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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.

Papers pertaining to Tyler County and Sistersville include genealogical data on the Wells family; a stock certificate of the Sistersville and Salem Turnpike Company; newspaper clippings on local affairs; and a manuscript list of Civil War volunteers from Tyler County.

Partners in a Sistersville general store, Joshua and William Russell were merchants who conducted business along either side of the Ohio River between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The daybooks and ledgers document the trade of their Sistersville store. The daybooks record daily transactions with many examples of barter payment in labor or agricultural goods. These transactions were then transferred to ledgers which contained running accounts for each customer. The ledgers include a name index at the front and refer to balances owed and means of payment. Beyond such routine entries, the ledgers also make frequent references to the occupations and residences of the customers.

A scrapbook containing a brief history of Sistersville and the oil industry in Tyler and other counties and states; a stock certificate of the Sistersville & Salem Turnpike Company, 1853; bills of lading for Ohio and Muskingum River steamers, 1855-1934; and a list of steamboats operating on the Muskingum River, 1830-1890

City Council minutes of the town of Sistersville in Tyler County, incorporated 2 February 1839. Included in the reports are town ordinances, bylaws, orders, resolutions, elections, poll books, town improvements, and other municipal affairs dealt with by the Board of Trustees.

Papers of the Thomas Browse family documenting immigration from England to the Ohio River region in the vicinity of Ohio, western Virginia, and Kentucky (1830); farming in Pleasants County, West Virginia in the vicinity of St. Marys on the Ohio River (ca. 1830s-1900); and the acquisition of and royalties from oil lands in Pleasants County from the region of "Fish Pot" (ca. 1880s-1910). Includes diaries of Thomas Browse (1830-1878) and diaries of his daughter Mary E. Browse (1855-1910, incomplete). Also includes family papers of descendants Robert H. Browse (son) and Henry Nicholas Browse (grandson) documenting services purchased and businesses transactions conducted along the Ohio River in the region of the towns of St. Marys, New Martinsville, and Wheeling (ca. 1880-1930). There are also several maps of West Virginia lands in Pleasants and Tyler Counties (ca. 1830-1910), including oil fields in Pleasants County (ca. 1900-1920), pertaining to the business of the Browse family.

Circuit and county court papers including minute books, order books, witness books, rule books, execution books, and trial dockets. There are poll books for state and federal elections (1816-52).

Land deeds, indentures, and plat surveys of Tyler County, including the will of Samuel Underwood.

William Underwood (1780-1866) of Middlebourne, West Virginia, was a justice of the peace, coroner, and sheriff in Tyler County, West Virginia, in the nineteenth century. Collection contains two copies of Underwood's diary from 1812 to 1861 and two copies of his 1864 will. Diary consists of annual entries that chiefly note births, deaths, and significant weather for a particular year. William Underwood married Hannah Willis (1780-1869), and the couple had eleven children.

Genealogy research papers compiled by W. Guy Tetrick and his son Willis G. Tetrick, Jr. The Tetricks were from Harrison County and the material in the collection mainly regards families of Harrison County and north central West Virginia. The collection contains mostly original genealogical compilations and family histories. It also contains personal and business correspondence; financial records; publications regarding local and state history; newspapers and news clippings; obituaries, cemetery records; records of the Sons of the American Revolution; and other material.