-

Forty-nine letters of Ephraim W. Frost of Co J., 116th Reg, Ohio Vol Inf. Frost, who lived in Coolville, Ohio, near Parkersburg, was stationed at Moorefield, Martinsburg, near Romney, Winchester and Sleepy Creek in Morgan County, where his Reg. was guarding the B & O. The letters comment on fighting in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864 around Woodstock, mention of McNeill, Imboden, and Mosby, and contain much on camp life in the eastern panhandle area. Frost was wounded near Piedmont in May 1864 and died at Annapolis, Maryland in January 1865.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Henderson and Tomlinson Families Papers 0.15 Linear Feet Summary: 1 3/4 in. (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Henderson family. Tomlinson family.
Microfilm copy of the papers of the Henderson and Tomlinson families of Wood County, West Virginia, from 1789 to 1859. Materials relate to frontier life in the Parkersburg-Marietta area, and include Alexander Henderson's journal about his settlement on the Little Kanawha River, 1798-1803; his plantation accounts; letters on the Burr conspiracy; and an account of a duel between Henderson and Stephen R. Wilson in 1803. Also includes several items related to Marine Corps Commandant Archibald Henderson; pioneer Isaac Williams; and A.B. Tomlinson's account of the Indian mounds and frontier settlement at Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville, West Virginia.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Henry Ruffner (1790-1861) and William Henry (1824-1908) Papers 0.15 Linear Feet Summary: 1 3/4 in. (1 reel of microfilm (310 items), 1.75 in.)

Pamphlets include Henry Ruffner's antislavery pamphlet, 1847, and his Union speech, 1856. Subjects of the manuscripts and correspondence include family history; travel; Kanawha Salt Works; schools in Virginia and Kanawha County; Lane Seminary Library; Presbyterian Church; slavery, coal, gas, iron, and timber; Johns Hopkins, Washington and Lee, Harvard, Hobart, Cornell, and Hampden-Sydney colleges; Greenbrier County; Alabama; election of 1904; University of Virginia; Kanawha Valley floods; Venezuela; American Colonization Society; and the Philippine Islands. Persons mentioned or commented on include Philip Doddridge, John Letcher, Hugh Mercer, and Nelson A. Miles. Correspondents include Charles H. Ambler, John Eaton, John P. Hale, H.R. Helper, W.S. Laidley, David L. Ruffner, John W. Wayland, and William L. Wilson.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Ice's Ferry History and Genealogy Typed Documents 0.01 Linear Feet 1 folder, 0.25 in.

Ice's Ferry
Five typescripts pertaining to Ice's Ferry and the Ice family. The first typescript is "Ice's Ferry," (8 pp., undated) an account of the Ice family and of Ice's Ferry in Monongalia County, with comments on frontier and pioneer life in western Virginia, apparently written by Virginia H. Conaway of Marion County. The second item is a variant copy of the "Ice's Ferry," typescript (10 pp., undated). The third typescript is a copy of "Historical Notes on Ice's Ferry," written by John L. Johnston (6 pp., 1920). Covering the time span of 1758-1920, the narrative describes early settlements, roads, forts, Indians, industries, land offices, and families prominent in the development of areas near Ice's Ferry. Mention is made of the proposed construction of a dam and recreation area on the Cheat River. The fourth item is a facsimile typescript of "Some of the Earliest History of the Ice Family" (9 pp., undated), which covers roughly 1680 through the 1900s. The fifth typescript is a magazine article facsimile about Adam Ice (1 p., undated).
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Jacob M. Campbell Papers 1.7 Linear Feet Summary: 1 ft. 8 in. (4 document cases, 5 in. each)

Campbell, Jacob Miller, 1821-1888

Military orders, telegrams, military correspondence concerning Campbell's command, lists of Confederate deserters, ordnance and quartermaster returns, additional military records, and a personal diary of Colonel Campbell, commander of the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers which operated along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Cumberland, Maryland, and Martinsburg, West Virginia. Subjects include civilian-military relations; guerrilla activities of John D. Imboden, the Ringgold Raiders, and the McNeill's Rangers; treatment of Confederate sympathizers; fighting in the Shenandoah Valley in the spring of 1864; and military operations in the Eastern panhandle of West Virginia.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Jacob S. Hayden Diary 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in. (1 folder)

Hayden, Jacob S.
Chronicle written by Hayden, Mayor of Fairmont, of his trip to the west coast. He describes the perils of a steamboat trip from Pittsburgh to Independence, Missouri, and the joys and hardships of travel by wagon across the Great Plains to California. Indian encounters, river crossings, inclement weather, scarcity of water, thieves, and firing squads are some of the topics noted.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

James Tenney Letter 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1 item (1 folder)

Tenney, James
The letter from James Tenney, Jr. to his uncle, John Tenney of Luzerne, NY describes James' journey from upstate New York to Nicholas County, Virginia via Richmond and comments on the attributes of western Virginia. It mentions Kanawha Valley salt production and the lumber industry on the Elk River which supplied materials for boats and barrels used in the salt industry. Tenney also alludes to the New England settlement in present-day Upshur County which his father joined earlier. (a transcription and photos of the letter are also included.)
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

James Z. McChesney Papers 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 2 1/2 in. (4 folders)

McChesney, James Z.
Typescript copies of correspondence, diary entries, biographical sketches of Confederate veterans, manuscripts recounting battles, rosters of Confederate cavalry and infantry companies, and newspaper clippings of Pvt. James Z. McChesney of the Confederate States Army. Subjects include Confederate military activities, military activity in the Shenandoah Valley, McCausland's march on Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and information on various units and battles. Addendum of 2004/05/06 includes letters written by James Z. McChesney, transfer order, leave of absence notice, and a Confederate valentine. See Scope and Content Note for more information.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

John and Robert Thompson Diaries 0.15 Linear Feet Summary: 1 3/4 in. (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Thompson, John and Robert
Diary and account book, 1804-1811, of John Thompson containing accounts of items bought and sold, money owed by and to Thompson, two journeys on the Mississippi River between Nashville, Natchez, and New Orleans, 1804-1805, and numerous remedies for diseases and medical complaints. There is a second diary by Robert C. Thompson, a Confederate soldier, from August 1862 to February 1863. Robert Thompson was a member of a Tennessee unit, imprisoned at Camp Morton, exchanged in September 1862, and spent the remainder of the time covered by the diary with his reorganized company in Mississippi near Vicksburg. Places mentioned include Camp Morton near Indianapolis, Indiana; Richmond, Virginia; Gallatin and Memphis, Tennessee; Cairo, Illinois; Columbus and Hickman, Kentucky; Vicksburg, Clinton, Jackson, Corinth, Holly Spring, Tippa Ford, and Oxford, Mississippi.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

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