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Papers relating to the Wilson, Lewis, and Ruffner families of Prince Edward County, Virginia, Kanawha County, [West] Virginia, St. Charles County, Missouri, and Fairfield County, Ohio. Correspondence between Nathaniel V. Wilson and Dr. Goodridge Wilson, concerning land purchases, preparation for the settlement of the family, care of livestock, employment of slaves, salt making and marketing, and the market price of salt. Other members of the family migrated to St. Charles County, Missouri, and to Fairfield County, Ohio, and land prices, suitable crops, settlement and railroad building in Missouri comprise much of their correspondence. A third generation member of the family, Virgy Wilson Hall and her husband, John G. Hall, were missionaries in Matamoras, Mexico, and Colombia, South America, and her correspondence with her mother comments on living conditions, progress of the missionary work, revolution in Colombia, and health and living conditions of the residents of the Barranquilla area. In addition there is a will of Col. Charles Lewis, a series of letters between two doctors concerning health problems and treatment of various illnesses, and two diaries by Mrs. Daniel Ruffner, 1846, and Elizabeth Ruffner Wilson, 1871-1872, commenting on family life and community activities in Fairfield County, Ohio, and Kanawha County, [West] Virginia. All are photocopies. Material covers the years 1774-1942.

Includes correspondence of Reverend William A. Cook of the Winchester Avenue Christian Church of Martinsburg, West Virginia regarding a sit-in in Lynchburg, Virginia for civil rights; there are also clippings regarding this event, including information regarding the response of Lynchburg College to its students involved with the sit-in. Also includes solicitation for funds to build church (1901) and resolution of church elders (1913); membership committee records (1961); and miscellaneous records (including bulletins, constitution, financial records, and reports) (1960-1962).

Two volumes of statistics of Presbyterian churches in the Winchester Presbytery, 1719-1946; and a notebook of correspondence, 1942-1952, of Robert B. Woodworth and John G. Bishop concerning the genealogy of the Poage and allied families and Woodworth's revision of THE CAPTIVES OF ABB'S VALLEY (Staunton, Virginia, 1942).

The collection consists of ledgers, journals, and cashbooks of the Goodwill Coal and Coke Co., Greenbrier Coal and Coke Co., Gulf Coal Co., Louisville Coal and Coke Co., Winding Gulf Coal and Coke Co., and the Winding Gulf Colliery Co., with some material on the operation of company stores. There is also correspondence (1911-1915) between the managers of mines at Winding Gulf and Davy, West Virginia, discussing production levels, availability of railroad cars and freight rates, New River and Pocahontas Operators Organization, operating difficulties, labor shortages and working conditions, the Mabscott mine strike and German "socialists" at Mabscott, the Bottom Creek explosion at Vivian, the UMWA and a 1915 agreement, and the good roads movement in Raleigh County in 1915.

Correspondence, minute books, financial records, photographs, broadsides, publications, and other materials of the League, and the archives of other defunct craft unions entrusted to the Window Glass Cutters League of America. Organizations other than the League whose records are included are: Local Assembly 300, Knights of Labor (ca.1876-1905); Amalgamated Window Glass Workers of America (1904-08); Window Glass Cutters and Flatteners Association of America (1907-1929); Window Glass Workers Association of America (1902-1904); Window Glass Cutters and Flatteners Protective Association of America (1911-1925); and the National Window Glass Workers (1914-1924). See the scope and content note for information regarding record series found in this collection. See the control folder in the manuscripts room for a listing of contents.

The Wise Family Collection consists of genealogical records related to the Wise family of Rockingham County, Virginia and information about the Wise family home in Bridgewater, Virginia. The family Bible, Biblia, das ist: Die ganze Heilige Schrift dess Alten und Neuen Testaments, has been separated from the collection and cataloged as the Wise Family Bible.

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.

The W. L. Dechert Corporation Records, 1890-1943, comprise two bound volumes containing historical information, financial records, meeting minutes, bylaws, and administrative information concerning Harrisonburg's W. L. Dechert Corporation.