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Researchers may access digitized materials by visiting the link attached to each item or by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Maxwell Family Papers, A&M 0010, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
10, 311
Papers of Hu Maxwell (1860-1927), historian, editor, and author of several county histories of West Virginia, along with papers and records of other family members. There are manuscripts of fiction, verse, and local history written by Maxwell, as well as a number of his manuscripts and publications dealing with forestry which were prepared while he was a member of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. Maxwell kept a diary during the years 1901-1919 while residing in Morgantown, Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., which is extensive for the period of World War I and which contains notes on the diary of Rufus Maxwell (1855-1907).
Other Rufus Maxwell items include an 1845 map of Weston and his correspondence. There are multiple typescript and handwritten versions of an unpublished autobiography of Abraham Bonnifield (1837-1885), of Randolph and Tucker counties, as well as a modern typescript of some pages; an account book of the Tyrone Forge, Monongalia County, 1807-1814; a few records of the Rector College Literary Society, Pruntytown, 1848-1849; St. George Academy records; and other materials on politics, the statehood movement, and the Civil War in West Virginia. Box 16 includes a letter authored by Confederate General George A. Porterfield dating from 1899 regarding the Battle of Philippi. Also included is a PDF file, created by Jeff Felton, which includes "Bonnifield's Lost Pages," a transcribed text from pages 17-20 of Abe Bonnifield's original 139-page handwritten manuscript and the text of an email that accompanied the text.
There are artifacts in the collection.
There are eyeglasses with rimless lenses that are octagonal in appearance, with rounded edges at the top, and silver temples and bridge with mother of pearl nose guards. They were stored in a leather hinged case labeled "E. M. Stanton, 108 N. State St., Chicago" in gold letters.
There are also two brooches, including one featuring a blue, oval shaped stone with a marble appearance mounted on a metal frame; the pin on its back is a "captured or tombstone" clasp which became popular after 1900. The other is straight and thin (2 1/2 inches long) with a flower motif on a white (possibly ceramic) background; the clasp is a "C" shape popular before 1900.
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