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Start Over Date range 1996 Places Berkeley County (W. Va.)

Jim Comstock, Newspaper Editor and Collector, Papers 65.25 Linear Feet Summary: 65 ft. 3 1/4 in. (102 document cases, 5 in. each); (7 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each); (5 record cartons, 15 in. each); (2 record cartons, 17 in. each); (6 large flat storage boxes, 1 1/2 in. each); (2 flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (8 large flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (8 flat storage boxes, 3 1/2 in. each); (11 medium flat storage boxes, 3 1/2 in. each); (10 large flat storage boxes, 3 1/2 in. each); (1 large flat storage box, 5 in.); (6 oversize folders, 1 1/4 in. total)

Comstock, Jim (James Franklin), 1911-1996
Papers of James ("Jim") Franklin Comstock of Richwood, West Virginia, whose position as editor of the West Virginia Hillbilly and avocation as collector and advocate of all things West Virginia led to the preservation of much of the state's physical, visual, and textual history. The collection includes materials Comstock collected about West Virginia history as well as his own personal and professional papers. Materials include: general series of historical documents such as letters, deeds, and county court cases pertaining to a diverse range of subjects (1717, 1754-1988, undated [includes facsimiles]); letters of Lucy Prichard, former instructor at Marshall College (now Marshall University) (1925-1927, undated); clippings and typescripts of Wirt County resident and Atlantic Monthly writer Louis Eckert Reed (ca. 1960-1975, undated); account books concerning economic development and commercial activities in the northern part of the state in the 19th and early 20th centuries (1830-1938); printed material about West Virginia schools, businesses, and events as well as non-West Virginia books and pamphlets (1829-1995, undated); Comstock's personal and professional correspondence (1882-1995, undated); a wide variety of photographs, including images of West Virginia cities and towns, among many others (ca. 1850s-1995, undated); microfilmed records of the Civil War and Dunmore's War (undated); glass lantern slides, which include views of scenery and buildings in Wheeling and various other locations in Ohio County, WV (1871-1897, undated); Grand Army of the Republic and U.S. military history scrapbooks (1883-1918); broadsides, including advertisements for a circus in Moundsville (ca. 1827-1960 [includes facsimiles]); and maps and atlases of pre- and post-statehood West Virginia, counties, colonial North America, and other topics (1730-1976, undated [includes facsimiles]). An addendum of 2013/05 includes additional personal and professional correspondence, publications, newspaper morgue files, photographs, audio-visual material, artifacts, scrapbooks, account books, and maps. For more information on Jim Comstock, see the Historical Note.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

Sommerville Family of Berkeley County, Family History 0.3 Linear Feet Summary: 3 1/2 in. (4 folders in 1 flat storage box)

Material regarding the Sommerville family of Berkeley County, mainly concerning Robert A. Sommerville and his son Obed W. Somerville. Includes a family history narrative (folder 1), transcript of a journal (folder 1), copies of legal documents (folder 2), and colored copies of photographs and portraits of Sommerville family members and of artifacts associated with the family (folders 3 and 4). Material regarding Robert A. Sommerville includes a transcription of family and personal memoranda he recorded in 1852; the transcript contains an account of the emigration of his father William from Ireland to the American Colonies in the 1770s, and excerpts from a journal kept by William Sommerville in 1794. Material regarding Obed W. Sommerville includes documents regarding his Civil War service, pension records, copies of legal testimony regarding his placement in a mental asylum, and his death certificate. All items in this collection are reproductions.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

William Rice Research Papers regarding West Virginia Genealogy and Other Topics 20 Linear Feet 20 ft. (16 record cartons, 15 in. each)

Rice, William (Bill)
Historical research material collected by William Rice from ca. 1975-2015, mostly relating to the history of western Virginia and southeastern West Virginia, the Upper Potomac River basin, and particularly Elkins and Randolph County. There are three record series including subject files (boxes 1-4), miscellaneous research files (boxes 4-5), and family histories (boxes 5-16). Subject files are arranged alphabetically and cover many topics ranging from early settlement, the formation of cities and counties, wars, etc. Miscellaneous research files regard the War of 1812 and the Civil War in connection with western Virginia, among other material. Family history files are arranged alphabetically by last name; they document mostly eighteenth-century settlers of what was once Augusta County, Virginia.
  1. West Virginia and Regional History Center

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