Monroe County (W. Va.) Court Records and Miscellaneous Papers
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 0102
County Court records concerning court case proceedings, as well as some public records- primarily tax, birth, death, and marriage records. There is also a large collection of private account books from various local businesses.
The first portion of this collection is boxes of papers relating to various cases at the county, district, and superior court levels. Boxed materials contain extensive papers about the proceedings of various cases, including judgements, orders, and bonds. Materials within the boxes are generally loose papers arranged by case. Boxes marked “Miscellaneous” generally contain a variety of case papers, but it is not clear which cases they correlate to. All boxed material except for box 96 is completely reproduced on microfilm reels MONR 1-85. Related to these materials, there is a large collection of record books, including dockets, execution books, fee books, judgements books, order books, witness books, estray, and minute books.
The bulk of the remainder of the collection is private account books, likely acquired by the court in relation to the cases. These books include a variety of accounts and ledgers belonging to various local businesses, primarily general merchandise, newspapers, hotels, and taverns. There is also a small quantity of public records. In the boxed material, there are some delinquent land and road orders. In the collection of record books, there are a few tax books and vital records, including births, marriages, and deaths. The vital records include information about enslaved people, freedmen and freedwomen pre-1865, as well as the Black population post-slavery. There is a small amount of estate records: wills, deeds, and estate settlements.
Highlights of the collection include: “Free Negro Register,” containing the names, ages, and descriptions of free people from 1850-1861 (item 110); records of a U.S. Army post hospital at Union, 1867-1869 (no. 147) ; Union Lyceum minutes, 1845-1847 (no. 157); Two Plays by Isaac Byrnside (no. 158); Alexander Erskine's Cyphering Books (no. 161-162); several books of Monroe Republican Newspaper (no. 127-129); Records of the Methodist Episcopal Times (no. 130-134); Private account ledger of Michael and John Alexander mentioning certificate of debt of Southern Confederacy and price for pasteurizing mules for soldiers (item 151, 1846-1847); and order books from the old Sweet Springs District Court, 1789-1809 (no. 83, 84, 88)
Record books 110, 119, 130-134, 149-150, and 156-162 are not microfilmed. All other record books are fully microfilmed on reels MONR 86- 115. MONR 116-120 are only available on microfilm; the original materials do not exist. MONR 114 is the negative of MONR 102- this copy may be easier to read. Record books 10-17, 23-30, 40, 43-57, 59-60, 63-67, 70-71, 82, 87, 102-109, 133-136, and 154-155 do not exist in the collection.
Only microfilm is stored onsite; all original material is stored offsite. Please make an appointment prior to visiting.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
65.83 Linear Feet (Summary: 65 ft. 10 in. (96 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 box, 12.5 in.); (82 ledgers, 87.5 in.); (120 reels of microfilm, 1.75 in. each))
English
County Court records concerning court cases and proceedings, as well as some public records, primarily tax, birth, death, and marriage records. There is also a large collection of private account books from various local businesses.
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Gift of County Court of Monroe County, date unknown.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository