Search

Correspondence of Arthur Spencer Dayton (1887-1948), prominent Charleston lawyer and avid book collector. The majority of the correspondence is with American and English book dealers and concerns Dayton's purchase of rare books including Shakespeare's four folios as well as other rare Shakespeare volumes; a comprehensive collection of Mark Twain rare editions; Jane Austen rare materials; the 15th century biblical text The Nuremburg Chronicle; and many more rare volumes. Dayton's collection of rare books forms the basis of the West Virginia and Regional History Center's Rare Books Collection. Most correspondence takes the form of copies of business letters, but also includes personal letters to friends and colleagues. The personal letters concern Dayton's view on current politics and the law, health matters, philanthropy, religion, and legal decisions. The content of the boxes of correspondence is as follows: Box 1, ca. 1898-1960; Box 2, 1937-1940; Box 3, 1941-1945; Box 4, 1946-1948; and Box 5, 1949-1952, and undated. The correspondence in Box 5 is mostly from Dayton's wife, Ruth, regarding insuring art and rare materials, as well as the donations of art and rare materials through her charity.

Collection includes typescripts, correspondence, and newspaper clippings. Highlights include mimeographed statements relating to the Sigma Nu Foundation of West Virginia, Inc.; the inauguration of Dr. Irvin Stewart as president of West Virginia University; West Virginia authors; and the University budget. Also included are twelve typescripts of letters written from St. Petersburg, Russia, by a representative of the Ross Winans' Locomotive Works, Baltimore, Maryland (1859-1862).

Collection includes original copies of correspondence relating to Virginia and West Virginia, as well as newspaper clippings, photographs, and research notes. Events pertaining to the Civil War and the formation of West Virginia are covered. Among the most important items are the private correspondence of Waitman T. Willey (1835-1861 and 1866-1868); data pertaining to education in Mason County, West Virginia (1861-1875); typescript copies of letters of Samuel Woods (see also A&M 1445); typescript copies of diary of Lieutenant Fabricius Augustus Cather (for originals, see A&M 3633); private correspondence (1939-1941); Mercer County records; Marion County records; McDowell County records; and Jackson, Mineral, Raleigh, Taylor, Pendleton, Pleasants, Greenbrier, and Wood County items. Also includes information relating to Harpers Ferry, Shepherdstown, and Parkersburg. Other matters of interest are contained in letters written by John Brown, Wills DeHass, and Alexander Boetler, and references to Stonewall Jackson, James Rumsey, genealogy of the Robertson family, and battles of the Civil War.

Collection includes typescripts drafts of unpublished works, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and printer's picture plates. Unpublished typescript drafts are titled George Rodgers Clark Floyd of Logan County, West Virginia, and Huckleberry Ranger Lieutenant John Blue, Confederate. Also includes correspondence from Robert L. Floyd to Dr. Ambler regarding the Floyd family (1953-1957), and a manuscript titled The Life of Henry Floyd by Robert L. Floyd. The 58 printer's picture plates were used in A History of Education in West Virginia by Charles H. Ambler.

Personal and professional correspondence (1914-1956), typescripts, research notes, clippings, photographs, maps, drafts and manuscripts of published and unpublished historical studies. The correspondence includes a number of letters from historians in the 1920s and 1930s. Other subjects covered in the papers include the McNeill Rangers, the Civil War, Moravian Missionaries, floods in the South Branch Valley, and secondary education in West Virginia.