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Ledger of illness remedies used by Dr. Ashford Brown of Gladesville, West Virginia, who practiced medicine in Monongalia, Preston and Taylor counties before and during the Civil War.

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.

Diaries written by Rogers for the years 1870-1871, 1874, 1876-1878, 1890-1902 which describe weather conditions, farm operations, his ministerial duties, and purchases for the farm and household. Ordained to preach by the Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1859, he served this as well as fourteen other churches in Preston, West Virginia, and adjoining counties. Included is a book of sermons with notes on biblical passages.

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.

Papers of the Fairfax and Warman families of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Morgantown, and Kingwood. There are letters (1811-1874) to Elizabeth Fairfax from family members and friends; papers (1840-1851) of William Warman; papers on the settlement of the John Fairfax estate; a manuscript census book of Preston County for 1830; and an account book (1857-1872) of F.B.F. Fairfax. A few advertising circulars, 1866-1931, are included, as well as clippings on Morgantown and Monongalia County, 1868-1933.

Papers of the Hagans family of Preston County, West Virginia, including Harrison, Elisha, George M., Henry C., John Marshall, Zer Hagans, and others. There are letters, invoices, account books, advertisements, and other business records pertaining to family business enterprises including several general merchandise stores and outlets in western Pennsylvania and Maryland, and at Brandonville, Kingwood, Greenville, and Palatine, West Virginia. There are several postal records from Harrison Hagans' twenty years as postmaster, 1822-1841, at Brandonville, and magistrate papers and deeds, most regarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. There are also financial records documenting Hagans' tenure as president of the Greenville Mining and Manufacturing Company which produced iron in Preston County in the 1830s. Other information records Hagans' interests in: county roads, schools, churches, government and politics; the Preston Telegraph Company; a fulling mill, 1827; and a linseed oil mill, 1842. There are Hagan patents for a washing and wringing machine (1845), and working models of mowing and threshing machines. There is a volume of minutes of the quarterly conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1834-1859, and 1861 Wheeling Convention papers regarding a new state government, and Civil War letters from family and friends.