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 1860 Places Monongalia County (W. Va.)

Barns Family Papers 0.52 Linear Feet 6 1/4 in. (1 document case, 2.5 in).; (1 oversize folder, 0.25 in.); (2 reels of microfilm, one of which is shared with A&M 0970, 1.75 in. each) One of these microfilm reels is shared with another collection: A&M 0970. The extent of that reel is calculated in this collection but not A&M 0970.

Barns Family
Papers of the Barns family of northwestern West Virginia, including: the Civil War diaries of Thomas Rufus Barns recording his experiences while serving with Company K, Tenth Regiment, West Virginia Volunteer Infantry (1863-1864); Civil War records of Uz Barns, who served with the same unit, including discharge and pension papers (1865-1891); miscellaneous Civil War material, including currency and song sheets (ca. 1861-1865); and Barns family papers including financial records, and land records pertaining to Marion, Monongalia, and Ritchie Counties (1816-1869).
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Bayles Family Papers 2.65 Linear Feet Summary: 2 ft. 7 3/4 in. (6 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Bayless family
Correspondence and genealogical notes of John C. Bayles of Morgantown relating to the histories of the Bayles, Vandervort and other Monongalia County families. Also included are materials on the history of West Virginia University buildings and the department of buildings and grounds, compiled by Mr. Bayles; originals and copies of wills, deeds, and land surveys in Monongalia County; an account book for general merchandise, Monongalia County, 1857-1859; newspaper clippings; photographs; a Civil War manuscript poem, "The Third Virginia", and other items.
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Brown Family Papers, Photographs and Maps 8.3 Linear Feet 8 ft. 4 1/4 in. (9 document cases, 5 in. each); (3 records cartons, 15 in. each); (1 small flat storage box, 3 in.); (2 large storage boxes, 3 in. each); (1 folder, 1/4 in.); (1 scrapbook, 1 in.)

Brown family
Papers, photographs and maps of a wealthy Morgantown family with interests in real estate and coal mining. Most of the business papers are those of J. M. G. Brown, a West Virginia University law school alumnus, who was president of Scotts Run Fuel Corporation. Brown was also a housing developer whose company, Suburban Real Estate of Morgantown, was a competitive concern not only locally but throughout north central West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania. There are papers indicating his attempts to open Morgantown to airline service. His sister, Mary Virginia Brown was a genealogist and local historian noted for A History of the Negroes of Monongalia County. Among her papers are genealogies of the Bannister, Brown, Bushey, Dorsey, Suter and Williams families. There are also original documents of Colonel William McCleary, an early settler of Morgantown. There is also a manuscript "List of Taxable Property for 1786, Monongalia County," including five pages listing residents and their "tithables," horses, and cattle.
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Cleaver Family Papers 0.01 Linear Feet Summary: 1/4 in. (1 folder)

Cleaver family

Facsimiles of historical documents. Land grant to William Cleaver and others for 1,000 acres on the Monongahela River, 1782; certificate for money due B. Cleaver for service in the Virginia Militia, 1783; affidavits concerning the military service of William and Benjamin Cleaver, 1774-1782, in Dunmore's War, at the Falls of the Ohio, and on General George Rogers Clark's expedition against the Indians, including the Shawnee. There is also a petition, 1777, by residents of the Tygart Valley, West Fork of the Monongahela, and Buckhannon Creek settlements requesting the formation of a new county. There are four typed pages dated January 1-9, 1969, with information about the Cleaver Family - William and Hannah; William, Jr.; Benjamin; and Stephen.

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Courtney Family Papers 0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case)

Courtney family
Papers of a Monongalia County, West Virginia, farm family residing near Maidsville include: the farm account books of John and John J. Courtney, 1831-1877; family Bible records and photographs; college essays of Alpheus Courtney, a West Virginia University student; manuscript ciphering book, 1817; diary of Ulysses J. Courtney, 1878-1883 (7 vols.) pertaining to lumbering, farming, and livestock operations, and community religious and social life; correspondence; steamboat bills of lading, invoices of mercantile stores; Civil War bounty receipts; a record of lumbering operations, 1878; and records of the Bethel (Methodist) Church. Subjects include the construction of the Monongahela Valley Railroad; frontier conditions in Iowa; Morgantown Bridge Company; and Methodism within the Baltimore and West Virginia conferences. Correspondents include Alston G. Dayton.
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Courtney Family Papers 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1 in.

Courtney family
Papers of the Courtney family documenting mostly land sales in Monongalia County, Virginia (1825-49). There is also the will (1835) of John H. Courtney, and a five-page letter (1863) from Iowa recording a local opinion regarding the Civil War, slavery, and related topics. Total of 15 documents.
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D. Boston Stewart Papers 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 2 1/2 in. (1 document case, approximately 90 items)

Stewart, David Boston
David Boston Stewart (1826-1915), a farmer from Monongalia County, West Virginia, who served with the 48th Virginia Infantry and the 20th Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War and was a member of the Virginia Legislature from 1863 to 1864. Collection primarily consists of letters written to D.B. Stewart between 1862 and 1864 and between 1894 and 1906 that concern Stewart's time as a Confederate prisoner of war during the Civil War, and his personal life in the 1890s and early 1900s.
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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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