Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

West Virginia and Regional History Center

West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Primary Collecting Areas:
West Virginia and Appalachia History and Culture
Description:
The West Virginia & Regional History Center preserves and provides access to the records that document the history and culture of the state and the central Appalachian region. The Center is part of West Virginia University Libraries.
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Start Over Repository West Virginia and Regional History Center Date range 1809 Places Randolph 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.

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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.
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Doddridge Family Manuscript 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Doddridge family

A manuscript copy and two typed copies of the will of William Parsons, Randolph County, dated January 11, 1828. Two typed copies of information on the families of Philip Doddridge (1773-1832) and John Doddridge (1745-1791).

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Gibson Lamb Cranmer Papers regarding Statehood and Other Material 0.4 Linear Feet 5 in. (2 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each)

Papers regarding West Virginia statehood and the history of Wheeling and Ohio County compiled by Judge Gibson L. Cranmer (1826-1903) of Wheeling, West Virginia, who served as secretary of the Wheeling Convention that repudiated Virginia's secession from the United States in 1861. Series 1 includes manuscript narratives and correspondence describing events of the West Virginia statehood movement, written by eyewitnesses at the request of Gibson L. Cranmer. Manuscript authors include John S. Burdett, John S. Carlile, Daniel Frost, Lewis Ruffner, and Benjamin Wilson. Series 2 includes Cranmer's handwritten notes, drafts of articles, copies of documents, and letters solicited by him regarding the history of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia. See Scope and Content Note for details and contents list.
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Harper Family Papers 0.1 Linear Feet 1 in. (1 folder)

Harper family
The land and legal papers of a Tucker and Randolph County family. Included are power of attorney documents between Jerome Harper of British Columbia and Ezekial Harper of Tucker County. There is also a note of a land survey done for Albert Gallatin. Other names mentioned are Jonathan W. Harper, David Goff and Wyatt J. Ferguson.
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McCoy Family Papers 1.7 Linear Feet 1 ft. 8 in. (3 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 large flat storage box, 5 in.); (1 oversize folder, 1 item)

McCoy family
Business correspondence and papers, including land grants and deeds, 1761-1881, surveys, wills, and account books of William McCoy, Sr. and Jr., of Pendleton County. There are papers on the administration of estates; management of property in Mercer, Pendleton, and Randolph counties, and in Augusta and Highland counties, Virginia, for absentee owners; and on farm operations. There is material on the Central Bank of Virginia at Staunton; the Moorefield and North Branch Turnpike Company; and on military units in the eastern parts of West Virginia during the Civil War, including letters, orders, and requisitions. Also includes record of land transaction between Levi Hollingsworth and Robert McCulloh regarding 11,435 acres in Pendleton County (1803).
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Moses H. Crouch Papers 0.7 Linear Feet Summary: 7 1/2 in. (1 document case, 5 in.; 1 document case, 2 1/2 in.

Crouch, Moses H.
The business papers of Moses H. Crouch, a farmer and miller who lived near Huttonsville, Randolph County, West Virginia, in the nineteenth century. Chiefly contains receipts, deeds, promissory notes, and other financial and legal documents related to Crouch's business and property from the 1840s to the 1890s. Receipts and account information document the sale of dry goods and textiles, including meat, coffee, tobacco, sugar, tea, oatmeal, peaches, silk, thread, and chambray. Legal materials include deeds, insurance information, tax documents, and other information related to land tracts owned by Crouch. While most of the materials are Moses Crouch's papers, there are also documents for George Long, Andrew Crouch, and John Crouch. Early materials from 1802, 1821, and 1830 consist of land indentures. Also included are two account ledgers, from 1839 to 1899 and from 1853 to 1870, that record purchases of grains such as flour, corn, flax, and wheat by the pound and by the bushel and note payments on accounts.
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Ruggles & Woodbridge Co. Account and Minute Book 0.1 Linear Feet 1 in. (1 folder)

Ruggles Woodbridge and Company
An account book of Ruggles Woodbridge & Co., a New England land company with lands in Randolph Co., Virginia, covering the period 1799 to 1831. The volume includes a constitution for the company, dated 4 January 1799, minutes of meetings of the proprietors of the company, which include accounts of land sales of the company and other business matters; an 1811 report by Daniel Stebbins and Jeriel Preston of their inspection trip of the company's lands in which they refer to the settlers as Yankees, natives, and mongrels and claim that one Yankee, in terms of work accomplished, is worth four natives.
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Snyder Family Papers 0.63 Linear Feet 1 document case, 5 in.; 1 document case, 2.5 in.; 1 oversize folder, 0.1 in.

Snyder family

Personal and business correspondence of Harmon, Molly, John, and other members of the Snyder family; genealogical information on the Lantz and Snyder families; land grants, surveys and deeds for land in Barbour, Greenbrier, and Randolph counties, West Virginia; and poll and registration books for Randolph County. Included also is Harmon Snyder's daybook and diary, listing accounts for the years 1866-1896 and incidents of the Civil War.

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Squire Bosworth, Physician, Papers 1.5 Linear Feet 1 ft. 6 in. (3 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 small flat storage box, 3 in. each)

Bosworth, Squire.
The day book and papers of Dr. Squire Bosworth and family. Squire Bosworth was one of the earliest physicians of Randolph County, and his day book records details of his medical practice indicating common procedures and remedies as well as charges and costs during the early nineteenth century. Bosworth was also a deputy and county clerk of Randolph County, and included among the papers are court documents. Along with his son, Squire Newton Bosworth, the family acquired interests in landholding which is reflected in deeds, surveys, correspondence and tax receipts from Texas and West Virginia. Among the correspondence is an 1885 letter from William L. Wilson surveying his Congressional re-election possibilities.
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