Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Correspondence, genealogical records and notes, miscellaneous documents, and photographs of the Kincaid family of Augusta County, Virginia, and Greenbrier, Fayette, and Nicholas counties, West Virginia.

Personal and business papers of the Lewis family, mainly of John D. (1800-1882), Charles C., Sr. (b.1839), and Charles C., Jr. (b.1865), of Kanawha County. For the period 1825-1875 there are papers of various members of the Ruffner, Dickinson, and Wilson families of West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, and other states. The business papers relate to farming operations, the purchase and sale of slaves, salt manufacturing and trade, the Old Sweet Springs Company, coal, iron, oil, lumbering, railroads, and real estate in Kanawha, Clay, Boone, Fayette, and Nicholas counties. There are newspaper clippings, speeches, and other papers reflecting the Lewis' interests in the Democratic Party in the period 1914-1920. Settlement papers and correspondence regarding the estates of John D. Lewis, and Joel, Daniel, and Andrew Ruffner are in the collection. The personal papers include diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and letters. Travel accounts in the United States, South America, and Europe are given in the correspondence, as well as comments on schools in West Virginia and Virginia; the building of a church in Kanawha County in 1834; missionary work in Colombia, South America, 1874-1875; Civil War and postwar conditions in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri; conditions at Camp Chase, in the Civil War; and material relating to World War I.

Records of the Pardee and Curtin Lumber Company. Includes 55 account books in 9 series: 1) Bills Payable & Bills Receivable (1 item); 2) Cash Books (9 items); 3) Cashier's Check Registers (9 items); 4) Check Registers and Records (5 items); 5) Day Book (1 item); 6) Journals (8 items); 7) Ledgers (4 items); 8) Petty Cash Books (2 items); 9) Sales Books and Shipping Books (16 items). These records are from company offices in Clarksburg, Curtin, and Sutton, and from logging operations in Braxton, Nicholas, and Webster counties, including the Cherry Run, Hominy, Palmer, and Sutton Mills. There are also 43 photographs documenting logging and coal mining operations, including mills and railroads.

This collection of panoramic photographs primarily documents the coal miners of Fayette and Raleigh counties. The photographer, Rufus "Red" Ribble, was born May 14, 1878, near Blacksburg, Virginia, and died December 27, 1967 in West Virginia. He came to West Virginia sometime before 1920 and lived out his life in Mount Hope. The collection contains 119 panoramic photographs, which were made with a large rotating camera called a Cirkut camera. These photos are contact prints; all but one are black and white. Images include group portraits, landscapes/views of towns, and a few views of store interiors. Subjects of the photographs include coal miners, mining towns, local businesses, and local social and church groups. The majority of the photos are group portraits of coal miners from Fayette and Raleigh counties.

Records relating to the history of southeastern West Virginia. Most of the items in the collection relate to Greenbrier and/or Monroe County. Includes antebellum (1833-1850; 7 items), Civil War (1861-1863; 4 items), and postbellum (1886-1933; 9 items) materials. Antebellum material includes a land suit, an estate report and schedule, other financial documents, and personal letter. Civil War material includes four letters authored by Confederate soldiers. Two of these letters describe the battle of Carnifex Ferry. Family names Sharitz and Yonce appear in three of the letters. Postbellum material includes pharmacy receipts, personal letters, programs, and a photograph.

Structural and topographical maps of various locations in West Virginia. Most maps were created by the West Virginia Geological Survey. Counties depicted include Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Hancock, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Marshall, Mingo, Nicholas, Ohio, Roane, Tyler, Wetzel, and Wirt County. Geological and geographical features depicted include coal, oil, gas, iron ore, and limestone areas; Berea grit/sand and Injun Sand; state roads; railroads; and virgin and cut-over forest areas.

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.

Correspondence, ledger books, account and cashbooks of the Parkersburg, West Virginia, firm of Withers and VanDevender (later Wiant and VanDevender), specializing in timber cutting, but also dealing in real estate, coal, oil, and orange growing. Subjects include timber cutting methods, costs, timber shipping, floods, freezes, droughts, log jams, timberland locations, timber purchases and sales, salaries of timber workers, and fruit groves in Florida. Counties mentioned include: Boone, Braxton, Calhoun, Gilmer, Lewis, Marshall, Mercer, Nicholas, Ritchie, Roane, and Wirt. Firms and corporations mentioned include the Copen Creek Coal Company, Gilmer Fuel Company, MCCAA Coal Company, Marietta Chair Company, Nixolette Lumber Company, and the Parkersburg Mill Company.