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Civil War diaries authored by First Lieutenant (later Major) Fabricius A. Cather from Flemington, Taylor County, West Virginia, records his experiences in the military and political conflicts of the Civil War. The six diaries, and a transcribed copy of the original 1864 and 1865 diaries, contain entries for the years 1860 to 1865 regarding western Virginia's grassroots efforts to secede from the Confederacy and establish a new state, and of the first battles and skirmishes such as Rich Mountain and Corricks Ford. He describes campaigns involving his regiment, the First West Virginia Cavalry, including the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign under Sigel, Hunter, Sheridan, and Custer against Breckenridge, Early, and Mosby's Rangers; the last battles of Petersburg as Grant broke the Rebel lines; and the continuous fighting during Lee's retreat. Although most diary entries are one or two sentences in length, some entries in 1864 and 1865 are longer, perhaps due to his full involvement in combat. The collection also contains 18 items stored in pockets inside the covers of the diaries, including headquarters passes, business cards, and a complimentary pass for Lt. Cather to attend the June, 1861 "NorthWestern Virginia Convention" in Wheeling. An Addendum includes two scans of photos of Cather, two scans of Civil War military service papers, photocopies of an 1873 Kansas Land Grant, and genealogy material documenting the Cather family.

Scrapbook of the editor of the Sutton MOUNTAINEER, member of the Wheeling Convention, 1861, and the state legislature, 1867. Clippings pertain to election returns for Braxton County and the nation; Taylor's editorials; letters to the editor; population statistics; and politics. A section of the volume consists of Taylor's record of visits to the county schools as County Superintendent of Free Schools, 1869, and a record of personal accounts.

Letter from the Monongalia Co. State Senator and representative to the Wheeling Convention of 1861. Describes the Convention and his anti-secession, but pro-slavery sentiments.

Papers of William Price (1803-1881), a Monongalia County, West Virginia, resident, member of the Wheeling Convention, and state legislator, 1869-1873. Includes correspondence, diaries, notebooks, legal documents, and pictures. The correspondence, 1858-1912, concerns farming, the cattle business, and observations on the Civil War. Land papers also relate to Greene County, Pennsylvania. There is a diary and memo book of William Price, 1861-1863, containing two references to his membership in the Wheeling Convention, 20 June 1861; an account book, 1885-1890; a journal maintained by Price during two business trips to Philadelphia in 1865; and a novel, "Charlotte Temple" published in 1807 owned by Mary Swon, with her family history inscribed on the back pages. There are also letters from Monongalia County citizens commenting on legislative enactments. Correspondents include R.L. Berkshire and Alexander Martin. An addendum of 2001/06/29 contains typescript transcriptions of the papers of William Price and family.

Correspondence, business and legal papers, notebooks, speeches, historical essays, genealogical records, clippings, and printed material of a Buckhannon lawyer, state jurist, member of Congress (1927-1929), and West Virginia Secretary of State (1933-1948). The collection also includes papers of O'Brien's father, Emmett J., a member of the state's first Constitutional Convention; letters from O'Brien's brother, Lieutenant A.L. O'Brien, 1874-1887, a West Point graduate serving at forts Assinniboine, Belknap, and Spokane in the Montana Territory and Washington State; letters of Henry M. White, O'Brien's brother-in-law, and a lawyer with the Immigration Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission; a diary of a trip to Texas in 1907; and genealogical records of the Joseph Hall, William Norris, O'Brien, and Jacob Reger families. Subjects include West Virginia Wildlife League; Methodism in Upshur County; an expedition in pursuit of Sitting Bull; the Rush Holt contested election of 1934; the McAdoo-Smith contest of 1924; the Townsendites; presidential election of 1936; state politics; pioneer history of West Virginia; and the Vandalia Company.

Correspondence and sketches of Warder and his wife, Evaline C. Farnsworth. The letters, written by Warder while a member of the First Virginia Constitutional Convention, 1861-63, pertain to the activities and proceedings of the convention.