Collections

Papers of the Fairfax and Warman families of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Morgantown, and Kingwood. There are letters (1811-1874) to Elizabeth Fairfax from family members and friends; papers (1840-1851) of William Warman; papers on the settlement of the John Fairfax estate; a manuscript census book of Preston County for 1830; and an account book (1857-1872) of F.B.F. Fairfax. A few advertising circulars, 1866-1931, are included, as well as clippings on Morgantown and Monongalia County, 1868-1933.

German-language documents belonging to the Bischoff family in Preston County (formerly Monongalia) in the early 1800s. A printed birth and christening certificate, dated 1813, features elaborate artwork, including two angels flanking the text. The second document, a love letter, has colorful hand-drawn art.

The ledger documents the beginnings of Greenville Iron Furnace in northwestern Preston County. The furnace was erected by Josiah Jackson, heir of the prosperous Cheat Iron Works, and managed by Walter Carlile. Subsequent to the period covered by this ledger, the furnace was operated by Harrison Hagans, whose papers in the West Virginia Collection include later ledgers for the furnace. This ledger records the daily business of iron production and of the store which was associated with the furnace.

Genealogical descent charts of the Hall, Gandy, and allied families of Preston, County, West Virginia, from 1724 to 1961 as compiled by Clarence M. Smith in 1989. Typescript chiefly lists descendants of George Brown Hall (1824-1882) of Preston County, West Virginia, and his wife, Nancy Gooseman Gandy (1828-1917), also of Preston County. along with birth, marriage, and death dates.

Papers of Harold Henry Miller (24 November 1911 - 8 November 2006) regarding his military service and his career as a high school teacher in West Virginia and Maryland. Miller was a resident of Preston County, West Virginia and served during World War II and the Korean Conflict. Contains biographical information, correspondence, photographs, financial records, newspaper clippings, programs, pamphlets, brochures, handbooks, and highway maps. Also contains a soldier's pocket bible with bulletproof shield given by Miller to Paul Ray Cooper (1952); U.S.S. Missouri cruise book (1952-1953); "The Keel", United State Naval Training Center book (1952); and Terra Alta High School yearbooks, "The Altonian" (1948-1950). For biographical information, see box 1, folder 1.

Papers of the Hagans family of Preston County, West Virginia, including Harrison, Elisha, George M., Henry C., John Marshall, Zer Hagans, and others. There are letters, invoices, account books, advertisements, and other business records pertaining to family business enterprises including several general merchandise stores and outlets in western Pennsylvania and Maryland, and at Brandonville, Kingwood, Greenville, and Palatine, West Virginia. There are several postal records from Harrison Hagans' twenty years as postmaster, 1822-1841, at Brandonville, and magistrate papers and deeds, most regarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. There are also financial records documenting Hagans' tenure as president of the Greenville Mining and Manufacturing Company which produced iron in Preston County in the 1830s. Other information records Hagans' interests in: county roads, schools, churches, government and politics; the Preston Telegraph Company; a fulling mill, 1827; and a linseed oil mill, 1842. There are Hagan patents for a washing and wringing machine (1845), and working models of mowing and threshing machines. There is a volume of minutes of the quarterly conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1834-1859, and 1861 Wheeling Convention papers regarding a new state government, and Civil War letters from family and friends.

The Hazel Run Baptist Church minute book with the church's covenant, minutes of meetings and lists of newly baptized members, 1856-74. The Hazel Run Baptist Church later became part of the nearby Hopewell Baptist Church, both located in Preston County. The Hopewell Baptist Church ran Sunday School classes (1883-95) of the combined Baptist and Methodist congregations (the Hopewell Union Church Sunday School) and included are class attendance records. The Hopewell Baptist Church records (1906-86) contain articles of faith, minutes of meetings and membership lists. In more recent years their records include detailed budget reports and denominational certificates of merit.