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Start Over Date range 1794 Places Preston County (W. Va.)

Deakins Family Papers 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 3 in. (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 oversize folder, 1/2 in.)

Deakins family

Additional Deakins family papers, consisting of correspondence, bond of conveyance, deeds, surveys and plats. [ALS] to Colonel Francis Deakin from John Compton, 1793, relative to surveys made by John Compton in 1792; bond of conveyance for land in Randolph County owned by Deakins heirs, 1809; five deeds for land owned by the Deakins family in Randolph and Preston counties W. Va., 1808-1885; 1848 deed from Francis Deakins to Northwestern Turnpike Co.; seven surveys and plats for lands in Preston, Tucker, Harrison and Upshur counties, largely owned by the Deakins family, 1788-1881.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Deakins Family Papers and Surveying Compass 2.5 Linear Feet 2 ft. 6 1/4 in. (5 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 large flat storage box, 5 in.); (1 oversize folder, 1/4 in.)

Deakins family
Includes records from several generations of the Deakins family of Montgomery County, Maryland and north central West Virginia. William (1742-1798) and Francis (1739-1804) Deakins, among the first generation, were active as land speculators after the American Revolution, applying their skills as surveyors to leverage acquisition of western lands. From 1778 their activities are documented through deeds, agreements, surveys, plats, surveyors' field books, court papers, and letters related to land purchased in Harrison, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, and Upshur counties. Other papers concern Leonard M. Deakins (1747-1824) and his descendants. Of special significance in the collection is the compass used by Francis Deakins to survey the "Deakins Line" in 1787-1788, a north-south line separating western Maryland from (West) Virginia.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Edward D. Bayles, Collector, Land Grants 0 Linear Feet 2 items (photocopies)

Bayles, Edward D.
Two hand-written land grants: one for Monongalia County dated 1791, and one for Preston County dated 1837. The Monongalia grant names "Amos Robants, assignee of Ezekiel Jones" and the Preston grant names Richard Forman.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Papers regarding Early Settlers of Aurora in Preston County 0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case), 1 oversize folder (.1 in)

Account books, and legal, business, and personal papers of some early settlers at Aurora, Preston County, West Virginia. There are records of a tannery, blacksmith shop, a general merchandise store, and a sawmill, as well as deeds and subscription lists for the Lutheran and German Reformed churches. Also included in the papers are land surveys, wills, deeds, plats, school notebooks, tax receipts, and other items.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Preston County, Aurora School History 0 Linear Feet Summary: 7 pages

Preston County. Aurora School
A history of the schools of Aurora, Preston Co. from their founding by early settlers of German descent to the present efforts to reconstruct the recently fire destroyed building. Mentioned are changes in location, types of schools, school principals, funding and various costs such as those for construction. Some early funding, especially to aid poor children, was raised locally by money accumulated in a literary fund. In the nineteenth century other funds were acquired from the Peabody Educational Fund, a national fund created by George Peabody to assist needy public schools. Early settlers mentioned in the establishment of schools are John Stough, Christian Whitehair, Jacob Ridenour, Abraham Wotring and Peter Heckart. Those influential in education after the pioneer era are Franklin V. N. Painter, C. M. Malcom, the Stemple family, Frank J. Pyles, Glenn Wright and Kenneth Parsons.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Preston County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers 4.15 Linear Feet Summary: 4 ft. 1.75 in. (5 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 large flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (1 Oversized record carton, 17 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Preston County
Records of the Preston County court, consisting almost entirely of land records such as maps, surveys, plats, deeds, and indentures. There are also some personal papers and correspondence of Preston County residents, including Israel Baldwin and Julius K. Monroe, and the Fairfax family. Some photographs from this collection have been digitized.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Records and Manuscript regarding Early History of Aurora, West Virginia 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Aurora, Preston County

Deed for 800 acres on Foleys Meadows in Monongalia County, to Thomas James Goff, June 25 1787; tax receipts of 1829 and 1843 for Thomas and James S. Watson; a bill of goods of Stephens, Miller & Co., Baltimore, 3 May 1865, to Messrs. Wotring Co., Aurora, W.Va.; a manuscript plat for unidentified land.

  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Samuel Hanway Papers 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 oversize folder)

Hanway, Samuel
Manuscript surveys and plats of land in Monongalia and Preston counties, West Virginia, by Samuel Hanway, county surveyor. There are papers showing acreage and owners; an early plat of Morgantown showing streets, lots and numbers; plat of courses of the Monongalia and Preston County boundary; maps of Monongalia and Preston counties, including a map of eleven tracts of land on Prichard and Whiteday Creek, Monongalia County, which notes the Morgantown-Clarksburg Road, Cratzer's Tavern, and the Van Swearing(en) Walnut Tavern and Mill.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Thornton Tayloe Perry, Collector, Papers 4.5 Linear Feet Summary: 4 ft. 6 in. (12 index card boxes, 4 1/2 in. each) [the boxes contain a total of 68 reels of microfilm]

Perry, T. Tayloe
This microfilm version of the Thornton Tayloe Perry Collection held by the Virginia Historical Society contains historical material collected by Perry over a 30 year period. It concentrates upon western Virginia and West Virginia with particular emphasis upon the lower Shenandoah Valley and Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan counties of West Virginia. The microfilm was placed in the West Virginia Collection by the Virginia Historical Society under provisions of a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

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