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Letters, notebooks, scrapbooks, diaries, manuscripts, and memorabilia of a secondary schoolteacher in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and Preston County, and an author and local historian of Preston and Monongalia counties in West Virginia. The collection includes notes on history, orthography, new method arithmetic, two teachers report books of 1872-1885 and 1879-1880, teachers' certificates, a Wiley family genealogy, manuscripts on slavery, Odd Fellowship, public schools, after-dinner speeches, history of the United States, short stories, assorted sayings and aphorisms, notes for a history of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, a biographical sketch of Wiley and copies from his diaries and works, and an autograph book and information on Monongahela College at Jefferson, Pennsylvania.

Isaiah Shephard of Ritchie and Wood counties was the progenitor of this family which frequently corresponded with one another. Many of the letters were received by Roxie Shephard, as a young woman, from her friends and suitors. Much of the collection deals with Hiram W. Shepherd including correspondence while he was in World War I. Pvt. Shephard served in France attached to the A.E.F. General Headquarters 1st Army Motor section as a chauffeur. While a soldier he comments much about his travel duties, overseas Army life, and his acquaintances.

Photocopy facsimile of scrapbook documenting the William E. Arnett, Sr. and family (11' x16'). Includes family history manuscripts, photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, church documents, ephemera of the Second National Bank of Morgantown, a land deed citing John and Louisa Huffman as grantors of Lot 83 to grantee Arnett, Sr. (1891), and obituaries for Arnett, Sr. and his wife, Iva. There is a manuscript narrative history of the Arnett family, and a family tree. Photographs are of Arnett, Sr. and family, including mostly candid group shots, as well as a few formal portraits of individuals and the family. Family events are recorded in letters from Arnett, Sr. to his children, while his business and political life are reported in the newspaper clippings. Church documents include programs, bulletins, and newsletters mentioning Arnett, Sr. and his wife, Iva. There are church programs celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Wesley Methodist Church of Morgantown, as well as two photographs of the exterior of the church. William E. Arnett, Sr. (1866-1950) was a life-long resident of Monongalia County, West Virginia. He was a partner of the wholesale feed business, Kinkaid and Arnett. He also served as City Recorder for Morgantown, member of the City Council, President of the County Court, and as a member of the Board of Education. He was also active as a board member of the Wesley Methodist Church in Morgantown.