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Letters, business papers, and photograph concerning Nathan Hanes of Proctor, Wetzel County, West Virginia, a sawmill clipper operator along the Ohio River. There is a large amount of correspondence addressed to E.E. Headlee, administrator of Hanes' estate, concerning its administration. There are also thirteen cash books, ledgers, and other account books, as well as a notebook containing information on the Hanes family.

This collection contains photocopies of sheet music, photographs, and other material regarding music that was played on or associated with steamboats traveling the Ohio River in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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.

Various Pittenger family members wrote these letters, mostly to other family members. The most frequent correspondent is Abraham Pittenger, a farmer, teacher, and local government official in Hancock County. The letters detail farming and marketing of farm goods, educational developments, affairs of the Presbyterian Church, and family events. The collection also provides significant information about the early Republican party, secession crisis, Civil War and Reconstruction.

These bills show names of steamboats, masters, cargoes, and destinations of boats departing from Powhatan Point [Ohio]. Destinations mentioned include Pittsburgh, Wheeling, and Marietta, Ohio.

The diary, presented to Annie Brewer of Monroe County by James O. B. Kelly in 1887, includes entries by her from December 1886 to August 1888. It notes her social and family life. Brewer gave the diary to her boyfriend, Robert E. Lee Keadle in August 1888, and he wrote in it until 1891. Keadle's writings describe his active social and romantic life in Monroe Co. and as a law student at West Virginia University in 1889 and 1890. He also provided details of his academic, leisure, and religious pursuits and historical events in Morgantown. Keadle entered law practice with John Osborne in Union in 1890.

Papers collected by Roy Bird Cook, a Lewis County native and Charleston pharmacist, who in his role as historian, researcher, and author, was a pioneering and effective advocate for the preservation of West Virginia history. This collection includes the papers he collected in connection with his research, including documentation of the Civil War in West Virginia, Stonewall Jackson and his family, and genealogy of North Central West Virginia, among other topics. Materials include letters and papers of the Hays family, including Samuel L. and Peregrine Hays of Gilmer County (1836-1884, 1952-1962, undated [includes facsimiles]); records of the Confederate 31st Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and later correspondence, clippings, and papers about the regiment and its members (ca. 1856-1955, undated [includes facsimiles]); various collections of individual and family papers and Civil War correspondence (1793-1974, undated [includes facsimiles]); original and copies of Stonewall Jackson letters and papers, as well as papers pertaining to Jackson family members (1801-1963, undated [includes facsimiles]); and materials related to the history of pharmacy and medicine, with a special focus on West Virginia (ca. 1832-1961, undated [includes facsimiles]). There is also an extensive series of bound notebooks containing manuscripts, transcriptions, clippings, genealogies, pamphlets, and images regarding the following topics: Stonewall Jackson, Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, Colonel George Jackson, and Thomas Jackson Arnold; the Civil War, including historical sketches of battles as well as originals and copies of soldiers' diaries, journals, and letters; Lewis County; Charleston and the Kanawha Valley; Douglas S. Freeman; Granville Davisson Hall; Camden family; George Washington; and other topics.

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).