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Two letters from Chestnut Run, near Burning Springs, Wirt Co. to Robert Caldweel and Edward Wright of Thompsonville, Washington Co., PA. Ruble inquires whether Caldwell and Wright desire continue drilling for oil on his land. He mentions it would be safe for them to visit, despite the Civil War, since there are many Pennsylvanians working there who move about freely.

Correspondence, business and legal papers, maps and printed materials of a French emigre, land speculator, and merchant from Cincinnati and Parkersburg. Subjects include Levassor's extensive landholdings in Kanawha, Lincoln, Jackson, Wood, Wirt, and Monongalia counties, and activities of his land agents; James Swann lands; the coming of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad to Parkersburg; the Panic of 1857 in that city; oil fever in the Wood County area, 1859-1866; and the activities of J.H. Diss Debar, West Virginia's first commissioner of immigration. Correspondents include J.H. Diss Debar, James M. Laidley, Charles Lisez, and Alexander Quarrier.

Papers relating to the Full family of Pendleton and Wirt counties, West Virginia. Includes nearly 350 original items, each with an item number. Items are subdivided into three categories, including: 1. non-tax receipts, court-related documents, promissory notes, etc.; 2. letters, deeds (including a land grant), and miscellaneous longer items; and 3. tax receipts. The Full family lived in Pendleton County, (West) Virginia until moving in 1817 to what would become Wirt County (in 1848). In 1817, that area was still on the edge of the frontier. While the Full family were not the first settlers, they arrived when the area was still very sparsely settled. Their receipts and store account records reflect the growing population and increased availability of goods over time. As was typical of most settlers, they were farmers. Two documents highlight the problems that many settlers faced with getting clear title to their land. Several documents reflect Reuben Full's time serving as a Justice of the Peace for Wirt County (1858-1860). The oldest dated item relates to Lewis Full paying his Revenue Tax to Jos. Henkle via Joseph Roy in pounds, shillings and pence in Pendleton County in 1791. A few undated items are possibly older. Most items are dated between 1800 and 1880. The most recent document is a 1904 letter. The collection also includes a document of transcriptions (2015; in box 2), which includes background information on the family, a table of contents, and an index of persons, places, businesses, and topics.

The papers of George W. Smith (1814-1860), a merchant, justice of the peace, land agent, and presidential elector in the town of Ripley, Jackson County, West Virginia. There are also papers regarding other family members. The collection serves as a narrative and record of business, local politics, and social conditions in West Virginia before and after statehood. It includes business and personal correspondence, financial and legal papers, business and political ledgers, and ephemera. The majority of the business and personal correspondence in this collection consists of incoming letters to George W. Smith from his family and business associates. There are a few letters from Nehemiah Smith, a delegate in the Virginia Assembly, some of which discuss efforts to route a proposed turnpike from Staunton to Ripley (ca. 1833-1842); and letters from Confederate prisoners of war, six from Point Lookout prison in Maryland (1864-1865), and one from Elmira, New York (1864). See scope and content note for additional details.

Louis Reed (1899-ca. 1985) served in France and Germany during World War I. Collection contains letters he wrote to his future wife, Mildred Johnston. Reed and Johnston married many years later, after the death of Reed's first wife. Reed's letters, written between 1918 and 1920, discuss army life, the front in France, and the occupation of Germany. Collection also contains a 235-page photocopied typescript that Reed wrote about the history of Burning Springs, Wirt County, and its role in the Civil War as a productive oil field. The typescript is also available on microfilm.

This microfilm version of the Thornton Tayloe Perry Collection held by the Virginia Historical Society contains historical material collected by Perry over a 30 year period. It concentrates upon western Virginia and West Virginia with particular emphasis upon the lower Shenandoah Valley and Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan counties of West Virginia. The microfilm was placed in the West Virginia Collection by the Virginia Historical Society under provisions of a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant.

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.