Collections

Start Over Subjects Statehood politics -- West Virginia Level Collection

Hubbard Family Papers, 1810/1914 0.19 Linear Feet Summary: 2 1/4 in. (1 folder, 1/2 in); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Hubbard family

Papers, mainly correspondence, of the Hubbard family of New Haven and Litchfield, Connecticut and Wheeling, West Virginia. There are several hundred letters which document the growth of the family and its business enterprises in Wheeling. Correspondents include Gad Smith, Dana Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard, General John Hubbard, Roger Dorman, H Moran, William P. Hubbard, Dana L. Hubbard, Stephen B. Elkins, John W. Mason, and Waitman T. Willey.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

John J. Davis (1824-1916) Papers, 1824/1935 3.9 Linear Feet 3 ft. 10 1/2 in. (8 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 flat storage box, 4 in.)

Davis, John J. (John James), 1835-1916
Papers of John J. Davis, a lawyer and politician from Clarksburg, West Virginia. This collection contains correspondence, account books, photographs, essays, speeches, and other material. Also included in this collection are writings of Davis' granddaughter, Julia McDonald Davis. There are also artifacts, including a school slate and three leather billfolds. Please see "Scope and Contents" for further detail.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

John J. Polsley Papers, 1862/1879, bulk 1862/1865 0.19 Linear Feet Summary: 2 1/4 in. (1 folder, 1/2 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Polsley, John J.
Correspondence and miscellaneous papers of a lieutenant colonel in the Eighth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry and later the Seventh West Virginia Regiment. The letters, most of which are addressed to Polsley's wife, pertain to military activities in central West Virginia, 1862-1863, and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. These letters comment on the West Virginia statehood movement, camp life, guerrilla warfare, Polsley's confinement in Libby Prison, General John Imboden's raid, 1863, and the West Virginia capital question.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Marcia Louise Sumner Phillips Journal of an Upshur County Resident regarding the Civil War, 1861/1863 0.25 Linear Feet 1 document case, 2.5 in.

Phillips, Marcia Louise Sumner
Photocopy of typescript transcription of the manuscript journal kept by Marcia Louise Sumner Phillips of French Creek and Buckhannon, Virginia (West Virginia). It contains commentary on local and family affairs, and on Civil War military activities in the western Virginia and Virginia areas. Other subjects include churches, travel, elections, holiday celebrations, and the 1863 statehood convention in Parkersburg. There are descriptions of and quoted conversations with officers of both the Union and Confederate armies. Military units mentioned in the narrative include: the Third Virginia Volunteer Infantry, One Hundred Thirty-third Virginia Military, Eighteenth Virginia Cavalry, Tenth Virginia Infantry, Second Virginia Infantry, the Ringgold Cavalry, and the Imboden Rangers. Military camps commented on include Flatwoods, Elkwater, and Baldwin. Marcia L.S. Phillips was the wife of S.B. Phillips, Captain of Company E, Third Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. There is also an additional photocopy preservation copy of the journal.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Matthew Tyler Foulds, Research Paper on Methodism in Western Virginia, 2013 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (41 pages in 1 folder)

Foulds, Matthew Tyler
Typescript of a paper written by Dr. Matthew Tyler Foulds titled "Enemies of the State: Political and Religious Secession in Western Virginia, 1844-1863". The paper regards the political and social influence of the Methodist Church and its various branches on the area that would become West Virginia, particularly those Methodists that supported the political and economic interests of western Virginia and, at the beginning of the Civil War, the unionist cause and statehood movement.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Maxwell Family Papers, 1845/2017, bulk 1845/1950 10.1 Linear Feet Summary: 10 ft. 1/2 in. (20 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each); (1 large flat storage box, 3 in.); (2 wrapped scrapbooks, 1 in. each); (1 wrapped diary, 2 1/2 in.); (wrapped galley proofs, 1 in. ); (wrapped diplomas, 2 items); (3 wrapped ledgers, 1 in. each); (1 card file box, 4 in.) 0.01 Gigabytes 1 .pdf file

Maxwell family
Papers of Hu Maxwell (1860-1927), historian, editor, and author of several county histories of West Virginia, along with papers and records of other family members. There are manuscripts of fiction, verse, and local history written by Maxwell, as well as a number of his manuscripts and publications dealing with forestry which were prepared while he was a member of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. Maxwell kept a diary during the years 1901-1919 while residing in Morgantown, Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., which is extensive for the period of World War I and which contains notes on the diary of Rufus Maxwell (1855-1907). See scope and content note for more detail.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Monongalia County Court Records, Grand Jury Presentment Regarding Virginia and Federal Legislatures, 1816 .01 Linear Feet 1 leaf (1 folder)

Monongalia County Court

A presentment by the Grand Jurors of Monongalia County explaining their disapproval of recent acts by the United States Congress and the General Assembly of Virginia. (In legal terms, a "presentment" is the notice taken or statement made by a grand jury of an offense from their own knowledge without a bill of indictment laid before them.) The Jurors' complaint against the United States Congress regards a bill raising salaries for congressmen. Regarding the General Assembly of Virginia, the Jurors complain of general overreach by the legislature and assumption of powers belonging to the judicial branch. In addition, they note "the inquality of representation in the state legislature" which disadvantages the "Northern and Western sections of the state". In addition to the original document from the Monongalia County Court records, there is also a partial transcription of the document, including the names of its signers.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Ralph Edwin "Ted" Spears, Jr., Compiler, Battelle-MacLane-Mendel-Spears Family Collection, 1848/2001, bulk 1860/1950 1.88 Linear Feet 2 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 document case, 2.5 in.; 2 large flat storage boxes, 3.5 in. each; 1 large flat storage box, 3 in.

Spears, Ralph Edwin, Jr. (1919-2014)

Collection of the Battelle, MacLane, Mendel, and Spears families from southern Ohio and north-central West Virginia (including Wheeling and Morgantown), comprised of genealogy, records, clippings, photographs, artifacts, and more. Collection includes family genealogy and records (Box 1), individual carte de visites, cabinet cards, and assorted family photographs and newspaper article clippings (Box 1-2). Additional photographs include several cased family photographs such as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes, mostly of Anna MacLane Battelle, her husband, William G. Battelle, and their son, James (Box 3). Family scrapbooks include personal photographs of Ted Spears and others and related ephemera (Box 4). Photographs of Ted Spears pertain to his college years at WVU and other events. Artifacts include family bibles and a lock of hair (Box 1), children's gloves, eyeglasses, earrings, and a ring (Box 3), and a safe deposit metal lock box (Box 6). A portrait of Ted Spears's great-grandfather, William G. Battelle, is included (Box 5).

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Roy Bird Cook, Collector, Papers regarding the Civil War in Southern West Virginia, 1844/1938, bulk 1861/1867 0.33 Linear Feet 4 in. (1 document case, 2.5 in.; 1 large flat storage box, 1.5 in.)

Cook, Roy Bird, 1886-1961
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).
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Samuel Crane, Lawyer, Letter to Barbour County Delegate, 1863 .01 Linear Feet 1 item (1 folder)

Letter written by Samuel Crane dated 1863 January 2 and addressed to a delegate from Barbour County, possibly Joseph Teter, Jr. The letter regards Crane's interest in the office of Governor of the newly formed state of West Virginia. Please see "Scope and Contents" for further information as well as a transcript of the letter.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

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